Super League XXI

The 2016 Super League season, known as the First Utility Super League XXI for sponsor reasons,[1] was the 21st season of Super League and 122nd season of rugby league in Britain. Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend which took place at St James' Park (Newcastle upon Tyne), after which the eight highest entered the Super League play-offs for a place in the Super League Grand Final. The four lowest teams then entered the qualifying play-offs, along with the four highest teams from the Championship, to determine which teams will play again in Super League XXII. Wigan Warriors are the current champions after successfully defeating Warrington Wolves 12–6 at Old Trafford.

Super League XXI
LeagueSuper League
Duration23 Rounds (Followed by up-to 9 rounds of relevant playoffs)
Teams12
Highest attendance39,331
Magic Weekend: Day 1 (21 May)
Lowest attendance1,958
Salford Red Devils vs Huddersfield Giants (18 June)
Average attendance9,134
Attendance1,260,474 (as of round 23)
Broadcast partners Sky Sports
BBC Sport
SLTV
Fox Sports
beIN Sports
Fox Soccer Plus
Sport Klub
2016 season
Champions Wigan Warriors
4th Super League
21st English title
League Leaders Warrington Wolves
Runners-up Warrington Wolves
Biggest home win Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 62 – 0 Wigan Warriors (Sunday 10 April 2016)
Biggest away win Castleford Tigers 16 – 58 Hull Kingston Rovers (Sunday 24 April 2016)
Man of Steel Danny Houghton
Top try-scorer(s) Denny Solomona
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Championship Leigh Centurions
Relegated to Championship Hull KR

Teams

Super League XXI features twelve teams, the second year in which this number has taken part. This is also the second year since promotion and relegation was reintroduced into the competition although there has been no change in teams for 2016.

Eleven teams in Super League are from the North of England: five teams, Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan and Widnes, west of the Pennines in the historic county of Lancashire and six teams, Huddersfield, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers, to the east in Yorkshire. Catalans Dragons, in Perpignan, France, are the only team outside the North of England. St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos as the only teams to have played in every season of Super League since 1996.

Team 2015 position Stadium Capacity City/Area
Castleford Tigers (2016 season) 5th The Mend-O-Hose Jungle 11,750 Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons (2016 season) 8th Stade Gilbert Brutus 14,000 Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Huddersfield Giants (2016 season) 3rd John Smith's Stadium 24,544 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull F.C. (2016 season) 7th Kingston Communications Stadium 25,404 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Hull Kingston Rovers (2016 season) 9th KC Lightstream Stadium 12,225 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Leeds Rhinos (2016 season) 1st Headingley Carnegie Stadium 22,250 Leeds, West Yorkshire
Salford Red Devils (2016 season) 11th AJ Bell Stadium 12,000 Salford, Greater Manchester
St Helens R.F.C. (2016 season) 4th Langtree Park 18,000 St. Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (2016 season) 12th Rapid Solicitors Stadium 11,000 Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves (2016 season) 6th Halliwell Jones Stadium 15,500 Warrington, Cheshire
Widnes Vikings (2016 season) 10th The Select Security Stadium 13,500 Widnes, Cheshire
Wigan Warriors (2016 season) 2nd DW Stadium 25,138 Wigan, Greater Manchester

Table
Main article: Super League XXI results
Pos Club P W D L For Agst Diff Points Qualification
1 Hull F.C. (Q) 23 17 0 6 605 465 140 34 Super League Super 8s
2 Warrington Wolves (Q) 23 16 1 6 675 425 250 33
3 Wigan Warriors (Q) 23 16 0 7 455 440 15 32
4 St. Helens (Q) 23 14 0 9 573 536 37 28
5 Catalans Dragons (Q) 23 13 0 10 593 505 88 26
6 Castleford Tigers (Q) 23 10 1 12 617 640 -23 21
7 Widnes Vikings (Q) 23 10 0 13 499 474 25 20
8 Wakefield Trinity (Q) 23 10 0 13 485 654 -169 20
9 Leeds Rhinos (F) 23 8 0 15 404 576 -172 16 The Qualifiers
10 Salford Red Devils (F) 23 10 0 13 560 569 -9 14*
11 Hull Kingston Rovers (F) 23 6 2 15 486 610 -124 14
12 Huddersfield Giants (F) 23 6 0 17 511 569 -58 12
  • *Salford were penalized six points for a salary cap infringement during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.[2]

Q = Qualified for Super 8s

F = Failed to qualify for the Super 8s

Super 8s
Main article: 2016 Super 8s

After 23 games the league table is frozen and the teams are split up into 2 of the 3 "Super 8's". Teams finishing in the top 8 go on to contest the "Super League" and will all retain a place in the competition for the next season. They will play 7 more games each, competing for a place in the Grand Final. Teams finishing in the bottom four (9-12) will be put alongside the top 4 teams from the Championship, in "The Qualifiers" Super 8 group.

Standings
Pos Club P W D L For Agst Diff Points Qualification
1 Warrington Wolves (L) 30 21 1 8 852 541 311 43 League Leaders/Playoffs
2 Wigan Warriors (C) 30 21 0 9 669 560 109 42 Playoffs
3 Hull F.C. (Q) 30 20 0 10 749 579 170 40
4 St. Helens (Q) 30 20 0 10 756 641 115 40
5 Castleford Tigers (U) 30 15 1 14 830 808 22 31 Season Complete
6 Catalans Dragons (U) 30 15 0 15 723 716 7 30
7 Widnes Vikings (U) 30 12 0 18 603 643 -40 24
8 Wakefield Trinity (U) 30 10 0 20 571 902 -331 20

(C) = Champions

(L) = League Leaders

(Q) = Qualified for playoffs

(U) = Unable to qualify for playoffs

Play-offs
# Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (Local) Venue Referee Attendance
SEMI-FINALS
SF1 Warrington Wolves 18 – 10 St. Helens 29 September 20:00 Halliwell Jones Stadium Ben Thaler 12,036[3]
SF2 Wigan Warriors 28 – 18 Hull F.C. 30 September 20:00 DW Stadium Robert Hicks 14,013[4]
GRAND FINAL
F Warrington Wolves 6 – 12 Wigan Warriors 8 October 2016 18:00 Old Trafford, Manchester Robert Hicks 70,202[5]

The Qualifiers
See also: 2016 Super 8s

The Qualifiers sees the bottom 4 teams from Super League table join the top 4 teams from the Championship. The points totals are reset to 0 and each team plays 7 games each, playing every other team once. After 7 games each, the teams finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd will gain qualification to the 2017 Super League season. The teams finishing 4th and 5th will play in the "Million Pound Game" at the home of the 4th place team which will earn the winner a place in the 2017 Super League. The loser, along with teams finishing 6th, 7th and 8th, will be relegated to or remain in the Championship.

Standings
Pos Club P W D L For Agst Diff Points Qualification
1 Leeds Rhinos (S) 7 6 0 1 239 94 145 12 Super League XXII place
2 Leigh Centurions (S) 7 6 0 1 223 193 30 12
3 Huddersfield Giants (S) 7 5 0 2 257 166 91 10
4 Hull Kingston Rovers (C) 7 4 0 3 235 142 93 8 Million Pound Game
5 Salford Red Devils (S) 7 3 0 4 208 152 56 6
6 London Broncos (C) 7 3 0 4 221 212 9 6 2017 Championship place
7 Batley Bulldogs (C) 7 1 0 6 111 318 -207 2
8 Featherstone Rovers (C) 7 0 0 7 96 313 -217 0

(S) = Will play in Super League in 2017

(C) = Will play in Championship in 2017

Million Pound Game
# Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (Local) Venue Referee Attendance
Million Pound Game
F Hull Kingston Rovers 18 – 19 Salford Red Devils 1 October, 15:00 BST Lightstream Stadium Phil Bentham 6,562

Player statistics
  • Statistics correct as of 24 September 2016

Attendances
  • Statistics correct as of 24 July 2016

End-of-season awards

Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:[6]

Media

Television

2016 is the fifth and final year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season.[7] The deal is worth £90million.

Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights.[8]

Regular commentators will be Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights on Sunday nights on Super League - Full Time at 10 p.m.

BBC Sport will broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme, the first to the BBC North West, Yorkshire, North East and Cumbria, and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35 p.m. on BBC One,[9] while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30 p.m. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.[10] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.[11]

Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on beIN Sports (France), Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Fox Sports (Australia) and Sportsnet World (Canada).

Radio

BBC Coverage:

Commercial Radio Coverage:

  • 102.4 Wish FM will carry commentaries of Wigan & St Helens matches.
  • 107.2 Wire FM will carry commentaries on Warrington Home and Away.
  • Radio Yorkshire will launch in March carrying Super League commentaries.
  • Radio Warrington (Online Station) all Warrington home games and some away games.
  • Grand Sud FM covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (in French).
  • Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (in French).
  • Talksport and Talksport 2 will carry weekly live matches throughout the UK, plus phone-in programs and a weekly magazine show hosted by Robbie Hunter-Paul.[12]

All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.

References
  1. "First Utility powers title sponsorship of Super League". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. http://www.loverugbyleague.com/news_21728-salford-docked-six-points-for-cap-breach.html
  3. http://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/warrington-vs-st-helens/45908
  4. http://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/wigan-vs-hull/45909
  5. http://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/warrington-vs-wigan/45924
  6. "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  7. Sky Sports (4 August 2011). "Super League deal" (PDF). Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  8. Sky Sports (18 February 2012). "Rugby League live on Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  9. BBC Sport (3 February 2012). "BBC's Super League Show returns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  10. BBC. "BBC One - Super League Show". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  11. "BBC Two - Rugby League: Super League Play-Offs - Highlights". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  12. http://www.rugby-league.com/superleague/article/33445/talksport-and-talksport--announce-rights-deal-with-first-utility-super-league
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