Super League XXVI

Super League XXVI
League	Super League
Duration	25 rounds + playoffs
Teams	12
Matches played	139
Points scored	5,931
Highest attendance	45,177 Grand Final (9 October 2021)
Lowest attendance	1,000[A] Catalans Dragons 20–16 St Helens (22 May 2021) Catalans Dragons 48–0 Wigan Warriors (29 May 2021)
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports BBC Sport SLTV Fox League Fox Soccer Plus Sport Klub
2021 season
Champions	St Helens
League Leaders Shield	Catalans Dragons
Runners-up	Catalans Dragons
Biggest home win	Catalans Dragons 64–0 Leigh Centurions (30 August 2021)
Biggest away win	Castleford Tigers 6–60 Leeds Rhinos (28 May 2021)
Man of Steel	Sam Tomkins
Top point-scorer(s)	James Maloney (226) Top Goal Scorer James Maloney (101)
Top try-scorer(s)	Ken Sio (19)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Championship	Toulouse Olympique
Relegated to Championship	Leigh Centurions
← 2020 2022 →

Super League XXVI, known as the Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain.

The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021, however, on 14 January 2021, it was announced that all clubs had agreed to push the start date back by two weeks, to increase the chances of fans being able to attend matches.^[1]

St Helens are the reigning champions going into Super League XXVI, after successfully retaining their title against Wigan Warriors, in the Grand Final.

Super League XXVI also saw the return of the Magic Weekend, which took place at St James' Park in Newcastle, after it was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Upon the expulsion of Toronto Wolfpack the previous season, a vacancy was available for the 2021 season. Six eligible teams from the Championship all applied for the vacancy. The six teams were Leigh Centurions, Bradford Bulls, York City Knights, London Broncos, Featherstone Rovers, and Toulouse Olympique. Of those six teams, Leigh were promoted following a unanimous decision by an independent panel.^[3]

Following a run of 17 successive defeats, Leigh finally got their first win of the season against Salford, winning 32–22. However, this was not enough to lift them off the bottom of the table, and they were immediately relegated back to the championship, following their 6-44 defeat to Hull Kingston Rovers on 5 September.

The sport continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first five rounds of matches were all played behind closed doors, and it was only from mid-May that spectators were allowed in the grounds, with attendances limited to 10,000 or 25% of the ground capacity. The Rugby Football League (RFL) anticipated that COVID-19 would have an effect, and made two important changes to the organisation of the season.

Firstly, the league table would be decided by win percentage rather than competition points.^[4] Secondly, a set of protocols were introduced, allowing for matches to be postponed, if a team had seven or more players from the senior squad unavailable, due to either close contact or a positive COVID-19 test.^[5]

On 4 September 2021, Catalans Dragons were confirmed League Leaders Shield winners for the first time in the club's history, following their 31–30 victory against St Helens. This also gave Catalans a bye into the Semi finals of the playoffs, and a home tie against the winner of the Elimination play offs, between the lowest ranked team left in the competition, which eventually was Hull KR on 30 September 2021. Catalans won the match 28–10, with tries from Benjamin Garcia, Josh Drinkwater, Arthur Mourgue, Fouad Yaha and Joe Chan to reach their first ever Grand Final, and became the first non English team in Super League era to do so.^[6]

St Helens won their 3rd Grand Final in a row, (9th title overall), after narrowly beating Catalans Dragons 12-10 at Old Trafford on 9 October 2021.

Rule changes[]

As in 2020, scrums will not be formed and instead, minor ruck infringements by the defending team, will result in a repeat set of six tackles for the attacking team. Dual registration will not be allowed, but loans will be, with the minimum load period reduced to fourteen days.^[7]

Teams[]

Leigh

Wigan

Salford

St. Helens

Warrington

Hull

Hull KR

Castleford

Huddersfield

Leeds

Wakefield

Locations of Super League XXVI teams

Catalans

Locations of Super League XXVI teams

	Team	2020 position	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
	Castleford Tigers (2021 season)	8th	The Mend-A-Hose Jungle	12,000[8]	Castleford, West Yorkshire
	Catalans Dragons (2021 season)	4th	Stade Gilbert Brutus	13,000[9]	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
	Huddersfield Giants (2021 season)	7th	John Smith's Stadium	24,121[10]	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
	Hull FC (2021 season)	6th	KCOM Stadium	25,400[11]	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
	Hull KR ()	11th	Hull College Craven Park Stadium	12,225[12]	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
	Leeds Rhinos ()	5th	Emerald Headingley	21,062[13]	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	Leigh Centurions ()	4th (2019 Championship)	Leigh Sports Village	12,000	Leigh, Greater Manchester
	Salford Red Devils ()	9th	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000[14]	Salford, Greater Manchester
	St Helens ()	2nd (Champions)	Totally Wicked Stadium	18,000[15]	St Helens, Merseyside
	Wakefield Trinity ()	10th	Beaumont Legal Stadium	9,333[16]	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
	Warrington Wolves ()	3rd	Halliwell Jones Stadium	15,200[17]	Warrington, Cheshire
	Wigan Warriors (2021 season)	1st (runners up)	DW Stadium	25,133[18]	Wigan, Greater Manchester

Fixtures and results[]

Super League Europe announced in February 2021 that the matches in round 2 would be played to support retired player Mose Masoe in his rehabilitation from a serious back injury suffered during a game in 2020.^[19][20]

In the round 3 game on 16 April 2021 between Hull KR and Huddersfield, Ben Crooks of Hull KR, scored a try after only seven seconds, a new record, after Sam Wood missed the ball from the kick off allowing Crooks to score. Hull KR went on to win 25–24. This achievement beat not only beat the previous fastest score in Super League (St Helens' Tim Jonkers scored after 14 seconds against Wakefield Trinity during the 2002 season) but also the fastest try scored in the NRL, which was set in 2017 (Kirisome Auva'a scored after 11 seconds for Parramatta Eels against Brisbane Broncos).^[21]

Golden point extra time[]

If a match ends in a draw after 80 minutes, then a further 10 minutes of golden point extra time is played, to determine a winner (5 minutes each way). The first team to score either a try, goal or drop goal during this period, will win the match. However, if there are no further scores during the additional 10 minutes period, then the match will end in a draw.

Game 1 (Catalans v Hull KR)[]

The first game to go to golden-point, was the round 1 game between Catalans and Hull KR on 27 March 2021. Catalans won the match 29–28, with a drop goal from James Maloney, after the scores were tied at 28-all after 80 minutes.

Game 2 (Hull FC v Warrington Wolves)[]

The round 3 game between Hull FC and Warrington on 18 April 2021, finished 14-all after 80 minutes. The game then went to extra time which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. With neither team able to score any points during the extra 10 minutes, the match ended as a draw for the first time since golden point was introduced into Super League.

Game 3 (Leeds Rhinos v Wakefield Trinity)[]

The third game to go to golden-point, was the round 6 game between Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity on 14 May 2021. Leeds won the match 15–13, with a penalty goal from Rhyse Martin, after the scores were tied at 13-all after 80 minutes.

Game 4 (St Helens v Catalans)[]

The fourth game to go to golden-point, was the round 23 game between St Helens and Catalans Dragons on 4 September 2021, during the 2nd game of the day 1 fixtures, at the Magic Weekend. Catalans won the match 31–30, with a drop goal from James Maloney, after the scores were tied at 30-all after 80 minutes (Catalans scoring three tries in the final 4 minutes of the game to come back from 30-12 down). This was the first time in Super League history that a Magic Weekend game had gone to extra time (previous draws at Magic Weekend coming before the introduction of Golden Point to Super League).

Game 5 (Leeds v Hull FC)[]

The fifth game to go to golden-point, was the round 23 game between Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC on 4 September 2021, during the 3rd game of the day 1 fixtures, at the Magic Weekend. Leeds won the match 25–24, with a drop goal from Kruise Leeming, after the scores were tied at 24-all after 80 minutes. This was the second time in Super League that a magic weekend game had gone to extra time.

Game 6 (Warrington v Salford)[]

The sixth game to go to golden-point, was the round 24 game between Warrington Wolves and Salford Red Devils on 11 September 2021. Warrington won the match 20–19, with a drop goal from George Williams, after the scores were tied at 19-all after 80 minutes.

Forfeited games[]

In June Castleford Tigers were forced to forfeit their round 12 match against St Helens. With only fourteen senior players available due to injury and COVID-19 precautions Castleford could not raise a team and forfeited the game. The RFL described it as "an unusual range of circumstances" but as less than seven of the absences were due to COVID-19 among the senior squad the match did not meet the criteria for postponement under the RFL's COVID-19 protocols.^[22] For statistical recording and league placing the match was recorded as a 24–0 victory to St Helens.^[23]

Huddersfield became the second Super League team to forfeit a game in 2021 when the round 13 match against Castleford was cancelled on 4 July. Huddersfield announced that they were missing 20+ players due to COVID-19 and injury but as the number unavailable due to COVID-19 was less than the minimum seven absences required for the game to be postponed under the RFL COVID-19 protocols, Huddersfield had to forfeit the match.^[24]

Regular season table[]

When the season details were announced the original method was for the league to revert to the normal determination, (i.e. league points won). On 7 March 2021, the Rugby Football League (RFL) announced that, league positions would be determined as they were in 2020 with league position decided by win percentage (Win percentage = number of league points ÷ number of games played x 50). If two or more teams have equal win percentages, then position will be determined by points scored percentage (points scored ÷ points conceded x 100).^[25]

To qualify for the play-offs, a team had to complete 70% of their scheduled fixtures (18 matches out of 25) – unless they earned a position, in the top six through league points despite having played fewer than 18 matches.

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PP	Pts	PCT	Qualification[a]
1	Catalans Dragons (U)	23	19	0	4	688	398	172.9	38	82.61	League Leaders' Shield & advance to semi-final
2	St. Helens (C)	21	16	0	5	548	229	239.3	32	76.19	Advance to semi-final
3	Warrington Wolves	21	15	1	5	588	354	166.1	31	73.81	Advance to eliminators
4	Wigan Warriors	25	15	0	10	387	385	100.5	30	60.00
5	Leeds Rhinos	24	13	0	11	556	440	126.4	26	54.17
6	Hull Kingston Rovers	20	10	0	10	497	458	108.5	20	50.00
7	Castleford Tigers	23	11	0	12	437	552	79.2	22	47.83
8	Hull FC	21	8	1	12	409	476	85.9	17	40.48
9	Huddersfield Giants	24	9	0	15	460	516	89.1	18	37.50
10	Wakefield Trinity	24	9	0	15	482	548	88.0	18	37.50
11	Salford Red Devils	22	7	0	15	402	584	68.8	14	31.82
12	Leigh Centurions	22	2	0	20	356	870	40.9	4	9.09	Relegated to the Championship

Play-offs[]

The top 2 teams who finished first and second respectively in the regular season table (Catalans Dragons and St Helens respectively, had byes to the semi-finals. The four teams who finish third to sixth contested in two elimination finals, with the winner of those two games moving on to the semi finals (Hull Kingston Rovers and Leeds Rhinos respectively). Catalans became the first non English team in Super League Era, to reach the Grand Final after they beat Hull Kingston Rovers 28–10 in the first semi-final on 30 September.^[26]

Team bracket[]

	Eliminators					Semi-finals					Grand Final
						1	Catalans Dragons	28
	3	Warrington Wolves	0			6	Hull Kingston Rovers	10
	6	Hull Kingston Rovers	19								1	Catalans Dragons	10
											2	St Helens	12
						2	St Helens	36
	4	Wigan Warriors	0			5	Leeds Rhinos	8
	5	Leeds Rhinos	8

Summary[]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time (Local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Eliminators
Wigan Warriors	0–8	Leeds Rhinos	23 September 2021, 19:45	DW Stadium	Robert Hicks	7,396
Warrington Wolves	0–19	Hull Kingston Rovers	24 September 2021, 19:45	Halliwell Jones Stadium	Liam Moore
Semi-finals
Catalans Dragons	28–10	Hull Kingston Rovers	30 September 2021, 19:45	Stade Gilbert Brutus	James Child	11,530
St Helens	36–8	Leeds Rhinos	1 October 2021, 19:45	Totally Wicked Stadium	Chris Kendall	11,688
Grand Final
Catalans Dragons	10–12	St Helens	9 October 2021, 18:00	Old Trafford	Liam Moore	45,177

Player statistics[]

Top 10 try scorers[] Rank Player Club Tries 1 Ken Sio Salford Red Devils 18 2= Ryan Hall Hull KR 16 Jake Mamo Warrington Wolves 4 Tom Davies Catalans Dragons 15 5= Fouad Yaha Catalans Dragons 14 Regan Grace St Helens 7= Jordan Turner Castleford Tigers 13 Adam Swift Hull FC Jack Welsby St Helens Jake Bibby Wigan Warriors Top 10 try assists[] Rank Player Club Assists 1 Josh Drinkwater Catalans Dragons 28 2 Jake Connor Hull FC 22 3 Sam Tomkins Catalans Dragons 20 4= Tui Lolohea Salford Red Devils 18 Jackson Hastings Wigan Warriors 6 Lachlan Coote St Helens 16 7= Niall Evalds Castleford Tigers 15 Richie Myler Leeds Rhinos Jacob Miller Wakefield Trinity 10= Kruise Leeming Leeds Rhinos 14 Jonny Lomax St Helens Harry Smith Wigan Warriors Top 10 goal scorers[] Rank Player Club Goals Missed Goals Drop Goals Goal Percentage 1 James Maloney Catalans Dragons 101 15 5 88% 2 Rhyse Martin Leeds Rhinos 83 15 0 83% 3 Mason Lino Wakefield Trinity 75 9 1 89% 4 Lachlan Coote St Helens 72 19 0 79% 5 Stefan Ratchford Warrington Wolves 71 14 82% 6 Marc Sneyd Hull FC 60 15 2 80% 7 Danny Richardson Castleford Tigers 46 11 3 80% 8 Jordan Abdull Hull KR 43 17 0 82% 9 Krisnan Inu Salford Red Devils 42 10 1 80% 10 Oliver Russell Huddersfield Giants 32 9 0 78% Top 10 points scorers[] Rank Player Club Points 1 James Maloney Catalans Dragons 245 2 Lachlan Coote St Helens 188 3 Mason Lino Wakefield Trinity 171 4 Rhyse Martin Leeds Rhinos 166 5 Stefan Ratchford Warrington Wolves 146 6 Marc Sneyd Hull FC 122 7 Jordan Abdull Hull KR 114 8 Danny Richardson Castleford Tigers 99 10 Ryan Brierley Leigh Centurions 98 10 Krisnan Inu Salford Red Devils 96 Updated to match(es) played on 5 September 2021 (Round 23)

Discipline[]

Red Cards Rank Player Club Red Cards 1= Joe Greenwood Huddersfield Giants 1 Josh Jones Andre Savelio Hull FC Korbin Sims Hull KR Pauli Pauli Salford Red Devils Jack Ashworth Leigh Centurions Bodene Thompson Leeds Rhinos Tommy Makinson St Helens Mike Cooper Warrington Wolves Zak Hardaker Wigan Warriors Brad Singleton

Yellow Cards Rank Player Club Yellow Cards 1 James Bentley St Helens 4 2 Richie Myler Leeds Rhinos 3 3= Jesse Sene-Lefao Castleford Tigers 2 Peter Mata'utia James Maloney Catalans Dragons Oliver Russell Huddersfield Giants Ligi Sao Hull FC Carlos Tuimavave James Bell Leigh Centurions Ryan Lannon Salford Red Devils James Bentley St Helens John Bateman Wigan Warriors Willie Isa 14= George Griffin Castleford Tigers 1 Danny Richardson Jason Baitieri Catalans Dragons Julian Bousquet Joe Chan Josh Drinkwater Gil Dudson Sam Kasiano Michael Mcilorum Joel Tomkins Sam Tomkins Leroy Cudjoe Huddersfield Giants Chris McQueen Kenny Edwards Jake Connor Hull FC Bureta Faraimo Jordan Johnstone Josh Reynolds Chris Satae Marc Sneyd Scott Taylor Luis Johnson Hull KR George King George Lawler Matt Parcell Brad Takairangi Albert Vete Luke Gale Leeds Rhinos Robert Lui Matt Prior Liam Sutcliffe Zane Tetevano Chris Atkin Salford Red Devils Greg Burke Morgan Escare Ata Hingano Sebastine Ikahihifo Tui Lolohea Jack Wells Sione Mata'utia St Helens Mark Percival James Batchelor Wakefield Trinity Chris Green Mason Lino Jacob Miller Tom Lineham Warrington Wolves Jake Mamo Gareth Widdop Liam Byrne Wigan Warriors Liam Farrell Oliver Partington Kai Pearce-Paul Morgan Smithies

• Updated to match(es) played on 30 August 2021 (Round 22)

Attendances[]

Club attendances Club Home Games Total Average Highest Lowest Castleford Tigers 2 3,600 1,800 3,600 3,600 Catalans Dragons 3 1,000 500 1,000 1,000 Huddersfield Giants 2 Hull FC 3 5,527 1,842 5,527 5,527 Hull KR 2 Leeds Rhinos 3 4,000 1,333 4,000 4,000 Leigh Centurions 2 3,708 1,854 2,008 1,700 Salford Red Devils 2 4,000 2,000 4,000 4,000 St Helens 2 4,000 2,000 4,000 4,000 Wakefield Trinity 2 Warrington Wolves 2 8,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 Wigan Warriors 2

Top 10 attendances Rank Home club Away club Stadium Attendance 1 Magic Weekend: Day 1 St James' Park 35,104 2 Magic Weekend: Day 2 St James' Park 25,762 3 Wigan Warriors St Helens DW Stadium 16,319 4 Hull FC Hull KR MKM Stadium 15,000 5 Leeds Rhinos Castleford Tigers Emerald Headingley 10,838 6 Wigan Warriors Salford Red Devils DW Stadium 9,434 7 Wigan Warriors Leigh Centurions DW Stadium 9,206 8 Warrington Wolves Wigan Warriors Halliwell Jones Stadium 8,014 9 Wigan Warriors Wakefield Trinity DW Stadium 5,555 10 Wigan Warriors Warrington Wolves DW Stadium 5,537

End-of-season awards[]

The Super League end of season awards were announced on 4 October. The award winners were:

Steve Prescott Man of Steel Nominees[]

Rank	Player	Club
1	Sam Tomkins	Catalans Dragons
2	Jordan Abdull	Hull KR
3	Jake Connor	Hull FC
4	Jonny Lomax	St Helens
5	Gareth Widdop	Warrington Wolves
Here are the 5 nominees for the 2021 Steve Prescott Man Of Steel

Notes[]

References[]