Super League XV

Super League XV
League Super League
Duration 27 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs)
Number of teams 14
Highest attendance 26,642
Magic Weekend Day 1 (1 May)
Lowest attendance 2,330
Harlequins RL vs. Catalans Dragons (14 February)
Average attendance 9,615[1]
Aggregate attendance 990,439[1]
Broadcast partners United Kingdom Sky Sports

Australia Nine Network

France Orange Sport

United States America One

Europe Sport Klub

2010 season
Champions Wigan Warriors
League Leaders Wigan Warriors
Runners-up St Helens
Man of Steel Pat Richards
Top point-scorer(s) Pat Richards (388)
Top try-scorer(s) Pat Richards (29)
< 2009 Seasons 2011 >

The 2010 Super League season (known as the Engage Super League XV for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the European rugby league football competition, Super League.[2] Fourteen teams competed for the League Leader's Shield over 27 rounds (including the Magic Weekend at Murrayfield Stadium). All clubs also participated in the 2010 Challenge Cup tournament. The season officially kicked off on 5 February with the Crusaders versus the Leeds Rhinos on 29 January at Crusaders' new homeground at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. Crusaders halfback Michael Witt scored the first points of the season with a penalty goal and the Rhinos came away with the first competition points, posting a 34 to 6 victory.

The season came to a conclusion with Wigan Warriors beating St Helens 22-10 in the Super League Grand Final on 2 October[3] with two tries for Martin Gleeson.

Teams

Super League XV was the second year of a licensed Super League. Under this system, promotion and relegation between Super League and National League One was abolished, and 14 teams were granted licenses subject to certain criteria. All twelve teams from Super League XIII were given places, as well as former Super League team Salford City Reds and Crusaders.

Geographically, the vast majority of teams in Super League are based in the north of England, four teams – Warrington, St Helens, Salford and Wigan – to the west of the Pennines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and seven teams to the east in Yorkshire – Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield, Leeds, Castleford, Hull and Hull KR. Catalans Dragons are the only team based in France and are outside of the United Kingdom. Crusaders are the only team in Wales, and Harlequins RL are the only team to be based in a capital city (London).

Team Stadium Capacity City/Area
Bradford Bulls (2010 season) Grattan Stadium, Odsal 27,000 Bradford, West Yorkshire
Castleford Tigers (2010 season) The Jungle 11,750 Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons (2010 season) Stade Gilbert Brutus 10,000 Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Crusaders (2010 season) The Racecourse Ground 15,000 Wrexham, Clwyd, Wales
Harlequins (2010 season) Twickenham Stoop 12,700 Twickenham, London
Huddersfield Giants (2010 season) Galpharm Stadium 24,544 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull (2010 season) Kingston Communications Stadium 25,404 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Hull Kingston Rovers (2010 season) "New" Craven Park 9,471 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Leeds Rhinos (2010 season) Headingley Carnegie Stadium 22,250 Leeds, West Yorkshire
Salford City Reds (2010 season) The Willows 11,363 Salford, Greater Manchester
St Helens RLFC (2010 season) The GPW Recruitment Stadium 17,500 St Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (2010 season) Belle Vue 12,600 Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves (2010 season) Halliwell Jones Stadium 14,206 Warrington, Cheshire
Wigan Warriors (2010 season) DW Stadium 25,138 Wigan, Greater Manchester
  Reigning champions

Rules

Rule changes

The RFL announced two new rule interpretations intended to increase player safety in the tackle:[4]

Operational rules

The 'club trained player rule' entered its third year and made a planned adjustment:[5]

Table

    		 Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
    1 Wigan Warriors 27 22 0 5 922 411 +511 44
    2 St Helens 27 20 0 7 946 547 +399 40
    3 Warrington Wolves 27 20 0 7 885 488 +397 40
    4 Leeds Rhinos 27 17 1 9 725 561 +164 35
    5 Huddersfield Giants 27 16 1 10 758 439 +319 33
    6 Hull FC 27 16 0 11 569 584 −15 32
    7 Hull KR 27 14 1 12 653 632 +21 29
    8 Crusaders RL 27 12 0 15 547 732 −185 24
    9 Castleford Tigers 27 11 0 16 648 766 −118 22
    10 Bradford Bulls 27 9 1 17 528 728 −200 19
    11 Wakefield 27 9 0 18 539 741 −202 18
    12 Salford City Reds 27 8 0 19 448 857 −409 16
    13 Harlequins RL 27 7 0 20 494 838 −344 14
    14 Catalans Dragons 27 6 0 21 409 747 −338 12
      Teams qualifying for the Play-offs

    Source: superleague.co.uk.
    Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
    Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

    Ladder Progression

    Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
    1 Wigan Warriors 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 24 26 28 30 30 32 34 36 36 38 40 40 42 44
    2 St Helens RLFC 0 2 4 6 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 22 24 26 28 28 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
    3 Warrington Wolves 2 4 4 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 16 18 20 20 22 24 26 28 28 30 32 34 34 34 36 38 40
    4 Leeds Rhinos 0 0 2 4 6 6 6 6 7 9 11 11 13 15 17 19 21 21 23 25 25 27 29 31 31 33 35
    5 Huddersfield Giants 2 2 4 4 6 8 10 10 12 12 14 16 16 16 16 18 18 20 21 21 23 25 25 27 29 31 33
    6 Hull 2 4 4 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 14 14 16 18 20 22 22 24 26 26 28 28 30 32 32 32
    7 Hull Kingston Rovers 2 2 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 14 16 16 18 19 21 23 23 25 27 29 29 29
    8 Crusaders 0 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 10 12 14 14 14 14 16 18 20 22 22 22 24
    9 Castleford Tigers 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 10 10 10 10 12 14 16 18 18 20 20 20 20 22 22
    10 Bradford Bulls 0 0 2 4 6 6 6 8 9 11 13 15 15 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 19 19
    11 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 2 4 6 6 6 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 14 14 14 16 16 18 18 18 18 18 18 18
    12 Salford City Reds 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 10 10 10 10 12 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 16
    13 Harlequins RL 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 6 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 12 12 12 12 14 14 14
    14 Catalans Dragons 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 10 12 12 12 12

    Play-offs

    The play-offs commence following the conclusion of 27 round regular season. To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, Super League adopts the unique Super League play-off system. The finals will conclude with the 2010 Super League Grand Final.

      Qualifying / Elimination play-offs Preliminary semi-finals Qualifying semi-finals Grand Final
                                             
      QPO1:    
    1   Wigan Warriors 26  
    4   Leeds Rhinos 27     PSF1:    
                  Wigan Warriors 42    
    EPO1:           Hull KR 18       QSF1: St Helens selected Huddersfield[8]
    5   Huddersfield Giants 18             St Helens 42  
    8   Crusaders 12             Huddersfield Giants 22     GF: 2 October, Old Trafford
              St Helens 10
      EPO2:       QSF2:         Wigan Warriors 22
    6   Hull 4           Leeds Rhinos 6  
    7   Hull KR 21     PSF2:           Wigan Warriors 26  
            Warrington Wolves 22    
    QPO2:           Huddersfield Giants 34    
    2   St. Helens 28    
    3   Warrington Wolves 12    
       
    Key:          Losing team progressing      Winning team progressing      Winning team's progression chosen

    Week 1. Qualifying/Elimination play-offs: Fixtures decided by regular reason finishing positions. Higher ranked teams play lower ranked teams. Higher ranked teams receive home ground advantage.
    Week 2. Preliminary semi-finals: Fixtures decided by regular season finishing positions. Higher ranked teams play lower ranked teams. Higher ranked teams receive home ground advantage.
    Week 3. Qualifying semi-finals: Winners of Qualifying play-offs play winners of Qualifying semi-finals. Fixtures decided by Club Call. Winners of Qualifying play-offs receive home ground advantage.

    Home Score Away Match Information
    Date and Time (Local) Venue Referee Crowd
    QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINALS
    St Helens RLFC 28 – 12 Warrington Wolves 10 September, 8:00pm GPW Recruitment Stadium Richard Silverwood (Dewsbury) 14,632
    Huddersfield Giants 18 – 12 Crusaders 11 September, 3:45pm Galpharm Stadium Ben Thaler(Wakefield) 5,869
    Hull 4 – 21 Hull KR 11 September, 6:00pm KC Stadium Phil Bentham (Warrington) 17,699
    Wigan Warriors 26 – 27 Leeds Rhinos 12 September, 6:45pm DW Stadium Thierry Alibert (Toulouse) 9,987
    PRELIMINARY SEMI-FINALS
    Wigan Warriors 42 – 18 Hull KR 17 September, 8:00pm DW Stadium R Silverwood 11,133
    Warrington Wolves 22 – 34 Huddersfield Giants 18 September, 6:15pm Halliwell Jones Stadium P Bentham 8,050
    SEMI-FINALS
    St Helens RLFC 42 – 22 Huddersfield Giants 24 September, 8:00pm GPW Recruitment Stadium P Bentham 13,510
    Leeds Rhinos 6 – 26 Wigan Warriors 25 September, 5:15pm Headingley Stadium R Silverwood 13,693
    GRAND FINAL
    St Helens RLFC 10 – 22 Wigan Warriors 2 October, 6:00pm Old Trafford, Manchester R Silverwood 71,526

    Notable moments

    January

    February

    April

    May

    Awards

    Awards have been presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs:[11]

    Disciplinary record

    The following table lists all incidents that were reviewed by the Rugby Football League during Super League XV, which were later deemed "guilty" and resulted in disciplinary action. The offenses were graded, depending on severity, in alphabetical order, "A" being less severe than "B".

    Media

    Television

    2010 was the second of a three-year broadcasting agreement between the RFL and BSkyB for Sky Sports to screen matches exclusively live within the United Kingdom.[14] The deal for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 season was worth in excess of £50 million.[15][16]

    Sky Sports' continued coverage in the UK sees two live matches broadcast each week - one on Friday at 7:30pm and another at 6pm on Saturday. Regular commentators are Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Highlights are shown on Boots N' All which is shown on Sky Sports and is rebroadcast on the Internet.

    BBC Sport broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, usually presented by Harry Gration. The BBC have elected to broadcast this only to the North West, Yorkshire and North Midlands, North East and Cumbria, and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on a Sunday. A national repeat is broadcast overnight during the week, the BBC Director of Sport, Richard Moseley, commented that this move was in response to the growing popularity and awareness of the sport, and the large number of requests from people who want to watch it elsewhere in the UK. End of season play-offs are shown across the whole country in a highlights package. Super League Show is available for streaming or downloaded using the BBC iPlayer in the UK.

    Orange Sport TV in France shows every Catalans Dragons home match live and also some other matches which are broadcast in the UK live on Sky.

    Internationally Super League is shown live on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), NTV+ (Russia), SportKlub (Eastern Europe).

    2010 was the second year of a three-year deal in which the Nine Network in Australia show up to 70 live games from Super League over the season.[17][18]

    In the United States America One show live Super League games from 2010.[19]

    Channel Nine started coverage of 2010 matches from 7 March at midnight (leading into Monday morning) due to coverage of the Winter Olympics they could not show the earlier matches.

    Radio

    Super League XV is covered extensively by BBC Local Radio:

    The competition is also covered on commercial radio coverage:

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

    Internet

    ESPN3 has worldwide broadband rights.

    Starting from 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports are also available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand.[20]

    In the United Kingdom, BBC London 94.9, BBC Radio Wales and Radio Warrington cover Harlequins, Crusaders (home games) and Warrington (home games) respectively.

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sky Sports - Super League Stats". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
    2. ↑ "engage extends Super League deal". Engage Super League (Engage Mutual Assurance). 1 July 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
    3. ↑ "St Helens 10 Wigan 22". BBC Sport. 2 October 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "New rule interpretations for 2010". RugbyLeague.com. 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Super League. "Competition structure". Super League (Europe). Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
    6. ↑ "Catalans look to break Willows duck and ignite their play-off hopes". Mail Online. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
    7. ↑ Laybourn, Ian (15 December 2009). "Noble aims to fill overseas quota". Sporting Life. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
    8. ↑ BBC Sport (19 September 2010). "St Helens opt for Huddersfield Giants in Club Call". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
    9. ↑ "Wakefield's Terry Newton suspended over dope test". BBC Sport. 17 February 2010. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
    10. ↑ "Wakefield cancel Terry Newton's contract after drug ban". BBC Sport. 22 February 2010. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
    11. ↑ "Trio nominated for rugby league Man of Steel honour". BBC Sport. 16 September 2010.
    12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Wigan's Pat Richards named 2010 Man of Steel BBC Sport, 27 September 2010
    13. ↑ Wigan's Pat Richards wins RLWA player of the year BBC Sport, 7 September 2010
    14. ↑ Sky Sports (26 November 2007). "Super League deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
    15. ↑ James Chapelard (28 July 2008). "Licence is Wilkinson's reward for years of support". Crain's Manchester Business. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
    16. ↑ John Ledger (27 November 2007). "Super League cashes in". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
    17. ↑ engage Super League (Press Release) (15 November 2008). "Channel Nine to show English Super League and Challenge Cup". RLeague.com. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
    18. ↑ SportBusiness (17 November 2008). "Channel Nine inks RFL deals". SportsBusiness. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
    19. ↑ Engage Super League expands its horizons in 2010 Engage Super League, 4 February 2010
    20. ↑ List of Super League games available Livestation.com