Super League XIX
| Super League XIX | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | Super League |
| Duration | 27 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs) |
| Teams | 14 |
| Highest attendance | 36,399 (Magic Weekend Day 1, 17 May) |
| Lowest attendance |
1,002 ( London Broncos v  Catalans Dragons, 17 April) |
| Average attendance | 8,365 |
| Broadcast partners |
 Sky Sports BBC Sport SLTV Eurosport beIN Sport Fox Soccer Plus Sport Klub |
| 2014 season | |
| Champions |
 St. Helens6th Super League title 13th English title |
| League Leaders |
St. Helens |
| Runners-up |
 Wigan Warriors |
| Biggest home win |
 Widnes Vikings 64-10 London Broncos (16 February) |
| Biggest away win |
 Bradford Bulls 18-66  Huddersfield Giants (16 March) |
| Man of Steel |
Daryl Clark  (Castleford Tigers) |
| Top point-scorer(s) |
Danny Brough (142)[1][2] |
| Top try-scorer(s) |
Joel Monaghan  (Warrington Wolves) (28) |
| Promotion and relegation | |
| Relegated to Championship |
London Broncos Bradford Bulls |
The 2014 Super League season (known as the First Utility Super League XIX due to sponsorship by First Utility)[3] was the 19th season of rugby league football since the Super League format was introduced in 1996. Fourteen teams competed for the League Leader's Shield over 27 rounds (including the Magic Weekend in Manchester), after which the highest finishing teams will enter the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win the championship and the Super League Trophy.
Teams
Super League XIX will be the third and final year of a licensed Super League. Under this system, promotion and relegation between Super League and Championship was abolished, and 14 teams were granted licences subject to certain criteria. For the 2014 season, all fourteen teams from the previous season will compete, although Salford have changed their names from the City Reds to the Red Devils.
At the end of the season, Super League will be reduced to 12 teams, as part of the re-structuring of Super League and the RFL Championship.[4]
Geographically, the vast majority of teams in Super League are based in the north of England, five teams – Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan and Widnes – to the west of the Pennines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and seven teams to the east in Yorkshire – Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. Catalans Dragons are the only team based in France and are outside of the UK and London Broncos are the only team to be based in a capital city (London).
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Reigning Super League champions | |
| Defending Challenge Cup Champions | |
| Relegated | |
Season statistics
Results
The regular league season sees the 14 teams play each other twice (one home, one away) plus an additional match, as part of the Magic Weekend, over 27 matches. The team who finishes 1st at the end of the regular season win the League Leader's Shield.
Table
- As of 14th September 2014
| # | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Helens R.F.C. |
27 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 796 | 563 | +233 | 38 | |
| 2 | Wigan Warriors |
27 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 834 | 429 | +405 | 37 | |
| 3 | Huddersfield Giants |
27 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 785 | 626 | +159 | 37 | |
| 4 | Castleford Tigers |
27 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 814 | 583 | +231 | 36 | |
| 5 | Warrington Wolves |
27 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 793 | 515 | +278 | 35 | |
| 6 |  Leeds Rhinos |
27 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 685 | 421 | +264 | 32 | |
| 7 | Catalans Dragons |
27 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 733 | 667 | +66 | 29 | |
| 8 | Widnes Vikings |
27 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 611 | 725 | -114 | 27 | |
| 9 |  Hull Kingston Rovers |
27 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 627 | 665 | -38 | 23 | |
| 10 |  Salford Red Devils |
27 | 11 | 1 | 15 | 608 | 695 | -87 | 23 | |
| 11 |  Hull F.C. |
27 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 653 | 586 | +67 | 22 | |
| 12 |  Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
27 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 557 | 750 | -193 | 21 | |
| 13 | Bradford Bulls |
27 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 512 | 984 | -472 | 10* | |
| 14 | London Broncos |
27 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 438 | 1237 | -799 | 2 | |
* - Bradford Bulls deducted 6 points on 25 February 2014 for entering administration[5]
Play-offs
The play-offs commenced following the conclusion of the 27-round regular season. To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, Super League uses its unique play-off system. The finals concluded with the 2014 Super League Grand Final.[6]
| # | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referee | Attendance | ||||||
| QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINALS | |||||||||
| Q1 | Wigan Warriors |
57 – 4 | Huddersfield Giants |
18 September 2014, 20:00 BST | DW Stadium | Richard Silverwood | 8,562 | ||
| Q2 | St Helens R.F.C. |
41 – 0 | Castleford Tigers |
19 September 2014, 20:00 BST | Langtree Park | James Child | 7,458 | ||
| E1 | Warrington Wolves |
22 – 19 | Widnes Vikings |
20 September 2014, 14:45 BST | Halliwell Jones Stadium | Ben Thaler | 7,229 | ||
| E2 | Leeds Rhinos |
20 – 24 | Catalans Dragons |
20 September 2014, 17:15 BST | Headingley Carnegie Stadium | Phil Bentham | 7,112 | ||
| PRELIMINARY SEMI-FINALS | |||||||||
| P1 | Castleford Tigers |
14 – 30 | Warrington Wolves |
25 September 2014, 20:00 BST | Wish Communications Stadium | Phil Bentham | 6,219 | ||
| P2 | Huddersfield Giants |
16 – 18 | Catalans Dragons |
26 September 2014, 20:00 BST | John Smith's Stadium | James Child | 6,900 | ||
| SEMI-FINALS | |||||||||
| SF1 | St Helens R.F.C. |
30 – 12 | Catalans Dragons |
2 October 2014, 20:00 BST | Langtree Park | Richard Silverwood | 8,888 | ||
| SF2 | Wigan Warriors |
16 – 12 | Warrington Wolves |
3 October 2014, 20:00 BST | DW Stadium | Phil Bentham | 15,023 | ||
| GRAND FINAL | |||||||||
| F | St Helens R.F.C. |
14 – 6 | Wigan Warriors |
11 October, 18:00 BST | Old Trafford, Manchester | Phil Bentham | 70,102 | ||
Player statistics
- As of 14 September 2014
Top try-scorers
|
Top try assists
|
Top goalscorers
|
Top points scorers
|
Discipline
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:[8]
- Man of Steel: Daryl Clark, Castleford Tigers
- Coach of the year: Daryl Powell, Castleford Tigers
- Super League club of the year: Widnes Vikings
- Young player of the year: Daryl Clark, Castleford Tigers
- Foundation of the year: Warrington Wolves
- Rhino "Top Gun":
- Metre-maker: James Roby, St Helens
- Top Try Scorer: Joel Monaghan, Warrington Wolves
- Outstanding Achievement Award:
- Hit Man:
Media
Television
2014 is the third year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season.[9] The deal which runs until 2016 is worth £90million.
Sky Sports coverage in the UK see two live matches broadcast each week, which will usually be shown at 20:00 on Thursday and Friday nights[10] with the Thursday night fixtures first being adopted at the back-end of the 2013 season.
Regular commentators were 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, usually airing at 10pm.
BBC Sport broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme. The first is only to the BBC North West, Yorkshire & North Midlands, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 23:35 on BBC One,[11] while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 13:30. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.[12] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.[13]
Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Māori Television (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), NTV+ (Russia), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Eurosport (Australia) or Sportsnet World (Canada).
Radio
BBC Coverage:
- BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (National DAB Digital Radio) will carry two Super League commentaries each week on Thursday and Friday nights (both kick off 8pm); this will be through the 5 Live Rugby League programme which is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and also includes interviews and debate..
- BBC Radio Humberside will have full match commentary of all Hull KR and Hull matches.
- BBC Radio Leeds carry commentaries featuring Bradford, Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
- BBC Radio Manchester will carry commentary of Wigan and Salford whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Merseyside.
- BBC Radio Merseyside (will have commentary on St Helens and Widnes matches whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Manchester.
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.
- BCB 106.6 (Bradford Community Broadcasting) have full match commentary of Bradford Bulls 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).
All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.
References
- 1 2 3 "Stats - Player Stats". Super League. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Rugby League Stats". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ↑ "First Utility powers title sponsorship of Super League". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ↑ "Super League set to feature 12 teams from 2015". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ↑ "Bradford Bulls deducted six competition points". Super League. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
- ↑ "Play-offs". Super League. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- 1 2 "Vital Statistics". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ↑ "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- ↑ Sky Sports (4 August 2011). "Super League deal" (PDF). Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ↑ Sky Sports (18 February 2012). "Rugby League live on Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ↑ BBC Sport (3 February 2012). "BBC's Super League Show returns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ↑ BBC. "BBC One - Super League Show". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ↑ "BBC Two - Rugby League: Super League Play-Offs - Highlights". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2013.