Super League 2023 discussion

[League Unlimited News]

For match discussion, week to week stuff.

Round 1 starts Thursday night UK time, Friday morning AEDT.

Warrington Wolves v Leeds Rhinos
at Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
Thu 16 Feb 8:00pm GMT (Sky) / Fri 17 Feb 7:00am AEDT (Fox)
Referee: Liam Moore
Sideline Officials: Warren Turley, Dean Bowmer
Video Referee: Jack Smith

Wakefield Trinity v Catalans Dragons
at Be Well Support Stadium, Wakefield
Fri 17 Feb 7:30pm GMT / Sat 18 Feb 6:30am AEDT
Referee: Tom Grant
Sideline Officials: Cameron Worsley, Mark Craven

Leigh Leopards v Salford Red Devils
at Leigh Sports Village Stadium, Leigh
Fri 17 Feb 8:00pm GMT (Sky) / Sat 18 Feb 7:00am AEDT (Fox)
Referee: Jack Smith
Sideline Officials: Marcus Griffiths, Neil Horton
Video Referee: Liam Moore

Hull KR v Wigan Warriors
at Sewell Group Craven Park, Hull
Sat 18 Feb 1:00pm GMT (Ch 4) / Sun 19 Feb 12:00am AEDT
Referee: Chris Kendall
Sideline Officials: Richard Thompson, Jonathan Roberts
Video Referee: Ben Thaler

Hull FC v Castleford Tigers
Mon February 20 2023, 2:00am at MKM Stadium, Hull
Sun 19 Feb 3:00pm GMT / Mon 20 Feb 2:00am AEDT
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
Sideline Officials: Chris Kendall, Jack Smith

St Helens v Huddersfield Giants
at Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens
This match has been postponed, with St Helens currently playing in Australia for the World Club Challenge.

Squad lists as they're named: https://leagueunlimited.com/news/leagueunlimited-super-league-teams-2023-round-1/

 

[Perth Red]

For the win:
Leeds
Dragons
Salford
HKR
Cas
Hudds

 

[Perth Red]

HKR opening game v Wigan heading to a sell out. Just a few hundred tickets left. Will look and sound great for Ch4's opening game of the season.

Hull KR

hullkr.co.uk

 

[Perth Red]

Catalans Dragons and the Betfred Super League will have a higher national profile in France in 2023 thanks to a new broadcast agreement with the digital platform L’Equipe.

Under the agreement, five of the Dragons fixtures are confirmed for live coverage through L’Equipe’s website and app in the first half of the 2023 Betfred Super League season: their away games at Wigan Warriors on March 9 and at Leeds Rhinos on March 25; their home fixtures against Warrington Wolves on April 8 and against St Helens on May 5; and their Magic Weekend match against Wigan Warriors on June 3.

L’Equipe join a growing list of broadcast partners across five continents as the global reach of the Betfred Super League continues to grow, in partnership with the RDA agency and the sport’s strategic partners IMG.

Rugby League fans in Australia and New Zealand will again be able to enjoy Super League fixtures up to and including the Grand Final on Fox League and Sky Sport respectively.

Matches will be broadcast through South East Asia and across the Middle East and North Africa through Viaplay, and to Canada through Sportsnet.

All this is in addition to the domestic platform of the Betfred Super League, with 66 matches to be shown live by the major broadcast partners Sky Sports, an additional 10 free-to-air through Channel 4, and regular coverage on BBC Sport through the weekly Super League Show.

Dragons Catalans › News › 2023 › Feb. › Super League agrees French broadcast deal with LEquipe

www.catalansdragons.com

 

[Perth Red]

Rovers upset Wigan 27-18! Get in there Robins.

 

[Tigers1986]

Based off last night I can't see anybody stopping Saints getting their 5th in a row. They're just amazing.

 

[League Unlimited News]

Round 1 wrap: https://leagueunlimited.com/news/38503-results-2023-betfred-super-league-round-1/

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

Combined attendance of over 25k for the two Humberside clubs at the weekend.

I think in general we spend too much time pondering the size of crowds. Nonetheless, pretty impressive. The food and drink concourse at Craven Park looks good. Redolent of Mount Smart.

All SL clubs need to get their off-field experience right. Old-timers might still only go for the game, but we're in the minority. A number of sell-out Premier League grounds are half empty for 20 mins after half time.

Warrington encouraging too. Bit of recent historical perspective is illustrative. In the late 80s, when RL in England was perceived to be on an upswing, 5 or 6k was deemed a decent turnout at Wilderspool. Now, if the crowd at HJ dips below 10k it's considered poor. Wasn't that much better in the late 80s at The Boulevard and Knowsley Rd. New stadia have made a big difference.

 

[Perth Red]

Combined attendance of over 25k for the two Humberside clubs at the weekend.

Nearly 8% of the city turning out for the two Hull games is pretty darn good going. Especially as City played on Saturday as well.
Good crowds all round except Wakey, but their stadium is half knocked down at moment.

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

Good crowds all round except Wakey, but their stadium is half knocked down at moment.

Should be a great improvement when it's fully demolished.

 

[blue bags]

Saints are fantastic

 

[Perth Red]

Great viewing on ch4, SL on fta could be a real game changer for the English game.

’At one point during Hull KR's victory over Wigan Warriors, nearly half a million people were tuned into the action at Craven Park.
Saturday's Super League round one fixture had a 306,000 average and a 495,000 peak, which is a 4.4% audience share. Meaning that percentage of households with television sets had Channel four on during the broadcasting timeslot.’

Hull KR outdo World Club Challenge as Channel 4 post huge viewing figures

The TV figures have been released, and it's a good showing from a Hull KR point of view.

www.hulldailymail.co.uk

 

[Perth Red]

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

Nearly 8% of the city turning out for the two Hull games is pretty darn good going. Especially as City played on Saturday as well.

For your delectation, I'll offer a few rambling personal reflections on the subject of Hull.

First visit to 'ull was in 1977 for a match at Boothferry Park which ended Hull City 0 Bolton Wanderers 0. Truly woeful game. Nothing worse than dire Soccer. Give me dire RL any day.

Next encounter with Humberside sophistication was at Headingley a fortnight before Xmas 1981. Regal Trophy semi-final Hull KR 23 Swinton 14. There were some tantalizing moments when we threatened to cause an upset. As far as I'm aware, the only time the Lions ever appeared on Grandstand. Never seen it, because I was at the game. Didn't own a video recorder. Can't find any trace on the internet.

Rervers lost the final 12-4 to a team in black and white. 25k at Headingley for that one.

By dint of dismal attitudes and pitiful national media coverage, when a pro club endures a protracted period of underachievement, the drop in local support for RL can be alarming and irretrievable. Even when the team are rejuvenated, the fans just aren't there in the same numbers anymore. Huddersfield and Halifax are prime examples.

Hence, it's heartening to see strong support for Hull KR after all those years in and out of SL. It's probably the existence of two big clubs in the same city and the interaction between them that keeps the residual interest high regardless of on-field performance.

This point is relevant to your role as chief evangelist for the WA 18th NRL team bid. I'm convinced the case for Perth stacks up better than any alternative. The one nagging doubt is how isolation (media and cultural rather than physical) will affect the franchise in tough times.

 

[Pneuma]

Round 1 attendance total 50000

Round 2 attendance total 60000

Amazing weekend for attendances in Super League - Serious About Rugby League

Super League Round Two has already been and gone and it was another fantastic weekend of action. It all started at the AJ Bell Stadium as Salford Red Devils hosted Hull KR in an interesting clash between two entertaining sides who started the season with a win. The Red Devils had the better of...

www.seriousaboutrl.com

 

[Perth Red]

 

[Pneuma]

St Helen’s lost by a field goal to Leeds. Must have been monumental!

 

[Perth Red]

Some upset results so far this weekend, looks like we could be in for a close Superleague season

St’s 24 - Leeds 25
HKR 25 - Leigh 30
Dragons 38 - HFC 6
wigan 36 - Cas 0
Giants 8 - Wakey 0

 

[MRN]

How sweet it is to watch both St Helens and Penrith go down by a point each. The only thing that could have made that combo better is if Wigan had sunk Saints instead of Leeds.

 

[Tigers1986]

Who'd be so rancid as to lose to Leopards lol