2016 Super League season

Super League XXI, known as the First Utility Super League XXI for sponsor reasons,[1] was the 21st season of the Super League and 122nd season of rugby league in Britain for 2016.

Super League XXI
LeagueSuper League
Duration30 Rounds
Teams12
Highest attendance20,049
Wigan Warriors vs St Helens (22 July)
Lowest attendance1,958
Salford Red Devils vs Huddersfield Giants (18 June)
Average attendance9,134
Attendance1,260,474 (as of round 23)
Broadcast partnersSky Sports
BBC Sport
Fox Sports
beIN Sports
Fox Soccer Plus
Sport Klub
2016 season
ChampionsWigan Warriors
4th Super League
21st British title
League LeadersWarrington Wolves
Runners-upWarrington Wolves
Biggest home winWakefield Trinity Wildcats 62 – 0 Wigan Warriors (Sunday 10 April 2016)
Biggest away winCastleford Tigers 16 – 58 Hull Kingston Rovers (Sunday 24 April 2016)
Man of SteelEngland Danny Houghton
Top try-scorer(s)Australia Denny Solomona (40)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from ChampionshipLeigh Centurions
Relegated to ChampionshipHull Kingston Rovers

Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend. Wigan Warriors were the Champions after successfully defeating Warrington Wolves 12–6 at Old Trafford, while Leigh Centurions were promoted from the Championship via The Qualifiers while Hull KR were relegated after losing to Salford Red Devils in the Million Pound Game.

Teams

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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

Regular Season

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Hull F.C. 23 17 0 6 605 465 +140 34 Super League Super 8s
2   Warrington Wolves 23 16 1 6 675 425 +250 33
3   Wigan Warriors 23 16 0 7 455 440 +15 32
4   St Helens 23 14 0 9 573 536 +37 28
5   Catalans Dragons 23 13 0 10 593 505 +88 26
6   Castleford Tigers 23 10 1 12 617 640 −23 21
7   Widnes Vikings 23 10 0 13 499 474 +25 20
8   Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 23 10 0 13 485 654 −169 20
9   Leeds Rhinos 23 8 0 15 404 576 −172 16 The Qualifiers
10   Salford City Reds 23 10 0 13 560 569 −9 14[a]
11   Hull Kingston Rovers 23 6 2 15 486 610 −124 14
12   Huddersfield Giants 23 6 0 17 511 569 −58 12
Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
Notes:
  1. ^ Salford deducted 6 points for salary cap breaches in 2014 and 2015.[2]

Super 8s

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Super League

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Warrington Wolves (L) 30 21 1 8 852 541 +311 43 Semi-finals
2   Wigan Warriors (C) 30 21 0 9 669 560 +109 42
3   Hull F.C. 30 20 0 10 749 579 +170 40
4   St Helens 30 20 0 10 756 641 +115 40
5   Castleford Tigers 30 15 1 14 830 808 +22 31
6   Catalans Dragons 30 15 0 15 723 716 +7 30
7   Widnes Vikings 30 12 0 18 603 643 −40 24
8   Wakefield Trinity 30 10 0 20 571 902 −331 20
Source: BBC Sport
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners

The Qualifiers

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Leeds Rhinos 7 6 0 1 239 94 +145 12 2017 Super League
2   Leigh Centurions (P) 7 6 0 1 223 193 +30 12
3   Huddersfield Giants 7 5 0 2 257 166 +91 10
4   Hull Kingston Rovers (R) 7 4 0 3 235 142 +93 8 Million Pound Game
5   Salford Red Devils 7 3 0 4 208 152 +56 6
6   London Broncos 7 3 0 4 221 212 +9 6 2017 Championship
7   Batley Bulldogs 7 1 0 6 111 318 −207 2
8   Featherstone Rovers 7 0 0 7 96 313 −217 0
Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

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Super League

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# 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]

Million Pound Game

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# 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

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  • Statistics correct as of 24 September 2016

Attendances

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  • Statistics correct as of 24 July 2016

End-of-season awards

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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

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Television

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "First Utility powers title sponsorship of Super League". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Salford docked six points for cap breach". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Warrington 18-10 St Helens: Wolves through to Grand Final".
  4. ^ "Wigan 28-18 Hull FC: Warriors to face Warrington in Grand Final".
  5. ^ "Wigan beat Warrington 12-6 to win Super League Grand Final".
  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. ^ "Rugby League".
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