2024 Super League season

(Redirected from Super League XXIX)

The 2024 Super League season, known as the 2024 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 29th season of the Super League and 130th season of rugby league in Great Britain.

2024 Super League season
LeagueSuper League
Duration27 rounds
Teams12
Matches played166
Points scored6,568
Highest attendance20,511
(5 October)
Lowest attendance1,900
(4 August)
Average attendance9,193
Attendance1,594,135
Broadcast partners
2024 Season
ChampionsWigan Warriors
(7th Super League title
24th British title)
League Leaders ShieldWigan Warriors
Runners-upHull KR
Biggest home winWigan Warriors
  • 64–0
Salford Red Devils
  • (19 September)
Biggest away winHuddersfield Giants
  • 0–66
Warrington Wolves
(14 September)
Man of SteelEngland Mikey Lewis
Top point-scorer(s)England Mikey Lewis (216)
Top try-scorer(s)England Liam Marshall (27)
Grading
ElevatedWakefield Trinity
DemotedLondon Broncos

Wigan Warriors were the defending champions, having beaten Catalans Dragons in the Grand Final, to win their sixth Super League title.[1] They retained their title by defeating Hull KR 9–2 in the Final, and by doing so, they become the first team in Super League history to win all 4 major trophies in the same year.

London Broncos were promoted from the Championship, having beaten Toulouse Olympique in the Championship Grand Final.[2]

Hull KR reached their first ever Grand Final, after a narrow 10–8 victory over Warrington Wolves in the semi finals.

Structure changes

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At the end of the 2023 season, IMG and the Rugby Football League (RFL) released initial gradings, indicating which league clubs would likely be playing in from the 2025 system. This transition to the new gradings-based system means there will be no automatic relegation as a result of finishing 12th from 2024.

On 23 October, the RFL released the gradings for the 2025 season, which saw London Broncos relegated back to the Championship, with Wakefield Trinity being promoted.

Broadcasting

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In a major change for the 2024 season, for the first time every fixture from the 27 regular rounds as well as the play-offs was broadcast live on Sky Sports, who had exclusive rights to two fixtures per round, with four being shown on a new streaming service, SuperLeague+.[3] The games televised by Sky Sports between round 1 and round 15 were confirmed prior to the start of the season.[4]

On 7 February, BBC Sport announced a three-year deal with the league, replacing Channel 4 as the league's free-to-air partner.[5] Ten games per season will be shown live on television, with a further five shown on iPlayer, the BBC's streaming platform. The deal ended the BBC's Super League Show after 25 years, with condensed highlights of all games being added to iPlayer within 24 hours.

Teams

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The league comprises 12 teams. The regular season comprises 27 rounds. Wigan Warriors are the defending champions after winning the 2023 Grand Final. Wakefield Trinity finished bottom in 2023 and were relegated to the Championship for 2024, they were replaced by promoted London Broncos who won the 2023 Championship Grand Final after finishing 5th in the table.

Locations of the 2024 Super League teams in Northern England
Locations of 2024 Super League teams in Greater London
Locations of 2024 Super League teams in France
Team 2023 position Grading[6] Stadium
(Capacity)
City/Town
  Castleford Tigers
11th B Mend-A-Hose Jungle (12,000)[7] Castleford, West Yorkshire
  Catalans Dragons
2nd (Runner-up) A Stade Gilbert Brutus (13,000)[8] Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
  Huddersfield Giants
9th B John Smith's Stadium

(24,121)[9]

Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
  Hull FC
10th A MKM Stadium (25,400)[10] Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
  Hull Kingston Rovers
(2024 season)
4th (Eliminated in Semi final) A Sewell Group Craven Park (12,225)[11] Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
  Leeds Rhinos
8th A Headingley Rugby Stadium

(21,062)[12]

Leeds, West Yorkshire
  Leigh Leopards
5th (Eliminated in Eliminator play off) B Leigh Sports Village (11,000) Leigh, Greater Manchester
  London Broncos
(2024 season)
5th in Championship, Promoted B Cherry Red Records Stadium (9,215) Wimbledon, London
  Salford Red Devils
7th B Salford Community Stadium (12,000)[13] Salford, Greater Manchester
  St Helens
3rd (Eliminated in Semi final) A Totally Wicked Stadium (18,000)[14] St Helens, Merseyside
  Warrington Wolves 6th (Eliminated in Eliminator play off) A Halliwell Jones Stadium

(15,200)[15]

Warrington, Cheshire
   Wigan Warriors
(2024 season)
1st (Champions) A Brick Community Stadium

(25,133)[16]

Wigan, Greater Manchester

Fixtures and results

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Matches decided by golden point

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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 (five minutes each way). The first team to score either a try, penalty 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 (Leigh Leopards v Castleford Tigers)

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The round 10 game between Leigh Leopards and Castleford Tigers on 4 May 2024, finished 28–28 after 80 minutes, after Castleford scored a last minute try to level the scores. The game then went to extra time, with the only real chance coming in the 8th added minute, as Matt Moylan's drop goal attempt hit the post. Neither team could score any points, so the game ended as a draw.

Game 2 (Leeds Rhinos v London Broncos)

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The round 16 game between Leeds Rhinos and London Broncos on 6 July 2024, finished 16–16 after 80 minutes, after Leeds scored a late try to level the scores. The game then went to extra time, with the only chance coming in the 4th added minute, as Brodie Croft kicked the winning drop goal to win the match for Leeds 17–16.

Game 3 (Hull KR v Catalans Dragons)

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The round 16 fixture between Hull Kingston Rovers and Catalans Dragons on 6 July 2024, finished 14–14 after 80 minutes, as Rovers kicked a late penalty goal to level the scores. The game then went to extra time, but neither team could score any points during the first period. With less than 3 minutes of the second period remaining, Theo Fages kicked the winning drop goal to win the match for Catalans 15–14.

Game 4 (St Helens v Salford Red Devils)

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The round 21 fixture between St Helens and Salford Red Devils on 8 August 2024, finished 16–16 after 80 minutes. The game then went to extra time, With Moses Mbye kicking the winning drop goal, to win the game for St Helens 17-16.

Game 5 (London Broncos v Leeds Rhinos)

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The round 24 fixture between London Broncos and Leeds Rhinos on 1 September 2024, finished 20–20 after 80 minutes, after London scored a late try to level the scores. The game then went to extra time, and with less than a minute of the second half remaining, Brodie Croft kicked the winning drop goal once again, just as he did in the reverse fixture in round 16, to win the game for Leeds 21-20.

Game 6 (Warrington Wolves v St Helens)

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The Elimination play off fixture between Warrington Wolves and St Helens on 28 September 2024, finished 22-22 after 80 minutes, after Jon Bennison scored a last minute try for St Helens to bring St Helens to within 2 points. Mark Percival then kicked the conversion from the touchline to level the scores. The game then went to extra time, with the only chance coming in the 85th minute, with George Williams kicking the winning drop goal for Warrington, after Percival had kicked the ball out on the full.

Standings

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Wigan Warriors (C) 27 22 0 5 723 338 +385 44 Advance to Semi-finals
2   Hull KR (Y) 27 21 0 6 719 326 +393 42
3   Warrington Wolves 27 20 0 7 740 319 +421 40 Advance to Eliminators
4   Salford Red Devils 27 16 0 11 550 547 +3 32
5   Leigh Leopards 27 15 1 11 566 398 +168 31
6   St Helens 27 15 0 12 596 388 +208 30
7   Catalans Dragons 27 15 0 12 474 427 +47 30
8   Leeds Rhinos 27 14 0 13 530 488 +42 28
9   Huddersfield Giants 27 10 0 17 468 660 −192 20
10   Castleford Tigers 27 7 1 19 425 735 −310 15
11   Hull FC 27 3 0 24 328 894 −566 6
12   London Broncos (R) 27 3 0 24 317 916 −599 6 Relegated to Championship
Source: [1]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated; (Y) Runners up

Play-offs

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Team bracket

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Eliminators Semi-finals Grand Final
1   Wigan 38
4   Salford 6 5   Leigh 0
5   Leigh 14 1   Wigan 9
2   Hull KR 2
2   Hull KR 10
3   Warrington 23 3   Warrington 8
6   St Helens 22

Week 1: Eliminators

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27 September 2024
20:00 BST (UTC+01)
Salford Red Devils 6–14 Leigh Leopards
Tries: Ryan 79'
Goals: Sneyd 28' (pen)
1st: 2–0
2nd: 4–14
Report
Tries: Charnley 53'
O'Brien 59'
Ipape 66'
Goals: Moylan 60'
Salford Community Stadium, Salford
Attendance: 10,867
Referee: Jack Smith
Touch judges: Richard Thompson, Mark Craven[17]
Team details
Salford Red Devils Position Leigh Leopards
Name Number Number Name
Chris Hankinson 23 6 Matt Moylan   60'
Ethan Ryan   79' 2 34 Darnell McIntosh
Nene Macdonald 3 24 Umyla Hanley
Tim Lafai 4 4 Ricky Leutele
Deon Cross 5 5 Josh Charnley   53'
Jayden Nikorima 32 1 Gareth O'Brien   59'
Marc Sneyd   28' 7 7 Lachlan Lam
Brad Singleton   26'   49' 8 8 Tom Amone   32'   61'
Joe Mellor 24 9 Edwin Ipape   66'
Gil Dudson   19' 27 10 Robbie Mulhern   51'   72'
Sam Stone   61' 11 12 Jack Hughes   77'
Kallum Watkins 12 16 Frankie Halton   9'  
Oliver Partington   65' 13 13 John Asiata
Ryan Brierley   61' 1 33 Brad Dwyer
Shane Wright   26'   63' 15 3 Zak Hardaker   9'
Joe Shorrocks   65' 16 35 Aaron Pene   51',   72'
Loghan Lewis   19'   49' 29 17 Owen Trout   32',   61'
Paul Rowley
Coach
Adrian Lam

This match was broadcast on BBC Two and set a new television audience record for a Super League playoff game at 385,000, beating the previous record of 330,000 set in 2022 with St Helens against Salford.[18]

28 September 2024
17:30 BST (UTC+01)
Warrington Wolves 23–22 (g.p.) St Helens
Tries: King 2', 54'
Ashton 36', 66'
Goals: Thewlis 37', 55', 67'
Field goals: Williams 85'
1st: 10–16
2nd: 13–6
Report
Tries: Makinson 12', 32'
Percival 24'
Bennison 79'
Goals: Percival 13', 25', 80'
Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
Attendance: 12,211
Referee: Liam Moore
Touch judges: Johnny Roberts, Warren Turley[17]
Team details
Warrington Wolves Position St Helens
Name Number Number Name
Matt Dufty 1 1 Jack Welsby
Josh Thewlis   37, 56, 69' 2 2 Tommy Makinson   12'32'
Rodrick Tai 14 11 Sione Mata'utia
Toby King   2'54' 3 4 Mark Percival   25'   14', 26', 80'
Matty Ashton   36'66' 5 5 Jon Bennison   79'
George Williams 6 6 Jonny Lomax
Josh Drinkwater 7 7 Lewis Dodd
Luke Yates 41 8 Alex Walmsley   21'   62'
Danny Walker 9 9 Daryl Clark   69'   83'
Zane Musgrove 16 10 Matty Lees   29'   48'
John Bateman 42 19 Matt Whitley
Matty Nicholson 13 12 Joe Batchelor
Ben Currie 12 13 Morgan Knowles   30'   46'
Sam Powell 32 15 James Bell   29'   46'
James Harrison 8 17 Agnatius Paasi   30'   48'
Paul Vaughan 10 20 George Delaney   21'   62'
Joe Philbin 15 24 Jake Burns   69'   83'
Sam Burgess
Coach
Paul Wellens


Week 2: Semi-finals

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Hull KR were without captain Elliot Minchella, after he was handed a 2 match suspension.[19]

4 October 2024
20:00 BST (UTC+01)
Hull KR 10–8 Warrington Wolves
Tries: Batchelor 17'
Burgess 35'
Goals: Lewis 36'
1st: 10–0
2nd: 0–8
Report
Tries: Ashton 46', 59'
Craven Park, Hull
Attendance: 12,225[a]
Referee: Liam Moore
Touch judges: Johnny Roberts, Warren Turley[20]
Team details
Hull KR Position Warrington Wolves
Name Number Number Name
Niall Evalds 2 1 Matt Dufty
Joe Burgess 35 2 Josh Thewlis
Peta Hiku 1 14 Rodrick Tai
Jack Broadbent 36 3 Toby King
Ryan Hall 5 5 Matty Ashton   46'59'
Tyrone May 6 6 George Williams
Mikey Lewis 7 7 Josh Drinkwater
Sauaso Sue   22' 8 41 Luke Yates
Matt Parcell 14 9 Danny Walker
Jai Whitbread 16 16 Zane Musgrove
Matty Storton   27' 17 42 John Bateman
James Batchelor 12 13 Matty Nicholson
Dean Hadley 11 12 Ben Currie
Jez Litten 9 32 Sam Powell
Sam Luckley   22' 15 8 James Harrison
Kelepi Tanginoa   27' 20 10 Paul Vaughan
Jack Brown 37 15 Joe Philbin
Willie Peters
Coach
Sam Burgess

5 October 2024
17:30 BST (UTC+01)
Wigan Warriors 38–0 Leigh Leopards
Tries: Marshall 11', 38'
Walters 19', 42'
French 60'
Field 78'
Goals: Keighran 20', 30' (pen), 39', 43', 56' (pen), 60', 79'
1st: 18–0
2nd: 20–0
Report
Brick Community Stadium, Wigan
Attendance: 20,511
Referee: Chris Kendall
Touch judges: Richard Thompson, Mark Craven[20]
Team details
Wigan Warriors Position Leigh Leopards
Name Number Number Name
Jai Field 1 6 Matt Moylan
Abbas Miski 2 3 Zak Hardaker
Adam Keighran 3 4 Ricky Leutele
Jake Wardle 4 24 Umyla Hanley
Liam Marshall   11'38' 5 34 Darnell McIntosh
Bevan French 6 1 Gareth O'Brien
Harry Smith 7 7 Lachlan Lam
Ethan Havard   23'   57' 8 8 Tom Amone   33'
Kruise Leeming   49' 17 9 Edwin Ipape
Luke Thomson   37' 16 10 Robbie Mulhern   47'
Junior Nsemba 21 20 Oliver Holmes
Sam Walters 22 12 Jack Hughes
Kaide Ellis   48' 13 13 John Asiata
Liam Byrne   37'   69' 10 17 Owen Trout
Patrick Mago   48' 15 35 Aaron Pene   33'
Tyler Dupree   23'   57'   69' 19 15 Matt Davis
Tom Forber   49' 27 33 Brad Dwyer   47'
Matt Peet
Coach
Adrian Lam


Week 3: Grand Final

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12 October 2024
18:00 BST (UTC+01)
Wigan Warriors 9–2 Hull KR
Tries: French 23'
Goals: Keighran 24', 62' (pen)
Field goals: Smith 40'
1st: 7–0
2nd: 2–2
Report
Goals: Lewis 57' (pen)
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 68,173
Referee: Chris Kendall
Touch judges: Richard Thompson, Johnny Roberts[21]
Rob Burrow Award: Bevan French

End-of-season awards

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The end of season awards took place on Tuesday 8 October. The winners were:

Player statistics

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Top try scorer

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Player (s) Club Tries
  Liam Marshall   Wigan Warriors 27

Top try assists

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Player (s) Club Assists
  Lachlan Lam   Leigh Leopards 24
  Mikey Lewis   Hull KR

Top goal scorer

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Player Club Goals
  Marc Sneyd   Salford Red Devils 98/110

Top points scorer

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Rank Player Club Points
1   Mikey Lewis   Hull KR 216

Attendances

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Notes

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  1. ^ No official attendance given, but the match was a sellout.

References

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  1. ^ "Wigan seal 6th super league title with win over Catalans". BBC Sport. 14 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  2. ^ "London Broncos promoted to super league". BBC Sport. 15 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Launching SuperLeague+". Super League. 23 January 2024. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. ^ "2024 Fixtures Released". Super League. 23 November 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Super League: BBC to show live games for first time after signing three-year broadcast deal". BBC Sport. 7 February 2024. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Seven Betfred Super League clubs awarded Grade A status". Rugby-League.com. 25 October 2023. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  7. ^ "The Jungle (Wheldon Road)". castlefordtigers.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Stade Gilbert Brutus". catalan dragons.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Kirklees Stadium". johnsmithsstadium.com.
  10. ^ "KCOM Stadium". kcomstadium.com/. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Craven Park, Hull". hullkr.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Headingley Rugby Stadium". therhinos.co.uk. 14 December 2016. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  13. ^ "AJ Bell Stadium". ajbellstadium.co.uk/. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Totally Wicked Stadium". saintsrlfc.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Halliwell Jones Stadium". halliwelljonesstadium.co.uk/.
  16. ^ "DW Stadium". wiganwarriors.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  17. ^ a b Walker, Callum (24 September 2024). "Super League play-off referees revealed ahead of Salford-Leigh and Warrington-St Helens fixtures". Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Warrington Wolves and St Helens set outrageous viewing figures record". Love Rugby League. 1 October 2024.
  19. ^ "Elliot Minchella: Hull KR captain's two-match ban upheld by panel". BBC Sport. 24 September 2024. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  20. ^ a b Walker, Callum (2 October 2024). "Super League semi-final refereeing appointments revealed".
  21. ^ Walker, Callum (7 October 2024). "Chris Kendall appointed as Super League Grand Final referee with Liam Moore as video official". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 9 October 2024.