Super League XVIII

Super League XVIII
League Super League
Duration 27 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs)
Number of teams 14
Highest attendance 31,249
Magic Weekend day 2
Lowest attendance 1,136
London Broncos v Catalans Dragons (28 March 2013)[1]
Average attendance 9,048[1]
Broadcast partners United Kingdom Sky Sports
United Kingdom BBC Sport
United Kingdom SLTV
Australia Eurosport
France beIN Sport
United States Fox Soccer Plus
Europe Sport Klub
2013 season
Champions Wigan Warriors
3rd Super League title
20th English title
League Leaders Huddersfield Giants
Biggest home win Hull F.C. 72-10 Widnes Vikings (2 August 2013)[1]
Biggest away win Hull Kingston Rovers 6-84 Wigan Warriors (1 April 2013)[1]
Top point-scorer(s) Danny Brough (281)[2][3]
Top try-scorer(s) Josh Charnley (33)
< 2012 Seasons 2014 >

The 2013 Super League season was the 18th season of rugby league football since the Super League format was introduced in 1996.[4] Fourteen teams competed for the League Leader's Shield over 27 rounds (including the Magic Weekend), after which the highest finishing teams entered 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 XVIII was the second 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 2013 season, all fourteen teams from the previous season will compete, including the Bradford Bulls, who were given a one-year probationary licence after going into administration and taken over by the Omar Khan consortium in the 2012 season.[5]

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, Leeds, Castleford, Hull and Hull KR. 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).

The maps below indicate the locations of teams that competed in Super League XVIII.

Team Stadium Capacity City/Area
Bradford Bulls (2013 season) Provident Stadium 27,000 Bradford, West Yorkshire
Castleford Tigers (2013 season) The Wish Communications Stadium 11,750 Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons (2013 season) Stade Gilbert Brutus 14,000 Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Huddersfield Giants (2013 season) John Smith's Stadium 24,544 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull (2013 season) Kingston Communications Stadium 25,404 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Hull Kingston Rovers (2013 season) MS3 Craven Park 9,471 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
  Leeds Rhinos (2013 season) Headingley Carnegie Stadium 22,250 Leeds, West Yorkshire
London Broncos (2013 season) Twickenham Stoop 12,700 Twickenham, London
Salford City Reds (2013 season) Salford City Stadium 12,000 Salford, Greater Manchester
St Helens RLFC (2013 season) Langtree Park 18,000 St Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (2013 season) Rapid Solicitors Stadium 11,000 Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves (2013 season) Halliwell Jones Stadium 15,500 Warrington, Cheshire
Widnes Vikings (2013 season) The Select Security Stadium 13,500 Widnes, Cheshire, England
Wigan Warriors (2013 season) DW Stadium 25,138 Wigan, Greater Manchester
Legend
  Reigning Super League champions
  Defending Challenge Cup Champions

Rule changes

For the 2013 season, the Rugby Football League has introduced a number of rule changes, which will also apply to the 2013 RFL Championship and Championship 1 seasons. This follows trial runs of the proposed rules during Boxing Day friendlies between Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats[6]

Rule changes include changes to the advantage rule, scrummage, marker tackle ruling, plus various changes to the out of play (ball-in-touch, touch-in-goal and dead-in-goal) rulings.[7]

Season statistics

Table

As of 8 September 2013
    		 Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
    1 Huddersfield Giants 27 21 0 6 851 507 +344 42
    2 Warrington Wolves 27 20 1 6 836 461 +375 41
    3 Leeds Rhinos 27 18 1 8 712 507 +205 37
    4 Wigan Warriors 27 17 1 9 816 460 +356 35
    5 St Helens RLFC 27 15 1 11 678 536 +142 31
    6 Hull F.C. 27 13 2 12 652 563 +89 28
    7 Catalans Dragons 27 13 2 12 619 604 +15 28
    8 Hull Kingston Rovers 27 13 0 14 642 760 -118 26
    9 Bradford Bulls 27 10 2 15 640 658 -18 22
    10 Widnes Vikings 27 10 2 15 695 841 -146 22
    11 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 27 10 1 16 660 749 -89 21
    12 Castleford Tigers 27 9 2 16 702 881 -179 20
    13 London Broncos 27 5 2 20 487 946 -459 12
    14 Salford City Reds 27 6 1 20 436 953 -517 11*

    * - Salford deducted 2 points on 14 June 2013 for fielding 14 players during home game against Castleford[8]

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

    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.

    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 2013 Super League Grand Final.[9]

    # Home Score Away Match Information
    Date and Time (Local) Venue Referee Attendance
    QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINALS
    Q1 Huddersfield Giants 8 – 22 Wigan Warriors 12 September, 20:00 BST John Smith's Stadium Phil Bentham 8,000
    Q2 Warrington Wolves 40 – 20 Leeds Rhinos 14 September, 15:00 BST Halliwell Jones Stadium James Child 8,695
    E1 St Helens RLFC 46 – 10 Hull Kingston Rovers 14 September, 17:00 BST Langtree Park Richard Silverwood 9,926
    E2 Hull FC 14 – 4 Catalans Dragons 13 September, 20:00 BST KC Stadium Ben Thaler 4,970
    PRELIMINARY SEMI-FINALS
    P1 Huddersfield Giants 76 – 18 Hull F.C. 19 September, 20:00 BST John Smith's Stadium Richard Silverwod 5,547
    P2 Leeds Rhinos 11 – 10 St Helens RLFC 20 September, 20:00 BST Headingley Carnegie Stadium Phil Bentham 12,189
    SEMI-FINALS
    SF1 Wigan Warriors 22 – 12 Leeds Rhinos 27 September, 20:00 BST DW Stadium Phil Bentham 14,600
    SF2 Warrington Wolves 30 – 22 Huddersfield Giants 26 September, 20:00 BST Halliwell Jones Stadium Richard Silverwood 10,042
    GRAND FINAL
    F Wigan Warriors 30 – 16 Warrington Wolves 5 October, 18:00 BST Old Trafford, Manchester Richard Silverwood 66,281
    2013 Super League play-offs bracket
      Qualifying / Elimination play-offs Preliminary semi-finals Qualifying semi-finals Grand Final
                                             
      QPO1:    
    1   Huddersfield Giants 8  
    4   Wigan Warriors 22     PSF1:    
                  Huddersfield Giants 76    
    EPO1:           Hull F.C. 18       QSF1:  
    5   St Helens RLFC 46             Wigan Warriors 22  
    8   Hull Kingston Rovers 10             Leeds Rhinos 12     GF: Old Trafford
              Wigan Warriors 30
      EPO2:       QSF2: Warrington select in club call       Warrington Wolves 16
    6   Hull F.C. 14           Warrington Wolves 30  
    7   Catalans Dragons 4     PSF2:           Huddersfield Giants 22  
            Leeds Rhinos 11    
    QPO2:           St Helens RLFC 10    
    2   Warrington Wolves 40    
    3   Leeds Rhinos 20    
       
    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.

    Player statistics

    As of 29 September 2013

    Discipline

    Red Cards
    Rank Player Club [1][2][3]
    1= England Ryan Bailey Leeds Rhinos 1
    France Julian Bousquet Catalans Dragons
    New Zealand Hep Cahill Widnes Vikings
    Australia Ben Cross Widnes Vikings
    New Zealand Weller Hauraki Castleford Tigers
    England Gareth Hock Widnes Vikings
    England Lee Jewitt Salford City Reds
    Australia Justin Poore Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
    England Luke Robinson Huddersfield Giants
    England Danny Tickle Hull F.C.
    England Adam Walker Hull Kingston Rovers
    Yellow Cards
    Rank Player Club [1][2][3]
    1 Australia Travis Burns Hull Kingston Rovers 3
    2= England Kevin Brown Widnes Vikings 2
    England Rangi Chase Castleford Tigers
    Australia Justin Carney Castleford Tigers
    England Graeme Horne Hull Kingston Rovers
    England Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook St Helens RLFC
    France Antoni Maria Catalans Dragons
    Australia Jamie Soward London Broncos
    New Zealand Brent Webb Catalans Dragons
    10= England Danny Addy Bradford Bulls 1
    England Ryan Bailey Leeds Rhinos
    Republic of Ireland Damien Blanch Catalans Dragons
    England Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants
    England Ben Cockayne Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
    England Jamie Cording Huddersfield Giants
    England Jon Clarke Widnes Vikings
    England Matthew Cook London Broncos
    Wales Gil Dudson Wigan Warriors
    Australia Scott Dureau Catalans Dragons
    France Olivier Elima Catalans Dragons
    England Jamie Ellis Castleford Tigers
    Australia Blake Green Wigan Warriors
    Republic of Ireland Scott Grix Huddersfield Giants
    New Zealand Weller Hauraki Castleford Tigers
    England David Hodgson Hull Kingston Rovers
    England Josh Hodgson Hull Kingston Rovers
    Australia Brett Kearney Bradford Bulls
    England Danny Kirmond Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
    United States Nathan Massey Castleford Tigers
    England Charlie Martin Castleford Tigers
    Australia Grant Millington Castleford Tigers
    Australia Mark O'Meley Hull F.C.
    Tonga Mickey Paea Hull Kingston Rovers
    England Larne Patrick Huddersfield Giants
    England Jamie Peacock Leeds Rhinos
    England Jay Pitts Hull F.C.
    France Michael Simon Catalans Dragons
    Tonga Ukuma Ta'ai Huddersfield Giants
    England Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors
    England Paul Wellens St Helens RLFC
    England Ben Westwood Warrington Wolves
    England Elliott Whitehead Bradford Bulls
    Australia Lincoln Withers Hull Kingston Rovers
    England Kirk Yeaman Hull F.C.

    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:[10]

    The winners of the 2013 awards are:[11]

    Media

    Television

    2013 is the second year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season.[12] The deal which runs until 2016 is worth £90million.

    Sky Sports coverage in the UK see two live matches broadcast each week – one on Friday night, which kicks-off at 8:00 pm and another usually on Saturday evenings at 5:45 pm,[13] although for 2013, some matches between May and August will be scheduled for Monday nights, following the introduction during the 2012 season[14] at 8:00 pm, filling the gap vacated by the summer break of Premier League football. The Monday night fixtures switched to Thursday nights from August 2013 following the resumption of the football season and also applies to the play-off fixtures.[15]

    Regular commentators were Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Shaun McRae, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights this season in a new show on Sunday Nights called 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 11:35pm on BBC One,[16] while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30pm. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.[17] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.[18]

    Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Maori Television (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), NTV+ (Russia), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Eurosport (Australia) or Sportsnet World (Canada).

    Radio

    BBC Coverage:

    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 Thursday 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports will also be available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand. List of Super League games available on Livestation.com

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Vital Statistics". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
    2. 1 2 3 "Stats - Player Stats". Super League. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
    3. 1 2 3 "Rugby League Stats". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
    4. ↑ "engage extends Super League deal". engagesl.com (Engage Mutual Assurance). Retrieved 20 April 2009.
    5. ↑ "Bradford Bulls: RFL grants club Super League licence". 12 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
    6. ↑ "RFL implements rule changes for 2013 season". BBC Sport. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
    7. ↑ "Rule changes for 2013 confirmed". RFL. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
    8. ↑ "Salford City Reds deducted two points for fielding 14 players". BBC Sport. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    9. ↑ "Play-offs". Super League. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
    10. ↑ "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
    11. ↑ "BROUGH NAMED 2013 MAN OF STEEL". Super League. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
    12. ↑ Sky Sports (4 August 2011). "Super League deal" (PDF). Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
    13. ↑ Sky Sports (18 February 2012). "Rugby League live on Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
    14. ↑ Super League Fans (6 February 2012). "Monday Night Super League fixtures announced". Super League Fans. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
    15. ↑ "Super League play-offs usher in an epic era". Super League. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
    16. ↑ BBC Sport (3 February 2012). "BBC's Super League Show returns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
    17. ↑ BBC. "BBC One - Super League Show". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
    18. ↑ "BBC Two - Rugby League: Super League Play-Offs - Highlights". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
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