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Hull KR v Wigan again?! Is that good or bad for the sport?

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On Saturday, Hull KR will face Wigan in the Challenge Cup Final. This will be third meeting of the two sides in major finals in the last four finals. Only Warrington have broken the duopoly of finalists by making the Challenge Cup Final in 2024 and 2025. But when taking a whole sport perspective, does it matter that we are seeing the same two sides repeatedly contest finals? You can make an argument either way. Hull KR and Wigan have faced each other on five occasions in knockout fixtures since 2023. Saturday’s Challenge Cup Final will be the sixth. So far, Wigan have won three and Hull KR have won two. Can Hull KR square it up on Saturday or will Wigan show they have the edge when it matters, more often than not? If you are of the view that the same final is bad for the sport, we should say from the outset that it is on other sides to get better. Hull KR and Wigan will never and should not be expected simply to get out of the way so other sides can enjoy a day in the limelight. ...
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Winning doesn't always matter. It is about winning when it matters.

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Maybe it is a by-product of getting older. Maybe it is a reflection of a changing society. Maybe it is the fact that opinions that once would have been said across a smoke-filled pub are now written online for all to see. But in society it seems we are far quicker to reach conclusions now than we once were. Save for the walkover against Lock Lane, Hull KR had a 50% record to start the 2026 season, winning three matches and losing three matches. They lost away at York and Catalans and were taken to the cleaners in Vegas by Leeds. They defeated Brisbane in the World Club Challenge and Huddersfield twice, once in the league and once in the Cup. After the defeat to Catalans, Hull KR sat in a miserly 11th place in the league and many were quick to comment that Hull KR may not be the same force in 2026 that they were in 2025. Seven consecutive wins later and Hull KR sit in third place in the league and in their third Challenge Cup Final in four years. At the end of last month, Wigan had lost...
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What does an NRL Europe future look like?

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The  discussion of a potential NRL takeover of Super League makes you wonder what a future with the NRL pulling the strings may look like for British Rugby League.  This piece is just for fun and debate but I thought I would look at things that the NRL *could* change about the sport over here, if it wished. Kick off times In the NRL, each game has its own slot, there are no fixture clashes.  In the early years of Super League, we tended to have two televised matches (Friday night and Sunday night) with the rest being 3pm Sunday kick offs. As teams grew weary of late changes due to broadcast rights, there was a gradual shift to most matches being Friday 8pm kick offs. Super League has already started to move towards the staggered kick off model but not quite to the entirely individual slot model. An NRL led league may adopt that model fully. Brilliant for the TV viewer who could see every match with no clash. Not so for what football would call 'legacy' fans, who could see...
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We need to talk about the BBC

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On Saturday, any neutral who was committed enough to stick with it would have seen Warrington annihilate Castleford by 72-6 live on BBC2. I consider myself a pretty devoted fan of the sport. I write a blog about it for goodness sake! But as a neutral viewer, I switched off at half time, went out for a walk and enjoyed the spring sunshine. If I wasn't minded to stick with this match, I imagine more casual viewers wouldn't have either. Before I launch into the substance of this piece, I must stress that the purpose is not to have a go at the BBC. It pays for Super League rights (unlike Channel 4 who paid for the rights with enthusiasm rather than pounds). It has extensive coverage of Super League and the Championship across local radio. Not just live matches, but midweek shows, interviews, phone-ins. etc. They have covered the Challenge Cup for decades. They now show matches from round 1 of the competition. They have covered internationals, the women's game and the wheelchair...
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Win at all costs? It's not what it seems!

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On Saturday night, St Helens were on the ropes against Bradford. They were 4-16 down after 45 minutes. With more accurate goalkicking, it could have been 4-20. They were in a hole. St Helens fought back and led 20-16 after 57 minutes, with Bradford reduced to 12 men courtesy of a red card. But this game was by no means won. It remained in the balance. All it would take was one chance for Bradford to to tip the scales in their favour. On 58 minutes, St Helens get a penalty that Jackson Hastings would easily have kicked. They chose to run and their attack was snuffed out.  They declined the chance to extent a lead to one which would mean Bradford having to score twice to win. A very difficult task with 12 men. They declined the chance to open up a lead greater than anything they had held in the match so far. Rugby League then does what it does. The unexpected. Joe Shorrocks was sin binned, the playing numbers were equalled and Bradford scored to lead 20-22. St Helens declining a...
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The Price of Success

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Sport is cyclical. Or so they say. That's not always true as in some leagues, you have one behemoth that dominates for years. In 2025, Super League crowned only its fifth winner in 30 years. Teams like Wigan and St Helens have peaks and troughs but usually revert to trophy winning before too long. Between 2018 and 2024, these were the only two sides to win Super League.  Leeds had a dominant spell from 2004 - 2017 but have won only one trophy in the nine years since then. Will Leeds bounce back to their post-millennium mean or revert to the Leeds of old that hadn't won a trophy between 1978 and 2003 and hadn't won the league between 1972 and 2004? Hull KR have recently entered the conversation. No trophies in a generation and then three in a single, glorious 2025.  Super League's straight-jacket known as the salary cap in some ways punishes success. As St Helens dominated the latter part of the last decade and the start of this one, their players with average salaries r...
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The Top 8 Disaster

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With the Super League fixtures for 2026 being announced this week, we will likely learn whether we will be returning to having a top 8 play off system.  This is the system currently used by the NRL and used by us between 2009 and 2014. In this blogpost, I will explain why I believe this would be a terrible move. It isn't very Rugby League to mention this (as we often value entertainment over equity) but fairness is a real issue under this system. Of course, these things are a balance and many believe it is right to prioritise entertainment.  In my view , any system with an uneven fixture list is also inequitable. As is the side finishing top of league potentially seeing a season's work go up in smoke with one bad performance (which can happen under our existing system). As a sport, we have made the decision to sacrifice elements of equity in the pursuit of entertainment. That is a legitimate aim, even if you do not agree with it. A top 8 system amplifies the unfairness to an e...
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