Super League 2019 - Your team's highlight and lowight - PART 2 (London - Wigan)

And now on to part 2 of our season review! In case you missed part 1 - here it is!

London

Highlight: London won 10 games in 2019 and amassed a points total that would have saved them in any other Super League season. Home wins against the defending champions Wigan and two home wins over eventual champions St Helens showed that London were not the whipping boys many thought.



Lowlight: London fought for all they were worth and against the odds managed to take the relegation battle to the final day but could not secure that final win against Wakefield and suffered relegation.

Salford

Highlight: An incredible late season surge which took Salford to the Grand Final. The highlight has to be the semi-final win over Wigan. It wasn’t just a win. It was a comprehensive rout over the defending champions, leaving over 4,000 Salford fans at the DW Stadium almost rubbing their eyes in disbelief.



Lowlight: Whilst Salford did have some disappointing early season results, it is the loss of players like Jackson Hastings, Jake Bibby and Josh Jones to bigger-spending rivals for 2020, which is the greatest disappointment.

St Helens

Highlight: This one is easy. After years of semi-final and final heartbreak, St Helens finally got over the final and became Super League champions to secure only their second major trophy in 10 years. It was no less than what was deserved after winning the League Leaders’ Shield by a record margin.



Lowlight: St Helens’ season lowlight came in the Challenge Cup. They went into the Cup Final as huge favourites but once again came up short, foiled by a well-executed Warrington gameplan, which removed their air of invincibility.

Wakefield

Highlight: Surviving. Wakefield finished 5th in 2017 and 2018 but missed out on the top 4 play offs. In 2019, the play off expanded to five teams and Wakefield were nowhere near. The relief of staying up was clear on the face of Chris Chester as they defeated London on the final day. They will hope that 2019 was simply a blip.



Lowlight: Winning 1 game out of 10 between early May and mid-August which turned Wakefield from play-off contenders to relegation battlers.

Warrington

Highlight: Warrington’s highlight for 2019 was lifting the Challenge Cup, picking up their first major piece of silverware since 2012. They were given little hope at Wembley, especially playing with only one half back. But a discipling, regimented and patient performance supplemented by an excellent kicking game showed that Warrington can win big matches.



Lowlight: An abject end of season which saw them win one of their final eight matches. This culminated in an embarrassing home play off defeat to Castleford in front of a sparse crowd. Steve Price has declared the season a success because of the cup win. Chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick has publicly said that it was not.

Wigan

Highlight: The back end of the regular season. After a Magic Weekend defeat to Warrington, Wigan won 12 of their next 13 games, spearheaded by a young pack. Whilst they faded in the play offs, the emergence of the likes of Morgan Smithies and significant recruitment will encourage Wigan for 2020.


Lowlight: The start of the regular season. This included defeats to St Helens (twice), London, Huddersfield, Hull FC, Warrington, Castleford and Wakefield all by the middle of April. This was compounded by the embarrassment of Shaun Edwards walking out of his coaching contract for 2020 before it had even begun.

Thank you for reading. Any comments on this piece, especially anything that you agree or disagree are most welcome. See you in 2020!

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