Can Hull KR break the glass ceiling?

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Though many have tried, there are only four sides who have ever laid hands on the Super League trophy. The most recent 'new' winner was Leeds in 2004. As the 'golden generation' marks its 20th anniversary, Hull KR are trying to crack what has increasingly become a Super League duopoly.

Since 2006, the trophy has gone between St Helens, Leeds and Wigan. Since 2018, the Super League title has simply moved from one side of Billinge Hill to the other.

Huddersfield finished 1st in 2013 but did not make the Grand Final. Castleford were swashbuckling in 2017 but spluttered in the big games. Catalans topped the pile in 2021 but could not get over the line and had another near miss in 2023.

Warrington have established themselves as a top club over the past decade or so but are without a title to show for it. Salford sizzled in 2019 but the big prize proved a step too far.

It is a positive for the sport that the number of challengers has increased over the course of the last decade. On 11 occasions since 2006 has a 'new' side either finished top of Super League or made a Grand Final. All have failed to win the title.

I am curious as to why. The Super League play offs are essentially a knockout competition. Meanwhile in the Challenge Cup, another knockout competition, Hull FC, Catalans, Warrington, Leeds, St Helens, Wigan and Leigh have all won it in the last 8 years.

Six different sides have won the Challenge Cup since Hull FC did in 2017. By comparison, if you go back six individual winners of the Super League or old first division, you reach Halifax in 1986.

Hull KR are the next cab off the rank in 2024. They are entering the latter stages of the season in sparkling form; their recent wins against Warrington, Catalans and St Helens have been stunning.

If they are to win Super League, they will have to do something that the likes of Warrington, Huddersfield, Castleford, Salford and Catalans did not do.

The passage of time may fade our memories but those sides I mentioned were exceptional in their own ways. 

The 2011 incarnation of Warrington were magnificent to watch.

In 2013, Huddersfield won 9 of their final 10 regular league matches, the only blemish being when they played a reserve side against Bradford on the final day of the season.

In 2017, Castleford lost only two league matches between the end of April and the end of the regular season.

Salford ended the regular 2019 season with a club-record winning streak in the top flight.

Catalans achievement to hold off St Helens to secure a League Leaders' Shield in 2021, including an unforgettable Magic Weekend win, was a seismic moment for the sport in France.

Yet all of those brilliant sides could not achieve their ultimate aim. They had the talent. They were in form. Not one of them could win the Grand Final. 

The statistics don't give an obvious answer why all of them failed. That leads you to look an the unquantifiables. Does the weight of history lie heavy? Is there something about playing for a club that has consistently won titles, or with players who have done the same make it more likely that you will repeat the feat? And does the absence of such experience act as a drag?

It would be remiss of me to write this piece and not mention Warrington. They are another team who are seeking their first Super League title and have shown themselves capable this year of doing so.

And if Warrington can unshackle the burdens of history and an unfathomable barron run without a championship, that would be worthy of significant praise too. 

In recent years, they have had more experienced teams and coaches. It is only an outside perspective, but Sam Burgess seems to have a remarkably relaxed attitude for a coach. Perhaps that has unencumbered a club weighed down by its self-imposed expectations.

The side they all aim to topple is Wigan. The side that currently holds every major honour available to them. Despite that, they are a side will have no shortage of motivation as they seek to win consecutive Super League titles for the first time. I know, I know, the sport didn't begin in 1996!

Any side which can wrestle any trophy from Wigan's vice-like grip needs to be close to perfection. Hull KR currently lead the way as they seek that perfect ending.

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