2015 Super League season
| Super League XX | |
|---|---|
| League | Super League |
| Duration | 30 Rounds |
| Teams | 12 |
| Lowest attendance | 2,712 Salford City Reds vs Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, (15 March) |
| Average attendance | 10,019 |
| Broadcast partners | Sky Sports BBC Sport Fox Sports beIN Sports Fox Soccer Plus Sport Klub |
| 2015 season | |
| Champions | Leeds Rhinos 7th Super League 10th British title |
| League Leaders | Leeds Rhinos |
| Runners-up | Wigan Warriors |
| Biggest home win | Warrington Wolves 80-0 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (11 April) |
| Biggest away win | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 20-58 Castleford Tigers (19 July) |
| Man of Steel |  Zak Hardaker |
| Top point-scorer(s) | Luke Gale (247) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Jermaine McGillvary (27) |
The Super League XX, known as the First Utility Super League XX for sponsorship reasons,[1] was the 2015 season of Super League.
Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend, after which the eight highest entered the play-offs for a place in the Grand Final. The four lowest teams entered the Super League Qualifying Play-off, along with the four highest Championship teams, to decide which will play in Super League XXI.
Leeds Rhinos became only the 3rd team to complete the Treble after defeating Wigan Warriors 22-20 in front of a new record attendance of 73,512 at Old Trafford to win their 7th Super League title.
Teams
[edit]Super League XX is the first year since 2008 in which there is a promotion and relegation with the Championship. Super League has been reduced to 12 teams as part of the re-structuring of Super League and the Championship.[2]
Eleven teams in Super League are from the North of England: five teams, Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan and Widnes, west of the Pennines in the historic county of Lancashire and six teams, Huddersfield, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers, to the east in Yorkshire. Catalans Dragons, in Perpignan, France, are the only team outside the North of England. With Bradford Bulls and London Broncos being relegated last season, this leaves St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos as the only teams to have played in every season of Super League since 1996.
Regular season table
[edit]The regular season sees teams play each other home and away, and one team for a third time at the Magic Weekend. After 23 games, the "Super 8's" begin and the league is split into two mini leagues. Teams finishing in the top 8 compete in the Super League Super 8s while teams finishing in the bottom four will join the top 4 teams from the Championship in The Qualifiers to determine who will play in next seasons Super League.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Leeds Rhinos | 23 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 758 | 477 | +281 | 33 | Super League Super 8s |
| 2 |  St Helens | 23 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 598 | 436 | +162 | 32 | |
| 3 |  Wigan Warriors | 23 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 589 | 413 | +176 | 31 | |
| 4 |  Huddersfield Giants | 23 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 538 | 394 | +144 | 28 | |
| 5 |  Castleford Tigers | 23 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 547 | 505 | +42 | 26 | |
| 6 |  Warrington Wolves | 23 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 552 | 456 | +96 | 24 | |
| 7 |  Hull F.C. | 23 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 452 | 484 | −32 | 22 | |
| 8 |  Catalans Dragons | 23 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 561 | 574 | −13 | 20 | |
| 9 |  Widnes Vikings | 23 | 9 | 1 | 13 | 518 | 565 | −47 | 19 | The Qualifiers |
| 10 |  Hull Kingston Rovers | 23 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 534 | 646 | −112 | 18 | |
| 11 |  Salford City Reds | 23 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 447 | 617 | −170 | 17 | |
| 12 |  Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 23 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 402 | 929 | −527 | 6 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
Super 8s
[edit]Super League
[edit]The Super League Super 8's sees the top 8 Super League teams play 7 games each. Each team's points are carried over with top 4 teams entering the playoffs for the Super League Grand Final.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds Rhinos (L, C) | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 944 | 650 | +294 | 41 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Wigan Warriors | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 798 | 530 | +268 | 41 | |
| 3 | Huddersfield Giants | 30 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 750 | 534 | +216 | 38 | |
| 4 | St Helens | 30 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 766 | 624 | +142 | 38 | |
| 5 | Castleford Tigers | 30 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 731 | 746 | −15 | 32 | |
| 6 | Warrington Wolves | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 714 | 636 | +78 | 30 | |
| 7 | Catalans Dragons | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 739 | 770 | −31 | 28 | |
| 8 | Hull F.C. | 30 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 620 | 716 | −96 | 24 |
The Qualifiers
[edit]The Qualifiers sees the bottom 4 teams from Super League join the top 4 teams from the Championship. The points totals are reset to 0 and each team plays 7 games each, playing every other team once. After 7 games each the teams finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gain qualification to Super League XXI in 2016. The teams finishing 4th and 5th playoff in the Million Pound Game for the final spot in next seasons Super League. The loser of the Million Pound Game along with the teams finishing 6th, 7th and 8th will play in next seasons Championship
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 234 | 118 | +116 | 14 | 2016 Super League |
| 2 | Widnes Vikings | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 232 | 70 | +162 | 10 | |
| 3 | Salford City Reds | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 239 | 203 | +36 | 10 | |
| 4 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (W) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 153 | 170 | −17 | 6 | Million Pound Game |
| 5 |  Bradford Bulls | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 167 | 240 | −73 | 6 | |
| 6 |  Halifax | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 162 | 186 | −24 | 4 | 2016 Championship |
| 7 |  Sheffield Eagles | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 152 | 267 | −115 | 4 | |
| 8 |  Leigh Centurions | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 146 | 231 | −85 | 2 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(W) Million Pound Game Winner
Playoffs
[edit]Super League
[edit]| # | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referee | Attendance | ||||||
| SEMI-FINALS | |||||||||
| SF1 | Wigan Warriors | 32 – 8 | Huddersfield Giants | 1 October, 20:00 BST | DW Stadium | Ben Thaler | 10,035 | ||
| SF2 | Leeds Rhinos | 20 – 13 | St. Helens | 2 October, 20:00 BST | Headingley Carnegie Stadium | Robert Hicks | 17,192 | ||
| GRAND FINAL | |||||||||
| F | Leeds Rhinos | 22 – 20 | Wigan Warriors | 10 October, 18:00 BST | Old Trafford, Manchester | Ben Thaler | 73,512 | ||
Million Pound Game
[edit]| # | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referee | Attendance | ||||||
| Million Pound Game | |||||||||
| F | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 24 – 16 | Bradford Bulls | 3 October, 14:50 BST | Belle Vue | R. Silverwood | 7,246 | ||
Player statistics
[edit] Top Try Scorers[edit]
Top goalscorers[edit]
|
Top try assists
[edit]| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Danny Brough | Huddersfield Giants | 31 |
| 2= | Luke Gale | Castleford Tigers | 27 |
| Danny McGuire | Leeds Rhinos | ||
| 4 |  Scott Dureau | Catalans Dragons | 23 |
| 5 | George Williams | Wigan Warriors | 21 |
| 6= | Marc Sneyd | Hull F.C. | 20 |
| Stefan Ratchford | Warrington Wolves | ||
| 8= | Kevin Sinfield | Leeds Rhinos | 18 |
| Kevin Brown | Widnes Vikings | ||
| 9= | Leroy Cudjoe | Huddersfield Giants | 16 |
| Rhys Hanbury | Widnes Vikings |
Top points scorers
[edit]| Rank | Player | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke Gale | Castleford Tigers | 247 |
| 2 | Kevin Sinfield | Leeds Rhinos | 225 |
| 3 | Danny Brough | Huddersfield Giants | 208 |
| 4 | Scott Dureau | Catalans Dragons | 202 |
| 5 |  Josh Mantellato | Hull Kingston Rovers | 196 |
| 6 | Matty Smith | Wigan Warriors | 168 |
| 7 | Marc Sneyd | Hull F.C. | 156 |
| 8 | Luke Walsh | Catalans Dragons | 126 |
| 9 | Josh Griffin | Salford Red Devils | 116 |
| 10 | Jack Owens | Widnes Vikings | 114 |
End-of-season awards
[edit]Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:[3]
- Man of Steel: Zak Hardaker
- Coach of the year: Brian McDermott
- Super League club of the year: Leeds Rhinos
- Young player of the year: George Williams
- Foundation of the year:
Warrington Wolves - Rhino "Top Gun": Kevin Sinfield
- Metre-maker: Alex Walmsley
(4092) - Top Try Scorer: Jermaine McGillvary
(27) - Outstanding Achievement Award:
- Hit Man: Danny Houghton
Media
[edit]Television
[edit]2015 is the fourth year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season.[4] The deal which runs until 2016 is worth £90million.
Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights.[5]
Regular commentators will be Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights on Sunday nights on Super League - Full Time at 10 p.m.
BBC Sport will broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme, the first to the BBC North West, Yorkshire, North East and Cumbria, and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35 p.m. on BBC One,[6] while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30 p.m. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.[7] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.[8]
Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Fox Sports (Australia) and Sportsnet World (Canada).
Radio
[edit]BBC Coverage:
- BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (National DAB Digital Radio) will carry two Super League commentaries each week on Thursday and Friday nights (both kick off 8pm); this will be through the 5 Live Rugby league programme which is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and also includes interviews and debate..
- BBC Radio Humberside will have full match commentary of all Hull KR and Hull matches.
- BBC Radio Leeds carry commentaries featuring Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
- BBC Radio Manchester will carry commentary of Wigan and Salford whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Merseyside.
- BBC Radio Merseyside (will have commentary on St Helens and Widnes matches whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Manchester.
Commercial Radio Coverage:
- 102.4 Wish FM will carry commentaries of Wigan & St Helens matches.
- 107.2 Wire FM will carry commentaries on Warrington and Widnes matches.
- Radio Yorkshire will launch in March carrying Super League commentaries.
- Radio Warrington (Online Station) all Warrington home games and some away games.
- Grand Sud FM covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (in French).
- Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (in French).
All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.
References
[edit]- ^ "First Utility powers title sponsorship of Super League". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ^ "Super League set to feature 12 teams from 2015". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ^ "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- ^ Sky Sports (4 August 2011). "Super League deal" (PDF). Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ Sky Sports (18 February 2012). "Rugby League live on Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ^ BBC Sport (3 February 2012). "BBC's Super League Show returns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ^ BBC. "BBC One - Super League Show". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ^ "BBC Two - Rugby League: Super League Play-Offs - Highlights". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2013.