Super League’s DIRTIEST sides revealed in final card table with Hull FC and Leigh among worst offenders

Ben Olawumi
Aaron Moore

Referee Aaron Moore shows a yellow card during a Super League clash at Magic Weekend in 2024

Hull FC ended the Super League season top of the division’s card table, shown the most of any club in the top flight this term by a comfortable distance with 23.

A total of 163 cards were shown across 162 Super League games this term – with play-off matches not counting towards our tallies, making Hull responsible for over 14% of the total cards.

In a dismal campaign which saw the Airlie Birds finish 11th, only avoiding the wooden spoon by the virtue of points difference, they received 19 yellow cards and saw a player dismissed four times.

Two of those red cards came on the very first night of the Super League season, with both Franklin Pele and Ligi Sao given their marching orders during a 22-0 defeat on home soil against rivals Hull KR.

FC’s last card of the campaign was yellow, and was shown the way of mid-season recruit Jed Cartwright in the closing stages of their 68-6 drubbing at Headingley against Leeds Rhinos in Round 25. Cartwright had already been sin-binned once in that game!

CARDTRACKER: Every yellow and red card shown in Super League this season

A round-by-round breakdown of the cards shown in Super League in 2024

Liam Watts
Liam Watts’ red card during Castleford Tigers’ defeat to Wigan Warriors was one of 13 cards shown across Super League in Round 1

With an average of more than a card per game in Super League this year, Rounds 1 and 21 shared top billing for ‘most cards shown in one weekend’.

Round 1 included reds for Castleford Tigers’ Liam Watts and Catalans Dragons’ Micky McIlorum as well as yellows for Leigh Leopards centre Ricky Leutele and Leeds’ NRL recruit Paul Momirvoski.

Leutele also received the very last yellow card of the ‘regular’ Super League season, controversially sin-binned during the Leopards’ Round 27 win against St Helens. That was the only card shown in the division’s final round.

Only once did we get a weekend without a single card being produced across the six top-flight games, and that came in Round 9.

A full round-by-round breakdown of card tallies can be seen below.

Round 1 – 13 (9Y, 4R)

Round 2 – 9 (8Y, 1R)

Round 3 – 11 (11Y, 0R)

Round 4 – 5 (4Y, 1R)

Round 5 – 2 (2Y, 0R)

Round 6 – 5 (4Y, 1R)

Round 7 – 6 (6Y, 0R)

Round 8 – 5 (4Y, 1R)

Round 9 – 0 (0Y, 0R)

Round 10 – 4 (3Y, 1R)

Round 11 – 5 (3Y, 2R)

Round 12 – 6 (6Y, 0R)

Round 13 – 2 (1Y, 1R)

Round 14 – 3 (2Y, 1R)

Round 15 – 2 (2Y, 0R)

Round 16 – 3 (3Y, 0R)

Round 17 – 10 (9Y, 1R)

Round 18 – 6 (5Y, 1R)

Round 19 – 9 (7Y, 2R)

Round 20 – 5 (5Y, 0R)

Round 21 – 13 (12Y, 1R)

Round 22 (Magic Weekend) – 9 (9Y, 0R)

Round 23 – 8 (7Y, 1R)

Round 24 – 8 (6Y, 2R)

Round 25 – 10 (10Y, 0R)

Round 26 – 3 (3Y, 0R)

Round 27 – 1 (1Y, 0R)

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Super League card table: Yellow Cards

Liam Moore, Herman Ese'Ese
The very first card of the 2024 Super League season was yellow, shown to Hull FC’s Herman Ese’ese on his debut for the club during their Round 1 defeat at home against rivals Hull KR

In total, 142 yellow cards were shown in Super League this year, at an average of around 0.87 per game.

Hull FC and Leigh received 19 apiece, which is the joint-highest tally across the division.

Elsewhere, Huddersfield Giants, Hull KR, Leeds Rhinos and League Leaders’ Shield winners Wigan Warriors all saw their players sin-binned 11 times over the course of the campaign.

And the ‘best’ record where yellow cards are concerned goes to London Broncos, who only received six throughout the entirety of the year in Super League.

Up until Rob Butler’s yellow in Round 23 against Leigh, that tally was as low as four, with captain Will Lovell’s late sin-bin away at Huddersfield in Round 25 seeing the Broncos end on six.

From best record to worst:

12. London Broncos – 6

11. Castleford Tigers – 8

= Catalans Dragons – 8

9. St Helens – 10

8. Huddersfield Giants – 11

= Hull KR – 11

= Leeds Rhinos – 11

= Wigan Warriors – 11

4. Warrington Wolves – 13

3. Salford Red Devils – 15

2. Leigh Leopards – 19

= Hull FC – 19

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Super League card table: Red Cards

Adam Keighran red card
Wigan centre Adam Keighran was one of three Warriors stars to be sent off in Super League this season – dismissed during their Round 13 win at Warrington Wolves

A total of 21 red cards were shown in Super League this season, at an average of around one every 7.71 games.

Four clubs went through the whole campaign without having a single player sent off in Hull KR, Leeds, Leigh and London.

Others though were serial offenders, with Hull FC and Huddersfield both seeing four players dismissed.

North West rivals St Helens and Wigan also each saw players sent off three times, with Warriors prop Liam Byrne given his marching orders away against Paul Wellens’ side on Good Friday.

From best record to worst:

12. Hull KR – 0

= Leeds Rhinos – 0

= Leigh Leopards – 0

= London Broncos – 0

8. Salford Red Devils – 1

7. Castleford Tigers – 2

= Catalans Dragons – 2

= Warrington Wolves – 2

4.  St Helens – 3

= Wigan Warriors – 3

2. Huddersfield Giants – 4

= Hull FC – 4

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Super League card table: Overall

Matt Moylan sin-bin v Wigan Warriors
All 19 of Leigh Leopards’ cards this season were yellows, including Matt Moylan’s during their defeat to Wigan Warriors in Round 7

As mentioned in the opening to this deep dive, Hull FC’s card tally of 23 was comfortably the highest in Super League in 2024.

Leigh were the next ‘worst’ in terms of discipline, seeing 19 cards shown the way of their players throughout the campaign, all yellow. Strangely, in the card table, Leigh are the only club in the top half not to have had a single red.

Every single Super League club, except London, saw their card tally end in double figures. The Broncos’ six yellow cards were all they received, with no red cards shown the way of Mike Eccles’ side in 2024.

From least cards to most:

12. London Broncos – 6 (6Y, 0R)

11. Castleford Tigers – 10 (8Y, 2R)

= Catalans Dragons – 10 (8Y, 2R)

9. Hull KR – 11 (11Y, 0R)

= Leeds Rhinos – 11 (11Y, 0R)

7. St Helens – 13 (10Y, 3R)

6. Wigan Warriors – 14 (11Y, 3R)

5. Warrington Wolves – 15 (13Y, 2R)

4. Huddersfield Giants – 15 (11Y, 4R)

3. Salford Red Devils – 16 (15Y, 1R)

2. Leigh Leopards – 19 (19Y, 0R)

1. Hull FC – 23 (19Y, 4R)

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