11 conclusions: St Helens shambles, Leigh Leopards the big winners, Championship chaos
And breathe: it’s been another frenetic and hectic weekend of rugby league action from Super League all the way down to League 1.
There were significant, potentially season-defining results as far as the eye could see and as always, there’s a litany of talking points to get stuck into.
It’s Monday, so let’s debrief the weekend: here’s our conclusions from what we saw.
Are there six teams in the running to finish top?
A stretch? Perhaps. But incredibly, with nine rounds to go, there are still only six points between league leaders Wigan and sixth-placed Salford.
This time last week, we were all assuming the League Leader’s Shield had been settled so it would be remiss of us if we now completely didn’t overreact in the opposite direction.
Dependent on what happens in the next fortnight so, everyone between the Warriors and the Red Devils will fancy their chances of a top-two finish and a favourable route to Old Trafford at the very least. If Wigan slip up again, they may even leave the door ajar for top spot.
Should St Helens look up or down?
History for all the wrong reasons at the weekend for the Saints, who have now lost four consecutive league games for the first time in years – long before they embarked on their historic run of four straight league titles.
Furthermore, there’s more than a murmur or two of discontent from the terraces for the Saints too and having gone into last week’s derby against Wigan knowing a win would put them in with real contention of top spot, they’re now level on points with the sides in fifth and sixth.
The Saints need a win and fast: or those murmurings will grow louder and louder.
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A statement win for Hull KR
It may not have caused huge ripples in terms of the calibre of opposition: but the manner of it cannot be ignored for Hull KR.
They looked set to slip to a disappointing defeat at Leeds Rhinos on Saturday afternoon before digging deep with two late tries. Given their poor away form, it’s a result which says a lot about Rovers: and all of a sudden, they’re two wins off the summit.
Good teams find ways to win when they’re not at their best. That’s an emphatic tick in the box for the Robins in that regard.
Leigh are the weekend’s big winners
With fifth, sixth and seventh all losing, the race for the play-offs looks as though it’s officially got another member in Leigh Leopards.
Leigh held up their end of the bargain on Friday evening, comfortably beating bottom club London Broncos. The gap is still seven points to sixth but with a game in hand – albeit against Wigan Warriors – can the Leythers do enough in their final ten games to complete a remarkable turnaround?
Castleford are Super League’s form team
Or at least one of them. Only a couple of teams have picked up more points than they have in the last five games – and they made it three wins a row on Sunday with victory over Catalans Dragons.
Craig Lingard deserves immense respect and credit for the way he’s ridden an early storm to put his stamp on the Tigers. He’s visibly improved the fortunes of a number of players who were struggling too, the sign of any good coach. The play-offs is out of reach, but the Tigers can build for 2025 with optimism.
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Catalans need fresh blood quickly
There’s two on the way in the shape of Jarrod Wallace and Sam Tomkins: and goodness, they’re needed as quickly as possible.
Catalans were way below their best on Sunday at Castleford and with more injuries adding to the problems they’ve already got, they’re fortunate Leeds slipped up on Saturday to keep the buffer to seventh at four points.
If they continue like this, make no mistake about it: the Dragons could miss out on the play-offs.
It’s not all lost for Leeds
Granted, they somehow conspired to lose on Saturday when they seemed destined to win. But Brad Arthur would have learned lots from his first match in charge at AMT Headingley.
The gap to the play-offs remains four points following defeats for Salford Red Devils and Catalans Dragons. That means it’s still all to play for: and Arthur will believe, having watched his side for the first time as head coach, that he can win some big games to get the Rhinos into the six at the very least.
One from three for the Championship’s top two
Bradford and Sheffield supporters would have likely been cursing on Saturday evening when news came through that Toulouse had inflicted a first defeat of 2024 on Wakefield Trinity.
That means Toulouse are now in pole position for second place come the end of the season. But with Sheffield losing and Bradford winning, it means the three teams are split by just a solitary win.
And speaking of Toulouse..
A statement win to IMG?
Of course, solitary victories mean nothing in the IMG gradings but as the game continues to assume Wakefield will make the cut for Super League in 2025 and nobody else, there was an opportunity to take a step back and ponder about Toulouse this weekend.
Sylvain Houles’ side have overcome a slow start and are now, as we mentioned, in pole position for a top-two finish in the Championship. There are bonus points at stake in the Championship Grand Final – and who knows how critical they could be.
Are we perhaps underestimating just how close Toulouse are to a Super League return?
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The League 1 title race may be done
Okay, it’s perhaps premature. But Sunday felt like a significant game as the top two squared off: and Oldham were convincing winners.
It’s the manner of the win, as well as the result itself, which feels decisive. There’s uncertainty surrounding Keighley and with Oldham now having a three-point gap, it means the Cougars have to win two more games than Oldham between now and the end of the season.
Nothing can ever be ruled out but now, Oldham are heavy, heavy favourites to get over the line.
Three minutes of season-defining chaos in Halifax
There is still a lot of rugby to be played this season, but you can’t help wonder that when the dust settles on the Championship season, how important three minutes of rugby may turn out to be for Halifax and Widnes.
The Panthers had fought back brilliantly from an early 18-0 deficit to lead 20-18. But they then conceded a penalty that allowed Widnes to level before Fax put the resulting kick-off out on the full and from that, Widnes scored the game’s winning try.
It means Widnes have huge breathing space inside the top six but more importantly, Fax are now two points adrift inside the automatic relegation places. Who knows what that could all mean come September.
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