Revisiting Love Rugby League’s predictions for 2022 Super League season

Drew Darbyshire 04 Jan 2023 10:02 AM

Every year we put our tin hats on to give our pre-season Super League predictions and every year we hold our hands up and admit we know nothing!

You can read our predictions in full here or just laugh at *some* of us below…

First up, who will win the Super League Grand Final?

James Roby St Helens Super League champions News Images

Photo: Craig Thomas/News Images

Well, as this is being written, editor James Gordon is sitting opposite me with a wry smile on his face. He got both his Grand Final and Challenge Cup predictions correct. The only one out of six of us to predict both correctly.

Gordon and writer Steven Hughes were the only ones to predict St Helens to win the big one at Old Trafford. How did only two of us predict Saints?! Kristian Woolf’s men had the last laugh as they made it four in a row.

Deputy editor Drew Darbyshire and journalist Josh McAllister both picked Wigan (they are Wiganers, of course). Wishful thinking maybe?

Podcast host George Riley and writer Zach Holland both thought Catalans were going to go one step further than they did in 2021. But the Dragons crashed out in the semi-finals to Rohan Smith’s Leeds.

What happened: St Helens beat Leeds 24-12 in the Grand Final in front of 60,783 at Old Trafford, with Jonny Lomax picking up the Harry Sunderland Trophy for a stunning individual display.

Oh yeah, and St Helens finished the season with the League Leaders’ Shield.

Secondly, who will win the Challenge Cup?

Liam Marshall Wigan Warriors Challenge Cup SWpix

Photo: Will Palmer/SWpix

As aforementioned, Gordon was spot on, so we’ll quickly move on from that. He doesn’t need any more praise.

Drew got his picks mixed up. He went Wigan to win the GF and Saints to win the Challenge Cup. I’m just gonna blame it on a typo…

Josh, Hughesy and Zach went for Leeds to win the Challenge Cup – but the Rhinos slipped at the first hurdle to Castleford.

In his predictions, Riley wrote: “I like the Hull KR vibe under Tony Smith.” Who’d have thought he’d be coaching Hull FC a year later? It’s a funny old game.

What happened: Matt Peet landed his first trophy as Wigan coach at the first time of asking. The Warriors edged past Huddersfield 16-14 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to a late winner from Liam Marshall.

Finally, relegation…

Toulouse Olympique relegated Sylvain Houles SWpix

Photo: Paul Currie/SWpix

The vote was split for this. 50% Wakefield, 50% Toulouse – the latter being correct.

Gordon predicted the winners, but he was wrong on this one as he went for Wakey, as did Josh and Riley.

Drew, Hughesy and Zach all thought that it’d be too much for newcomers Toulouse in their first season in Super League.

What happened: Toulouse suffered relegation in their inaugural season in the top flight, having won just five of their 27 games. Their first-ever Super League win actually came against the champions. Again, it’s a funny old game is rugby league.

Looking ahead to 2023

St Helens are once again the favourites (and rightly so) to win Super League in 2023 with the latest odds revealed by the bookmakers.

Paul Wellens’ side are 2/1 to lift their fifth successive Super League trophy with Sky Bet.

Challenge Cup winners Wigan are second favourites for the Super League title with odds of 4/1. Matt Peet’s side were knocked out of the semi-finals by Leeds last term.

Leigh have been in Super League three times but have suffered relegation each time. Can the Leopards avoid the drop in 2023 and become an established Super League outfit?

The Love Rugby League experts (we use that term extremely lightly) will be back later this month with our predictions for the 2023 campaign.

Let us know your predictions for 2023 in the comments below.