St Helens dominate ranking of every Super League club by League Leaders’ Shields won as three-way race heats up

Hull KR, Wigan Warriors and – to a much lesser extent – Warrington Wolves are in the running to get their hands on the Super League Leaders’ Shield at the end of the month.

The trophy, which is one of the British game’s four majors honour despite many arguing otherwise, was first awarded back in 2002.

Super League, of course, began in 1996. But in the first two seasons, the team finishing top were simply crowned champions with no play-off system in place.

And from 1998 to 2001, the League Leaders’ Shield just wasn’t a thing, with the reward for finishing top just being progression into the play-off semi-finals.

Notably, only since 2016 has the League Leaders’ Shield yielded medals for the winning squad!

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The League Leaders’ Shield: A brief overview

In the 22 seasons which have seen the trophy awarded so far, only eight different clubs have topped the tree and got their hands on the honour.

St Helens were the first of those, pipping Bradford Bulls to the accolade in 2002. Both sides that year ended on 46 competition points, with Saints just edging it on points difference.

Bradford then won it the following year, finishing five competition points clear of runners-up Leeds Rhinos.

The Bulls are the only one of the eight clubs to have won the League Leaders’ Shield to date that aren’t currently a Super League club, currently sat 3rd in the Championship.

Wigan were – and are – the most recent winners of the League Leaders’ Shield, topping the table last season.

2nd-placed Catalans Dragons and 3rd-placed Saints both finished level on 40 competition points with the Warriors in 2023, but Matt Peet’s side edged it on points difference.

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Ranking every Super League club by the number of League Leaders’ Shields won

Below, we’ve ranked the eight Super League clubs to have won at least one League Leaders’ Shield by the number of times they’ve held the honour.

Where clubs have won it the same number of times, we’ve separated them by how recent their last table-topping year came. The more recent, the higher up on this ranking.

8. Bradford Bulls (1) – 2003

7. Huddersfield Giants (1) – 2013

6. Castleford Tigers (1) – 2017

5. Catalans Dragons (1) – 2021

4. Warrington Wolves (2) – 2011 and 2016

3. Leeds Rhinos (3) – 2004, 2009 and 2015

2. Wigan Warriors (4) – 2010, 2012, 2020 and 2023

1. St Helens (9) – 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2022

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How the 2024 race for the League Leaders’ Shield shapes up

With three rounds of the regular 2024 season remaining, Hull KR and Wigan occupy 1st and 2nd spots on the Super League ladder respectively, locked together on 38 competition points, only separated by points difference.

The pair face each other on Friday night at The Brick Community Stadium in a Round 25 clash which could go a long way to deciding where the League Leaders’ Shield ends up this year.

Elsewhere, Warrington are the other club still mathematically able to finish top of the tree, but it is a big ask for Sam Burgess’ side.

They lost at Leigh Leopards last Friday night, and are now four competition points behind both KR and Wigan, though do have a favourable run in with games against both Huddersfield Giants and London Broncos among their remaining three fixtures.

Each contender’s remaining games can be seen below…

Hull KR: Wigan (A), Leigh (A), Leeds (H)

Wigan: Hull KR (H), Leeds (H), Salford (H)

Warrington: St Helens (H), Huddersfield (A), London (H)

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