The miserable hoodoo Hull KR are aiming to avoid as they seek ‘historic’ title
Hull KR are in pole position to lift the League Leaders Shield
Hull KR sit on the cusp of a historic first League Leaders’ Shield in their history and will be hoping to reach their first-ever Grand Final in October, too.
The Robins have steadily improved as the season has gone on, and now Willie Peters’ side sit top of the table heading into the final four rounds of the regular season. They are also bang in-form too heading into the run-in, winning seven on the spin.
But, things haven’t been so kind to the previous first-time winners of the League Leaders’ Shield, with only four of the eight sides going onto win the Grand Final after their first LLS triumph.
Here is an in-depth look at the piece of history Hull KR will be looking to avoid, with a full breakdown of what happened after the eight winners of the League Leaders’ Shield lifted the title for the first time…
2002: St Helens – won Grand Final
The first team to ever win the League Leaders’ Shield in the Super League era was St Helens, as they lifted it back in 2002. They finished the season with a solid tally of 46 points, after recording 23 wins from their 28 games. Whilst they finished level on points with Bradford Bulls, it was the Saints who claimed the title on points difference.
Despite a surprising semi-final defeat to Bradford Bulls, they still went onto reach the Grand Final and exacted revenge on the Bulls with a 19-18 win at Old Trafford.
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2003: Bradford Bulls – won Grand Final
The beaten Bulls came back stronger a year later to claim their first – and only – League Leaders’ Shield. Bradford ended the season on 44 points, winning 22 of their 28 games, pipping bitter rivals Leeds Rhinos to top spot by three points.
They later beat the same opposition in the semi-finals to reach Old Trafford, where they beat Wigan Warriors 25-12.
2004: Leeds Rhinos – won Grand Final
Following the trend of gradual improvement, Leeds Rhinos claimed their first-ever League Leaders’ Shield in 2004 after winning 24 of their 28 matches. Leeds also bested rivals Bradford Bulls by a huge nine points to claim the title.
Despite beating their West Yorkshire rivals to the silverware, they slipped to a 26-12 defeat in the semi-finals, but still went onto make the Grand Final thanks to a 40-12 win over Wigan in the elimination semi-final. They exacted more pain on their bitter rivals too in Manchester, as Leeds beat Bradford 16-8 to win the Grand Final.
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2010: Wigan Warriors – won Grand Final
Wigan Warriors claimed their first-ever League Leaders’ Shield in 2010 after winning 22 of their 27 league fixtures, beating St Helens by four points to claim the shield.
They were quickly brought down to earth though, with Leeds Rhinos beating them 27-26 in the opening play-off fixture. Due to the structure at the time though, they remained in the play-offs, and eventually beat the same opposition to reach the Grand Final. At Old Trafford, they also overcame rivals St Helens 22-10 to claim their second Grand Final victory.
2011: Warrington Wolves – lost semi-final
A year later, it was Warrington’s year, as the Wire lifted their first League Leaders’ Shield, beating the Warriors by a single point into first.
Warrington also beat Huddersfield Giants in the opening round of the play-offs, but things came crashing down in the semi-finals as they slipped to a 26-24 defeat to Leeds Rhinos – who ended up winning the Grand Final.
2013: Huddersfield Giants – lost qualifying play-off
One of the major Super League shocks, as Huddersfield Giants claimed their maiden League Leaders’ Shield title in 2013 thanks to a run of 21 wins from their 27 games, beating Warrington by a point into top spot.
After such a strong season, the Giants were dumped out of the race for Old Trafford after a heart-breaking 22-8 defeat to eventual Grand Final winners Wigan Warriors in the qualifying play-off.
2017: Castleford Tigers – lost Grand Final
Another one of the fairy-tale Super League stories, as Castleford Tigers won their first League Leaders’ Shield in 2017 after winning 25 of their 30 league fixtures, a whole 10-points above West Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos.
A late Luke Gale drop-goal in Golden Point helped the Fords beat St Helens to reach their first-ever Grand Final too, but they couldn’t overcome the odds at Old Trafford as they fell to a 24-6 defeat to Leeds Rhinos in the showpiece event.
2021: Catalans Dragons – lost Grand Final
Rounding off our list are the Catalans Dragons, who claimed their first League Leaders’ Shield in 2021 after winning 83 per cent of their games (ah, the winning percentage era…), beating St Helens to the title.
After a week off, Catalans went onto beat Hull KR in the semi-finals to reach their maiden Grand Final, but it wasn’t to be for Steve McNamara’s side as they lost 12-10 to St Helens at Old Trafford.
