2017 Super League season

Super League XXII
Super League XXII
League	Super League
Duration	30 Rounds
Teams	12
Highest attendance	23,390 ; Wigan Warriors vs St Helens (14 April)
Lowest attendance	2,678 Salford Red Devils Vs Hull F.C. (9 June)
Average attendance	8,568
Attendance	1,182,437
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports; BBC Sport; Fox League; beIN Sports; Fox Soccer Plus; Sport Klub
2017 season
Champions	Leeds Rhinos ; 8th Super League; 11th British title
League Leaders	Castleford Tigers
Runners-up	Castleford Tigers
Biggest home win	Castleford Tigers 66–10 Leeds Rhinos (2 March)
Biggest away win	Catalans Dragons 12–56 Huddersfield Giants (10 June)
Man of Steel	Luke Gale
Top try-scorer(s)	Greg Eden (38)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Championship	Hull Kingston Rovers
Relegated to Championship	Leigh Centurions
	← 2016 2018 →

The Betfred Super League XXII,^[2] was the year 2017 Super League season and 123rd season of rugby league in Britain.

Super League XXII featured twelve teams, the third year in which this number has taken part. This was also the third year since promotion and relegation was reintroduced into the competition, seeing Leigh promoted and Hull KR relegated from last season.

Teams

Eleven teams in Super League are from the North of England. Six teams hail from the historic county of Lancashire, west of the Pennines: Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan, Leigh, and Widnes. Five teams hail from the historic county of Yorkshire, east of the Pennines: Huddersfield, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, and Hull F.C. Catalans Dragons, located in Perpignan, France, are the only team outside the North of England. St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, and Leeds Rhinos are the only teams to have played in every season of Super League since 1996.

Leigh were promoted from the Kingstone Press Championship after finishing in 2nd place in The Qualifiers for 2016. Leigh became the first club promoted to the Super League under the Super 8s system, and the first club promoted to Super League since Widnes received a license for Super League XVII. Leigh last competed in the top flight in Super League X. Hull Kingston Rovers were relegated to the Championship after losing the 2016 Million Pound Game to Salford.

West Yorkshire

Greater Manchester

Locations of Super League XXII teams

Catalans

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Locations of Super League XXII teams

Locations of Super League XXII teams in West Yorkshire

Locations of Super League XXII teams in Greater Manchester

Team	2016 position	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Castleford Tigers (2017 season)	5th	The Mend-O-Hose Jungle	11,750	Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons (2017 season)	6th	Stade Gilbert Brutus	14,000	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Huddersfield Giants (2017 season)	12th	John Smith's Stadium	24,544	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull (2017 season)	3rd	KCOM Stadium	25,404	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions (2017 season)	Promoted	Leigh Sports Village	12,700	Leigh, Greater Manchester
Leeds Rhinos (2017 season)	9th	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	22,250	Leeds, West Yorkshire
Salford Red Devils (2017 season)	10th	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Salford, Greater Manchester
St. Helens (2017 season)	4th	Totally Wicked Stadium	18,000	St. Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity (2017 season)	8th	Beaumont Legal Stadium	11,000	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves (2017 season)	1st	Halliwell Jones Stadium	15,500	Warrington, Cheshire
Widnes Vikings (2017 season)	7th	The Select Security Stadium	13,500	Widnes, Cheshire
Wigan Warriors (2017 season)	2nd (Champions)	DW Stadium	25,138	Wigan, Greater Manchester

Regular season

Standings at end of regular season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Castleford Tigers	23	20	0	3	769	378	+391	40	Super League Super 8s
2	Leeds Rhinos	23	15	0	8	553	477	+76	30
3	Hull F.C.	23	13	1	9	541	483	+58	27
4	Salford Red Devils	23	13	0	10	576	500	+76	26
5	Wakefield Trinity	23	13	0	10	572	509	+63	26
6	St. Helens	23	12	1	10	516	420	+96	25
7	Wigan Warriors	23	10	3	10	539	518	+21	23
8	Huddersfield Giants	23	9	3	11	519	486	+33	21
9	Warrington Wolves	23	9	2	12	426	557	−131	20	The Qualifiers
10	Catalans Dragons	23	7	1	15	469	689	−220	15
11	Leigh Centurions	23	6	0	17	425	615	−190	12
12	Widnes Vikings	23	5	1	17	359	632	−273	11

Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;

Super 8s

Super League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Castleford Tigers (L)	30	25	0	5	965	536	+429	50	Semi-finals
2	Leeds Rhinos (C)	30	20	0	10	749	623	+126	40
3	Hull F.C.	30	17	1	12	714	655	+59	35
4	St Helens	30	16	1	13	663	518	+145	33
5	Wakefield Trinity	30	16	0	14	714	679	+35	32
6	Wigan Warriors	30	14	3	13	691	668	+23	31
7	Salford Red Devils	30	14	0	16	680	728	−48	28
8	Huddersfield Giants	30	11	3	16	663	680	−17	25

Source: [1]
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders Shield

The Qualifiers

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Warrington Wolves	7	7	0	0	288	138	+150	14	Super League XXIII
2	Widnes Vikings	7	5	0	2	188	96	+92	10
3	Hull Kingston Rovers (P)	7	5	0	2	166	158	+8	10
4	Leigh Centurions (R)	7	4	0	3	203	104	+99	8	Million Pound Game
5	Catalans Dragons	7	4	0	3	130	143	−13	8	Million Pound Game
6	London Broncos	7	1	1	5	174	220	−46	3	2018 Championship
7	Featherstone Rovers	7	1	1	5	110	272	−162	3
8	Halifax	7	0	0	7	82	210	−128	0

Source: [2]
(P) Promoted to Super League; (R) Relegated

Playoffs

Super League

#	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
#	Home	Score	Away	Date and Time (Local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Semi-finals
SF1	Castleford Tigers	23–22^[a]	St. Helens	28 September 2017, 19:45 BST	Mend-A-Hose Jungle	James Child	11,235
SF2	Leeds Rhinos	18–16	Hull	29 September 2017, 19:45 BST	Headingley Carnegie	Phil Bentham	12,500
Source:^[3]
Grand final
F	Castleford Tigers	6–24	Leeds Rhinos	7 October 2017, 18:00 BST	Old Trafford	James Child	72,827
Source:^[4]

^ After extra time

Million Pound Game

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Leigh Centurions	10–30	Catalans Dragons	30 September 2017, 15:00	Leigh Sports Village	Ben Thaler	6,888

Player statistics

Top try scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Tries
1	Greg Eden	Castleford Tigers	38
2	Liam Marshall	Wigan Warriors	21
3	Ben Jones-Bishop	Wakefield Trinity	20
4=	Greg Minikin	Castleford Tigers	19
	Jermaine McGillvary	Huddersfield Giants
	Albert Kelly	Hull
7	Joe Burgess	Wigan Warriors	18
8=	Matt Parcell	Leeds Rhinos	17
	Mason Caton-Brown	Wakefield Trinity
	Jamie Shaul	Hull

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Luke Gale	Castleford Tigers	129
2	Marc Sneyd	Hull	103
3	Liam Finn	Wakefield Trinity	96
4	Mark Percival	St. Helens	95
5	Luke Walsh	Catalans	69
6	Danny Brough	Huddersfield Giants	61
7	Ben Reynolds	Leigh Centurions	48
8	Michael Dobson	Salford Red Devils	46
9=	Liam Sutcliffe	Leeds Rhinos	45
	Gareth O'Brien	Salford Red Devils
	Kallum Watkins	Leeds Rhinos

Top try assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	George Williams	Wigan Warriors	29
2	Danny McGuire	Leeds Rhinos	24
3	Robert Lui	Salford Red Devils	23
4	Danny Brough	Huddersfield Giants	22
5=	Luke Walsh	Catalans Dragons	20
5=	Luke Gale	Castleford Tigers	20
7=	Paul McShane	Castleford Tigers	19
7=	Michael Shenton	Castleford Tigers	19
9=	Zak Hardaker	Castleford Tigers	18
9=	Marc Sneyd	Hull	18

Top points scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Points
1	Luke Gale	Castleford Tigers	317
2	Mark Percival	St. Helens	254
3	Marc Sneyd	Hull	237
4	Liam Finn	Wakefield Trinity	196
5=	Greg Eden	Castleford Tigers	152
5=	Kallum Watkins	Leeds Rhinos	152
7	Luke Walsh	Catalans Dragons	150
8	Danny Brough	Huddersfield Giants	141
9	George Williams	Wigan Warriors	131
10	Gareth O'Brien	Salford Red Devils	124

Attendances

Average attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest
Castleford Tigers	11	104,776	9,525	11,500	7,094
Catalans Dragons	11	96,551	8,777	10,804	7,254
Huddersfield Giants	11	64,081	5,826	8,666	4,973
Hull	11	128,900	11,718	15,487	10,222
Leeds Rhinos	11	164,449	14,950	18,029	13,169
Leigh Centurions	11	71,732	6,521	9,012	4,938
Salford Red Devils	11	51,736	4,703	6,253	2,678
St Helens	11	118,240	10,749	13,138	9,040
Wakefield Trinity	11	58,178	5,289	7,187	4,017
Warrington Wolves	11	115,253	10,478	11,681	9,152
Widnes Vikings	11	63,437	5,767	8,279	4,253
Wigan Warriors	11	153,810	13,983	23,390	11,637

Top 10 attendances

Rank	Home club	Away club	Stadium	Attendance
1	Magic Weekend: Day 1		St. James' Park	35,361
2	Magic Weekend: Day 2		St. James' Park	30,046
3	Wigan Warriors	St Helens	DW Stadium	23,390
4	Leeds Rhinos	Castleford Tigers	Headingley Stadium	18,029
5	Leeds Rhinos	Wigan Warriors	Headingley Stadium	17,030
6	Leeds Rhinos	Hull	Headingley Stadium	16,938
7	Wigan Warriors	Leigh Centurions	DW Stadium	15,699
8	Hull	Leeds Rhinos	KCOM Stadium	15,487
9	Leeds Rhinos	Widnes Vikings	Headingley Stadium	15,408
10	Wigan Warriors	Leeds Rhinos	DW Stadium	15,119

Statistics correct as of 23 July 2017 (round 23)

End-of-season awards

Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:^[5]

Man of Steel: Luke Gale - Castleford Tigers
Coach of the year: Daryl Powell - Castleford Tigers
Super League club of the year: Castleford Tigers
Young player of the year: Oliver Gildart - Wigan Warriors
Foundation of the year: Wigan Warriors
Rhino "Top Gun": Marc Sneyd - Hull F.C. (89% - 103 goals)
Metre-maker: Alex Walmsley - St. Helens (4256 metres)
Top Try Scorer: Greg Eden (38) - Castleford Tigers
Hit Man: Danny Houghton - Hull F.C. (1123 tackles)
Outstanding Contribution:
Thomas Bosc - Catalans Dragons
Chris Bridge - Warrington Wolves
Rob Burrow - Leeds Rhinos
Eorl Crabtree - Huddersfield Giants
Gareth Ellis - Hull
Andy Lynch - Castleford Tigers
Leon Pryce - Bradford Bulls
Iafeta Paleaaesina - Hull

Media

Television

2017 is the first of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 100 matches per season.^[6]

Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights.^[7]

Regular commentators will be Eddie Hemmings with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights on Sunday nights on Super League - Full Time at 10 p.m.

BBC Sport will broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme, the first to the BBC North West, Yorkshire, North East and Cumbria, and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35 p.m. on BBC One,^[8] while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30 p.m. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.^[9] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.^[10]

Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Fox Sports (Australia) and Sportsnet World (Canada).

Radio

BBC Coverage:

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (National DAB Digital Radio) will carry two Super League commentaries each week on Thursday and Friday nights (both kick off 8pm); this will be through the 5 Live Rugby league programme which is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and also includes interviews and debate..
BBC Radio Humberside will have full match commentary of all Hull F.C. matches.
BBC Radio Leeds carry commentaries featuring Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
BBC Radio Manchester will carry commentary of Leigh, Wigan and Salford whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Merseyside.
BBC Radio Merseyside will have commentary on St Helens and Widnes matches whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Manchester.

Commercial Radio Coverage:

102.4 Wish FM will carry commentaries of Wigan & St Helens matches.
107.2 Wire FM will carry commentaries on Warrington Home and Away.
Radio Yorkshire will launch in March carrying Super League commentaries.
Radio Warrington (Online Station) all Warrington home games and some away games.
Grand Sud FM covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (in French).
Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (in French).

All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.

References

^ "Luke Gale crowned Man of Steel". Super League. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
^ "First Utility powers title sponsorship of Super League". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
^ "Betfred Super League semi-finals". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3090. 2 October 2017. p. 39.
^ "McGuire leads Rhinos to a stunning win". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3091. 9 October 2017. p. 16.
^ "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
^ Sky Sports (31 January 2014). "Super League deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
^ Sky Sports (18 February 2012). "Rugby League live on Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
^ BBC Sport (3 February 2012). "BBC's Super League Show returns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
^ BBC. "BBC One - Super League Show". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
^ "BBC Two - Rugby League: Super League Play-Offs - Highlights". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2013.