# 2018 Super League season

Super League XXIII, known as the Betfred Super League XXIII for sponsor reasons, was the 23rd season of the Super League and 124th season of rugby league in Britain for 2018.
Wigan Warriors were crowned champions after beating Warrington Wolves 12-4 to win their 22nd league Championship.
Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend.
This season also saw the first Super League game played outside Europe, as Wigan Warriors faced Hull F.C. at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, Australia on Saturday 10 February 2018, which Wigan won, 24–10.
St. Helens won the League Leaders Shield for a record 6th time. However, they failed to reach the Grand Final after losing their semi final 13-18 to Warrington Wolves.
Widnes Vikings were relegated to the Championship, after only 3 wins in the regular season and one win in The Qualifiers, while London Broncos were promoted after winning the Million Pound Game by beating Toronto Wolfpack 4–2.

## Teams

Eleven teams in Super League are from the North of England. Five teams hail from the historic county of Lancashire, west of the Pennines: Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan, and Widnes. Six teams hail from the historic county of Yorkshire, east of the Pennines: Huddersfield, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull KR and Hull FC. 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.
Hull KR were promoted from the Championship after finishing in 2nd place in The Qualifiers for 2017 whilst Leigh were relegated to the Championship after losing the 2017 Million Pound Game to Catalans.
| Team | 2017 position | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
| Castleford Tigers (2018 season) | 1st (League Leaders/Runners-Up) | The Mend-A-Hose Jungle | 11,750 | Castleford, West Yorkshire |
| Catalans Dragons (2018 season) | 10th | Stade Gilbert Brutus | 14,000 | Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France |
| Huddersfield Giants (2018 season) | 8th | John Smith's Stadium | 24,544 | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire |
| Hull (2018 season) | 3rd | KCOM Stadium | 25,404 | Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Hull Kingston Rovers (2018 season) | Promoted | Lightstream Stadium | 12,225 | Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Leeds Rhinos (2018 season) | 2nd (Champions) | Headingley Carnegie Stadium | 22,250 | Leeds, West Yorkshire |
| Salford Red Devils (2018 season) | 7th | AJ Bell Stadium | 12,000 | Salford, Greater Manchester |
| St. Helens (2018 season) | 4th | Totally Wicked Stadium | 18,000 | St. Helens, Merseyside |
| Wakefield Trinity (2018 season) | 5th | Beaumont Legal Stadium | 11,000 | Wakefield, West Yorkshire |
| Warrington Wolves (2018 season) | 9th | Halliwell Jones Stadium | 15,500 | Warrington, Cheshire |
| Widnes Vikings (2018 season) | 12th | The Select Security Stadium | 13,500 | Widnes, Cheshire |
| Wigan Warriors (2018 season) | 6th | DW Stadium | 25,138 | Wigan, Greater Manchester |

## Regular season

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | St. Helens | 23 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 713 | 298 | +415 | 42 | Super League Super 8s |
| 2 | Wigan Warriors | 23 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 573 | 345 | +228 | 32 | Super League Super 8s |
| 3 | Castleford Tigers | 23 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 567 | 480 | +87 | 31 | Super League Super 8s |
| 4 | Warrington Wolves | 23 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 531 | 410 | +121 | 29 | Super League Super 8s |
| 5 | Huddersfield Giants | 23 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 427 | 629 | −202 | 23 | Super League Super 8s |
| 6 | Hull F.C. | 23 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 534 | 544 | −10 | 22 | Super League Super 8s |
| 7 | Wakefield Trinity | 23 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 581 | 506 | +75 | 21 | Super League Super 8s |
| 8 | Catalans Dragons | 23 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 488 | 531 | −43 | 21 | Super League Super 8s |
| 9 | Leeds Rhinos | 23 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 441 | 527 | −86 | 18 | The Qualifiers |
| 10 | Hull KR | 23 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 476 | 582 | −106 | 17 | The Qualifiers |
| 11 | Salford Red Devils | 23 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 384 | 597 | −213 | 14 | The Qualifiers |
| 12 | Widnes Vikings | 23 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 387 | 653 | −266 | 6 | The Qualifiers |

## Super 8s
### Super League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | St. Helens (L) | 30 | 26 | 0 | 4 | 895 | 408 | +487 | 52 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Wigan Warriors (C) | 30 | 23 | 0 | 7 | 740 | 417 | +323 | 46 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Castleford Tigers | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 767 | 582 | +185 | 41 | Semi-finals |
| 4 | Warrington Wolves | 30 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 767 | 561 | +206 | 37 | Semi-finals |
| 5 | Wakefield Trinity | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 747 | 696 | +51 | 27 | |
| 6 | Huddersfield Giants | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 539 | 794 | −255 | 27 | |
| 7 | Catalans Dragons | 30 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 596 | 750 | −154 | 25 | |
| 8 | Hull F.C. | 30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 615 | 787 | −172 | 22 | |

### The Qualifiers

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Salford Red Devils | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 218 | 75 | +143 | 10 | Super League XXIV |
| 2 | Leeds Rhinos | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 216 | 137 | +79 | 10 | Super League XXIV |
| 3 | Hull KR | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 197 | 162 | +35 | 10 | Super League XXIV |
| 4 | Toronto Wolfpack | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 136 | 118 | +18 | 10 | Million Pound Game |
| 5 | London Broncos (P) | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 161 | 164 | −3 | 8 | Million Pound Game |
| 6 | Toulouse Olympique | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 156 | 190 | −34 | 6 | 2019 Championship |
| 7 | Widnes Vikings (R) | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 92 | 173 | −81 | 2 | 2019 Championship |
| 8 | Halifax | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 68 | 225 | −157 | 0 | 2019 Championship |

## Playoffs

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referee | Attendance |
| Semi-finals |||||||
| St. Helens | 13–18 | Warrington Wolves | 4 October 2018, 19:45 | Totally Wicked Stadium | Robert Hicks | 12,031 |
| Wigan Warriors | 14–0 | Castleford Tigers | 5 October 2018, 19:45 | DW Stadium | Ben Thaler | 13,461 |

## Grand Final
### Final

* 13 October 2018 6:00 pm BST
| Wigan Warriors | 12–4 | Warrington Wolves |
| Tries: Manfredi (2), Davies | | Tries: Charnley |
* Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 64,892 Referee: Robert Hicks Player of the Match: Stefan Ratchford (Warrington)

### Wigan Warriors

Wigan finished 2nd in regular season and seven consecutive wins in the Super 8's saw them secure 2nd place in the table. A 14–0 victory over Castleford Tigers in the semi-final earned Wigan a place in their 10th Grand Final.
This is the first time that a team has won all 7 Super 8's games in a single season, and since this playoff format will be abandoned at the end of the 2018 season, will make this a unique historic feat achieved by Wigan.

### Warrington Wolves

Warrington finished 4th to earn an away trip to League Leaders Shield winners St. Helens in the semi-finals. Warrington won 18-13 with a late try by Tom Lineham. Warrington will be contesting their 4th Grand Final.

### Match details

This match was Shaun Wane's last game as Wigan coach before going to Scotland Rugby Union after 7 seasons as head coach of Wigan.

### Teams

| Wigan Warriors | Position | Warrington Wolves |
| #1 Sam Tomkins | Fullback | #1 Stefan Ratchford |
| #21 Dominic Manfredi | Wing | #2 Tom Lineham |
| #4 Oliver Gildart | Centre | #3 Bryson Goodwin |
| #3 Dan Sarginson | Centre | #19 Toby King |
| #2 Tom Davies | Wing | #27 Josh Charnley |
| #6 George Williams | Stand-off | #6 Kevin Brown |
| #9 Thomas Leuluai | Scrum-half | #7 Tyrone Roberts |
| #25 Romain Navarette | Prop | #8 Chris Hill |
| #7 Sam Powell | Hooker | #9 Daryl Clark |
| #10 Ben Flower | Prop | #10 Mike Cooper |
| #40 Joe Greenwood | Second-row | #30 Bodene Thompson |
| #14 John Bateman | Second-row | #12 Jack Hughes |
| #13 Sean O'Loughlin | Loose forward | #34 Ben Westwood |
| #20 Morgan Escare | Interchange | #17 Joe Philbin |
| #19 Ryan Sutton | Interchange | #13 Ben Murdoch-Masila |
| #12 Liam Farrell | Interchange | #19 George King |
| #8 Tony Clubb | Interchange | #15 Declan Patton |
| Shaun Wane | Coach | Steve Price |

## Player statistics

Top 10 try Scorers
Rank
Player
Club
Tries
1
Ben Barba
St. Helens
28
2
Tom Johnstone
Wakefield Trinity
24
3
Mark Percival
St. Helens
20
4=
Greg Eden
Castleford Tigers
18
Ben Jones-Bishop
Wakefield Trinity
Tom Lineham
Warrington Wolves
7=
Bureta Faraimo
Hull F.C.
17
Jonny Lomax
St. Helens
9
Liam Marshall
Wigan Warriors
16
10=
David Mead
Catalans Dragons
15
Regan Grace
St. Helens
Josh Charnley
Warrington Wolves
Stefan Ratchford
Warrington Wolves
Top 10 try assists
Rank
Player
Club
Assists
1
Jacob Miller
Wakefield Trinity
28
2
Paul McShane
Castleford Tigers
27
3
Ben Barba
St. Helens
24
4
Richie Myler
Leeds Rhinos
23
5=
Josh Drinkwater
Catalans Dragons
22
George Williams
Wigan Warriors
7
Kevin Brown
Warrington Wolves
20
8=
Ryan Hampshire
Wakefield Trinity
19
Stefan Ratchford
Warrington Wolves
10
Sam Tomkins
Wigan Warriors
18
Top 10 goal scorers
Rank
Player
Club
Goals
Drop Goals
1
Danny Richardson
St. Helens
135
6
2
Sam Tomkins
Wigan Warriors
96
6
3
Danny Brough
Huddersfield Giants
62
2
4
Ryan Hampshire
Wakefield Trinity
61
1
5
Ryan Shaw
Hull KR
56
0
6
Jamie Ellis
Castleford Tigers
54
1
7
Josh Drinkwater
Catalans Dragons
53
0
8
Marc Sneyd
Hull F.C.
51
5
9
Luke Gale
Castleford Tigers
48
4
10
Jake Connor
Hull F.C.
40
2
Top 10 points scorers
Rank
Player
Club
Points
1
Danny Richardson
St. Helens
296
2
Sam Tomkins
Wigan Warriors
241
3
Ryan Shaw
Hull KR
156
4
Ryan Hampshire
Wakefield Trinity
143
5
Josh Drinkwater
Catalans Dragons
134
6
Danny Brough
Huddersfield Giants
130
7
Jamie Ellis
Castleford Tigers
117
8
Stefan Ratchford
Warrington Wolves
114
9
Ben Barba
St. Helens
112
10
Marc Sneyd
Hull F.C.
111
* Updated to match(es) played on 28 September 2018 (Super 8s – Round 7) :

## Discipline

| Rank | Player | Club | Red Cards |
| 1= | Liam Watts * | Castleford Tigers / Hull F.C. | 1 |
| 1= | Kenny Edwards | Catalans Dragons | 1 |
| 1= | Mickael Simon | Catalans Dragons | 1 |
| 1= | Danny Brough | Huddersfield Giants | 1 |
| 1= | Bureta Faraimo | Hull F.C. | 1 |
| 1= | Lee Mossop | Salford Red Devils | 1 |
| 1= | Morgan Knowles | St. Helens | 1 |
| 1= | Matty Lees | St. Helens | 1 |
| 1= | Jacob Miller | Wakefield Trinity | 1 |
| 1= | Declan Patton | Warrington Wolves | 1 |
| 1= | Wellington Albert | Widnes Vikings | 1 |
| 1= | Chris Houston | Widnes Vikings | 1 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Yellow Cards |
| 1= | Sam Moa | Catalans Dragons | 3 |
| 1= | Mickael Simon | Catalans Dragons | 3 |
| 2= | Adam Milner | Castleford Tigers | 2 |
| 2= | Julian Bousquet | Catalans Dragons | 2 |
| 2= | Michael McIlorum | Catalans Dragons | 2 |
| 2= | Fouad Yaha | Catalans Dragons | 2 |
| 2= | Ryan Hinchcliffe | Huddersfield Giants | 2 |
| 2= | Kruise Leeming | Huddersfield Giants | 2 |
| 2= | Josh Johnson | Hull KR | 2 |
| 2= | Lama Tasi | Salford Red Devils | 2 |
| 2= | Weller Hauraki * | Salford Red Devils / Widnes Vikings | 2 |
| 2= | Mark Percival | St. Helens | 2 |
| 2= | Matty Ashurst | Wakefield Trinity | 2 |
| 2= | Craig Huby | Wakefield Trinity | 2 |
| 2= | Tyler Randell | Wakefield Trinity | 2 |
| 2= | Mike Cooper | Warrington Wolves | 2 |
| 2= | Tom Lineham | Warrington Wolves | 2 |
| 2= | Chris Houston | Widnes Vikings | 2 |
| 2= | Thomas Leuluai | Wigan Warriors | 2 |
| 2= | Sam Tomkins | Wigan Warriors | 2 |
| 3= | Matt Cook | Castleford Tigers | 1 |
| 3= | Oliver Holmes | Castleford Tigers | 1 |
| 3= | Mike McMeeken | Castleford Tigers | 1 |
| 3= | Grant Millington | Castleford Tigers | 1 |
| 3= | Joe Wardle | Castleford Tigers | 1 |
| 3= | Lambert Belmas | Catalans Dragons | 1 |
| 3= | Greg Bird | Catalans Dragons | 1 |
| 3= | Benjamin Jullien | Catalans Dragons | 1 |
| 3= | Lewis Tierney | Catalans Dragons | 1 |
| 3= | Brayden Williame | Catalans Dragons | 1 |
| 3= | Danny Brough | Huddersfield Giants | 1 |
| 3= | Michael Lawrence | Huddersfield Giants | 1 |
| 3= | Jermaine McGillvary | Huddersfield Giants | 1 |
| 3= | Jordan Turner | Huddersfield Giants | 1 |
| 3= | Jacob Wardle | Huddersfield Giants | 1 |
| 3= | Jake Connor | Hull F.C. | 1 |
| 3= | Bureta Faraimo | Hull F.C. | 1 |
| 3= | Josh Griffin | Hull F.C. | 1 |
| 3= | Maurice Blair | Hull KR | 1 |
| 3= | Chris Clarkson | Hull KR | 1 |
| 3= | Matthew Marsh | Hull KR | 1 |
| 3= | Mose Masoe | Hull KR | 1 |
| 3= | Nick Scruton | Hull KR | 1 |
| 3= | Danny Tickle | Hull KR | 1 |
| 3= | Joel Tomkins * | Hull KR / Wigan Warriors | 1 |
| 3= | Brett Ferres | Leeds Rhinos | 1 |
| 3= | Matt Parcell | Leeds Rhinos | 1 |
| 3= | Brad Singleton | Leeds Rhinos | 1 |
| 3= | George Griffin | Salford Red Devils | 1 |
| 3= | Junior Sa'u | Salford Red Devils | 1 |
| 3= | Logan Tomkins | Salford Red Devils | 1 |
| 3= | Kris Welham | Salford Red Devils | 1 |
| 3= | Ryan Lannon | Salford Red Devils | 1 |
| 3= | Kyle Amor | St. Helens | 1 |
| 3= | Luke Douglas | St. Helens | 1 |
| 3= | Matty Lees | St. Helens | 1 |
| 3= | Dominique Peyroux | St. Helens | 1 |
| 3= | Scott Grix | Wakefield Trinity | 1 |
| 3= | Max Jowitt | Wakefield Trinity | 1 |
| 3= | Reece Lyne | Wakefield Trinity | 1 |
| 3= | Sitaleki Akauola | Warrington Wolves | 1 |
| 3= | Ryan Atkins | Warrington Wolves | 1 |
| 3= | George King | Warrington Wolves | 1 |
| 3= | Hep Cahill | Widnes Vikings | 1 |
| 3= | Danny Walker | Widnes Vikings | 1 |
| 3= | Sam Powell | Wigan Warriors | 1 |
| 3= | Romain Navarette | Wigan Warriors | 1 |

## Attendances

| Club | Home Games | Total | Average | Highest | Lowest |
| Castleford Tigers | 11 | 86,888 | 7,898 | 9,557 | 5,946 |
| Catalans Dragons | 11 | 91,891 | 8,353 | 10,236 | 6,585 |
| Huddersfield Giants | 11 | 63,199 | 5,745 | 9,121 | 4,385 |
| Hull FC | 11 | 133,921 | 12,174 | 17,564 | 10,051 |
| Hull KR | 11 | 87,614 | 7,964 | 12,090 | 6,711 |
| Leeds Rhinos | 11 | 140,881 | 12,807 | 23,246 | 10,366 |
| Salford Red Devils | 11 | 30,236 | 2,748 | 5,568 | 2,248 |
| St Helens | 11 | 126,264 | 11,478 | 17,980 | 10,008 |
| Wakefield Trinity | 11 | 57,685 | 5,244 | 7,020 | 4,055 |
| Warrington Wolves | 11 | 110,969 | 10,088 | 12,268 | 8,792 |
| Widnes Vikings | 11 | 53,876 | 4,897 | 7,009 | 3,681 |
| Wigan Warriors | 10 | 117,084 | 11,708 | 16,047 | 10,641 |
| Rank | Home club | Away club | Stadium | Attendance |
| 1 | Wigan Warriors | Warrington Wolves | Old Trafford | 64,892 |
| 2 | Magic Weekend: Day 1 | Magic Weekend: Day 1 | St. James' Park | 38,881 |
| 3 | Magic Weekend: Day 2 | Magic Weekend: Day 2 | St. James' Park | 25,438 |
| 4 | Leeds Rhinos | Castleford Tigers | Elland Road | 23,246 |
| 5 | St Helens | Wigan Warriors | Totally Wicked Stadium | 17,980 |
| 6 | Hull FC | Hull KR | KCOM Stadium | 17,564 |
| 7 | Leeds Rhinos | Hull KR | Elland Road | 16,149 |
| 8 | Wigan Warriors | St Helens | DW Stadium | 16,047 |
| 9 | Hull FC | Huddersfield Giants | KCOM Stadium | 13,704 |
| 10 | Hull FC | Castleford Tigers | KCOM Stadium | 13,623 |
* Statistics correct as of 27 July 2018 (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:
* Coach of the year: Shaun Wane (Wigan Warriors)
* Foundation of the year: Leeds Rhinos
* Hit Man: Paul McShane (Castleford Tigers) (1160 tackles)
* Man of Steel: Ben Barba (St. Helens)
* Metre-maker: Bill Tupou (Wakefield Trinity) (4114 Metres)
* Rhino "Top Gun": Luke Gale (Castleford Tigers)
* Super League Club of The Year: Warrington Wolves
* Top Try Scorer: Ben Barba (St. Helens) (28)
* Young player of the year: Jake Trueman (Castleford Tigers)

## Media
### Television

2018 is the second of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 100 matches per season.
Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights.
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, 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 month after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only. End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.
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.