The vagaries of the fixture computer threw together Leeds Rhinos and the Salford Red Devils with Paul Rowley’s side having to face their two key play makers of 2023 in the colours of their opponents, with Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers making their Rhinos debuts.

It was a new look Rhinos side with several arrivals, and departures, over the close season and Salford had to look to build again in 2024 after losing a few of their key players over the winter.

The visitors were given a big ten-point start on the handicap coupon with the bookies and pundits alike giving them little chance of a first round win, but that’s exactly the odds that the Red Devils like and Rohan Smith will have warned his charges about complacency as his Leeds side look to live up to pre-season expectations.

The traditional Boxing Day Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge took place this lunchtime at Headingley Stadium as the Leeds Rhinos faced a Wakefield Trinity side who are under the new management of Daryl Powell as he plots them a route back into Super League after last season’s relegation.

Both coaches named a mixture of youth and experience as fans from both clubs turned up in good numbers looking to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and give their lungs an outing after yesterday’s festivities.

While these matches count for little in the whole scheme of pre-season both side’s supporters hoped that their side would secure bragging rights.

Leeds Rhinos made their way across the Pennines looking for their fourth consecutive Women’s Super League Grand Final appearance as they looked to defend their title but they knew that they had a monumental challenge in their way as they took on a St Helens side who finished a place above them at the end of the regular season.

A Grand Final place against the York Valkyrie at the LNER Community Stadium on the 8th of October was up for grabs and the Rhinos were slight favourites after they won the round nine encounter three weeks ago by 34-22 while the sought further revenge for the defeat to Saints in the Challenge Cup Final.

Saints had never beaten the Rhinos at the Totally Wicked Stadium but were confident that today would be the day.

After Wigan and St Helens secured round twenty-six wins last night, the Catalans Dragons knew that they needed a home win, and a large one at that, to keep their hopes of a minor premiership alive as they took on the Leeds Rhinos who needed the win to maintain the slimmest of hopes that they could make the 2023 play-offs.

A win of any description would put the Dragons into second spot, while they needed an unlikely win by one hundred and twenty-nine points or more to regain top spot.

A win for the Rhinos would keep their season alive, at least for a couple of hours until Hull KR took on the Salford Red Devils in the evening kick-off.

There was no doubting that the Dragons were strong favourites, the Rhinos likely to see an end to their 2023 hopes after the most inconsistent of seasons.

The Wigan Warriors were looking for a return to the top of the table and knew that a win of any veriety would achieve that due to their superior points difference over the other two minor premiership hopefuls, the Catalans Dragons and arch-rivals St Helens.

The Rhinos came into the game in the full knowledge that a defeat, while not mathematically ending their hopes of a play-off place, would effectively do so, and snuff out the final light on a very disappointing season.

The bookies had the visitors as strong favourites for the win and gave the Rhinos an eight-point start on the handicap coupon; the scene was set for it to be a miserable Saturday afternoon for the Headingley Southstand faithful.

While the losers of Saturday afternoon’s clash between Hull FC and the Leeds Rhinos were not mathematically out of the race for the top six, and a play off place, the likelihood was that any practical chance that the loser would have of making the end of season knock out games would be highly unlikely.

Both sides came into the game on twenty points, four behind the play off place currently occupied by the Warrington Wolves who had a simultaneous kick-off in a home banker against the Castleford Tigers.

A Wolves win would see today’s losers needing to win all three of their remaining games while hoping that those around them did them a series of big favours.

In reality, this was just a dead rubber, but Hull FC were the favourites with the bookies to take the two points and further their fans agony for another make or break weekend.

A Sunday afternoon clash at the John Smith’s Stadium saw the Huddersfield Giants looking for a crucial two points to keep their slim hopes of a play off place alive as they faced a hot and cold a Leeds Rhinos side who themselves are looking increasingly unlikely to make the top six.

The bookies were struggling to make a call on the likely winners as both sides sat at the bar and were poured a drink in the last chance saloon.

A good following from Leeds packed into the away end to give their side a lift.

Each game was becoming a must win for most sides in Super League as we approach the end of the 2023 season, none more so than the Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves, the Rhinos to keep alive their hopes of a play-off position and the Wolves to try and revitalise a season which has been in freefall after a fabulous start.

The Rhinos had their eye on eighth spot, the Wolves on consolidating their fifth place in the race for the playoffs but it was anyone´s game as both sides came into the encounter on the back of poor runs of form.

The sun was out at Emerald Headingley as a decent Sunday afternoon crowd gathered.

Leigh haven’t won at Headingley for thirty-nine years but sitting in second spot in the table, they sent a full-strength side over the Pennines, despite being within a week of a Challenge Cup Final appearance, optimistic for the win as they took on new look Leeds Rhinos side who will now have to see out the season without the game controlling Blake Austin who was released to the Castleford Tigers during the week.

Leeds had been made the favourites by the bookies, the Leopards getting a four-point start on the coupon, as those with a betting mind thought that the lure of a cup final berth would activate the ‘cup self-preservation’ mode amongst their leading players.

The loss would hurt the Rhinos much more than it would Leigh.

There was nothing to choose between these two sides in 2023, the aggregate over the two games played so far being 37-37 as Leeds Rhinos travelled to the Totally Wicked Stadium to take on St Helens.

It was a weakened Saints side who had been dominating the headlines during the week after the injuries that they picked up in losing their semi-final against the Leigh Leopards against a Rhinos side who needed the win to keep alive their hopes of a play-off place in seven rounds time.

Saints were slight favourites but there was every chance that this would be a classic between two sides who had been almost inseparable throughout the season.

Leeds Beckett University, on behalf of the RFL, will host an ‘open discussion’ of concussion in Rugby League next Wednesday (2 August, 6:30pm-8pm) at the Carnegie School of Sport Building in Headingley.

Chaired by broadcaster Tanya Arnold and involving players, coaches and researchers, the event will explore preliminary data gathered from the recent Academy-level law trials, which seeks to quantify head impact and acceleration exposures in the sport with the aim of increasing understanding and reducing future risk.

The event will involve open discussion among interest parties from across Rugby League and is open to members of the public and media, who can register online to attend either in-person or virtually.

   

Few gave Wigan Warriors Women any hope of making cup progress to face St Helens women at Wembley as they came up against their nemesis, Leeds Rhinos, in the second Challenge Cup semi-final.

The Rhinos were massive favourites with the bookies, pundits, and most of the Warriors supporters after the Rhinos won the league fixture between the two sides by a massive 52-0 just a fortnight ago and because you have to look back five years in the record books for the last times that the Warriors were victorious over today’s opponents.

There was some criticism that the Rhinos were given home advantage for what should be a neutral ground semi-final but with a large contingency expected from Wigan for the later men’s semi-final against Hull KR, there should be plenty of support for the Warriors.

The Salford Red Devils were looking to rejoin the three sides in third place on twenty-two league points but standing in their way was a round eighteen game against Super League’s least predictable team, the Leeds Rhinos who themselves were eyeing up seventh spot.

Salford were the victors by ten points when the sides last met in early May, but it was the visitors who were slight favourites with the bookies this time out, Salford being given a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

This was a crucial game for both sides in their push for the play-offs, a win for the Red Devils would consolidate their place in the top six, while victory for their opponents would open the door for a charge into the six from the sides immediately outside the zone, including the Leeds Rhinos.

Fresh from hammering the Huddersfield Giants six days ago, the Leeds Rhinos made the trip to the Halliwell-Jones to face a Warrington Wolves side who fell to a surprise defeat at the hands of the Castleford Tigers on their last outing.

A win for the home side would put them back level on points with the league leaders, but unless it was by a margin of seventy points or more, they would still be second on points difference, while the Rhinos knew that they couldn’t improve their league position, but could get closer to seventh placed Hull KR.

The Wolves were the slight favourites with the bookies but with the Rhinos only having been given a two-point start on the coupon they really had a dilemma over who would win the game and take the two points.

If the rumours are to be believed, both coaches in tonight’s round sixteen Super League fixture at Emerald Headingley were both sipping from a drink already served in the last chance saloon as ninth took on tenth in an uninspiring fixture with both sides starting to drift too far from the play-off spots to make their end of season inclusion a likelihood.

The Rhinos were slight favourites with the bookies, the Giants having been given a four-point start on the coupon but with losses to the bottom two sides in their last two outings it would be a brave man who put his fifty pence on a home victory.

The Rhinos have lost their last four on the bounce while the Giants have lost their last two.

A win for the Rhinos would put them back in the eighth place that they lost the previous night to Hull FC, a win by twenty-two or more would lift the Giants above the Rhinos and into ninth.

Neither Wakefield Trinity nor Leeds Rhinos could improve their league position as a result of a win this afternoon at Belle Vue but for the home side it would be a first win of the season and reduce the arrears to the Tigers, for the visitors it would keep alive their hopes of a play-off spot and bring Hull KR’s seventh spot into focus.

Leeds were big favourites for the win with the bookies having given Trinity sixteen points start on the coupon but with a big partisan crowd expected, along with plenty making the short journey down the A650 to cheer on a Rhinos side who can´t decide whether they are brilliant or rubbish, and who display both traits in near equal measure.

It was anyone’s guess what would happen in the final game of Magic Weekend’s Saturday as two unpredictable sides took to the field with eighth placed Leeds Rhinos taking on a Castleford Tigers in eleventh place with only two wins so far this season, one against the Rhinos back in round five.

The Rhinos needed a massive win to lift them above St Helens into seventh on points difference, Castleford are three wins away from improving their league position, but the two points would give them some extra breathing space above the drop zone and Wakefield Trinity.

The Tigers were given an eight-point start on the coupon but anyone thinking of placing a bet was simply rolling the dice on the most unpredictable of fixtures, but with low expectations there was the chance that the game would serve up a classic.

The only thing separating the Leeds Rhinos and St Helens on the league table was points difference, the Saints having performed much better in defence over their opening twelve games than the Rhinos, who had themselves scored more points.

Leeds won the round three fixture at the Totally Wicked Stadium, the first loss for Saints after they become World Champions, but after exiting the cup last weekend at the hands of the Wigan Warriors, that seems like a long distant memory for Rhinos fans.

The Saints were favoured by the bookies going into the game with the Rhinos given a six point start on the handicap coupon, but it would all depend on which Rhinos side, Jekyll or Hyde, showed up for the game.

Both sets of supporters came into todays Challenge Cup sixth round encounter between the Leeds Rhinos and the Wigan Warriors with a hope that their side would win, and an expectation that they would lose, and the bookies had a similar dilemma as they struggled to pick a favourite to progress.

While Wigan are challenging for top spot in the table, and Leeds struggling to find any consistency in the bottom half, the Rhinos fought back from 14-0 down and played the second forty with twelve men but came back to record an incredible 40-18 victory at the DW Stadium.

The Rhinos made several changes with Ash Handley and Blake Austin both unfit and Zane Tetevano suspended after last week´s sending off.

Wigan had Liam Marshall and Ryan Hampshire back in their starting thirteen, but there was no place for Cade Cust.

Matt Peet´s side defeat at Hull KR last time out, a loss which cost them their place at the top of the table, ensured that their return to the DW Stadium was one that they would be desperate to mark with a win, as they took on the Leeds Rhinos in a Super League rehearsal of next weeks Betfred Challenge Cup sixth round tie.

The top of the Super League was far from the mind of Rhinos coach Rohan Smith who was more concerned about a top six finish and preventing his stars from facing up to one another in the tunnel, like they did after last weekend´s loss the Salford Red Devils.

Leeds had been given a ten-point start on the coupon with the Warriors strong favourites for a return to form, and possibly to the top of the table should leaders Warrington slip up against third placed Hull KR in one of tonight’s other Super League fixtures.