Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara made a myriad of changes to the side which lost to Castleford by golden point last week.

Saints were without Konrad Hurrell as they also made changes while looking to draw further clear at the top of the table.

The sun was ´cracking the flags´ as last season´s Grand Finalists took to the field with the home side having their work cut out to try and half a seven-game winning run for the Saints, having only won one in the last three themselves.

Saints won both previous meetings between the two sides in 2022 and were favourites to take the two points again tonight in the south of France.

A win for Hull FC would see them move back ahead of the Castleford Tigers and into fifth spot in the table, whilst today’s visitors, the Leeds Rhinos are still in all sorts of trouble at the wrong end of the table and still looking to secure their Super League position for next season.

Someone wise soul once said ´if the Rhinos can keep thirteen on the field for eighty minutes´ they could be dangerous´, but it´s been a long time since they´ve not been well represented at the disciplinary panel on a weekly basis.

Perhaps today would be the day.

The bookies certainly thought so and had given the home side a four-point start on the handicap coupon.

Making the Rhinos the favourites to pick up the points and lift themselves into eighth position ahead of the Magic Weekend.

The Huddersfield Giants had second place on their mind as they travelled the short distance to Castleford to take on a Tigers side who were looking to move into fifth place, but the Giants would be wary in the knowledge that the Tigers took the scalp of the Dragons last time out.

There were numerous changes to both sides, Paul McShane notably on the bench for the Tigers where he is usually in the starting thirteen.

The Giants had new loan signing Toby King in their side and Owen Trout in the front row.

The home side were given a two-point start in the coupon, the visitor’s slight favourites for the win.

This was as mid-table as you could get as fifth took on sixth in the televised Monday night game to complete the fixtures in round sixteen of the 2022 Betfred Championship.

Both sides needed the win to consolidate their place in the top six to have a shot at the play-offs, and whoever emerged victorious at the end of eighty minutes would finish the round in fifth spot.

The bookies fancied Halifax for the win and gave them a six-point handicap on the coupon and with the Batley Bulldogs showing yesterday that Featherstone Rovers are fallible, the sides in the lower play-off places will have a new enthusiasm for their chances of making the Million Pound game.

The two sides met a couple of months ago the Shay with the Panthers taking a 40-18 win, the Raiders looking to level the score tonight.

Round Sixteen of the 2022 Betfred Championship saw one game on Friday night as the Sheffield Eagles played Leigh Centurions, and five more on Sunday afternoon, with the game between Barrow and Halifax having been chosen by Premier Sports as the Monday night televised game.

Sunday saw a deluge of tries as; Bradford hosted Dewsbury, Featherstone were at home to Batley, Workington travelled east to Newcastle, Whitehaven were at home to York and London made the trip to Cheshire to face Widnes.

On paper an intriguing tussle between fourth placed Huddersfield Giants and a Hull KR side in seventh spot, was one of three rare Sunday afternoon fixtures in Super League as the home side looked for a spot in the top half of the table and the visitors had their eye on the top three, should the Dragons slip up at Castleford.

The Robins named Elliot Minchella in the starting thirteen and Greg Richards on the bench in the only two changes to the side which lost narrowly to Saints a fortnight ago, while Innes Senior and Matty Russell were both back in the starting line-up for the Giants The Giants were slight favourites with the bookies but there was very little to choose between the sides, the big betting money was going in the Giants favour but the punters seemed to have more faith in Huddersfield than the pundits.

New South Wales came into the second State of Origin game knowing that a loss would mean a humiliating series defeat, but that a win would put them level with Queensland going into the decider in two and a half weeks’ time.

After coming from behind to triumph by 16-10 in the first game, Queensland had been installed as slight bookies underdogs to get the win and take the series, after losing out last season, as the two sides met on neutral territory at a sold-out Optus Stadium in Perth.

The Blues made seven changes as they looked to overturn their fortunes while the Maroons had just two differences from game one´s victorious side, the anticipation was that this would be the night for Brad Fittlers´ charges as they levelled the series.

Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland was the venue for an international encounter between New Zealand and Tonga as the preparations for this seasons World Cup got underway in much anticipated encounter in front of a sell-out crowd.

This was the seventh meeting between the two rivals, but the first since June 2019, with New Zealand having won all but one of the past encounters, Tonga picking up their only win with a 28-22 victory in 2017.

The atmosphere was electric as dusk fell and the two sides performed their Haka´s before going into battle.

Ninth played host to fifth as an embattled Warrington Wolves looked to return to winning ways against a Hull FC side seeking to cement their top five spot and establish some breathing space ahead of the red side of the city.

The Wolves haven´t won a game since the 23^rd April, just over two months ago, when the beat the Huddersfield Giants having lost the previous week against tonight´s opposition but it was the home side who were favourites for the win with the bookies, the Airlie Birds getting a six point start on the coupon.

The most nervous man in the house was Wolves coach Daryl Powell who knew that he was living on borrowed time, if not with the board, then definitely with the disgruntled fans.

If there was one foregone conclusion from round sixteen of Super League 2022, it was that St Helens would defeat the Rhinos and extend their lead at the top of the table in the Thursday evening fixture broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Both sides made several changes from the sides which lined up a fortnight ago, Saints had a few missing and named Bennison at full back and Sironen in the second row, while Leeds notably had Sezer back in the halves and skipper Leeming at hooker.

The bookies had given the Rhinos a fourteen-point start on the handicap coupon, they had little chance of registering their sixth win of the campaign.

In a game which was dogged with apathy from some clubs, and degraded by player withdrawals, England took to the field to take on an International All-Stars side as they built up for their World Cup Campaign at the end of the current domestic season.

Shaun Wane got to pick the cream of the available fit players but sprang several surprises, mostly through omission, while plenty of withdrawals for All-Stars coach Ellery Hanley left him with a number of selection headaches, but he was still able to select a strong looking side who on paper, who should have given the English a good run for their money.

England were favourites with the bookies, but Wane would remember that his side were beaten by 26-24 in his first game in charge at this time last year.

The first game of a double-header from the Halliwell-Jones Stadium saw the England Ladies side take on the French side as both teams looked for positives in their build up to the World Cup in the Autumn.

England came into the game on the back of a commanding 32-6 win over Wales at Cross Keys last Sunday but it was the first outing for the French side since they lost to England by 40-4 last October at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in Perpignan.

Most eyes were on Courtney Winfield-Hill, the thirty-five year old Australian cricketer and Leeds Rhinos scrum half who was making her debut in an England jersey alongside fellow debutant Keara Bennett.

England Ladies have never lost to France and the strong expectation was that they would continue that winning run.

The Monday evening televised Premier Sports game between the top two in the Championship saw Featherstone Rovers travel to Leigh Centurions for an encounter which had more of a game of the season feel to it, than just a boring old game of the round.

The Centurions only league loss of the season was the round two defeat away at Featherstone, while it was the Centurions who emerged with the Trophy when the two sides met in the 1895 Cup Final a couple of short weeks ago.

Honours shared so far in 2022 but this game would determine who sat at the top of the league at the end of round fifteen, and who was in pole position to top the table come the end of the season.

The home side were big favourites with the bookies, but despite several injuries it would be a fool that would write off Brian McDermott’s flat cappers from taking home the points.

Round fifteen of the 2022 Betfred Championship held one of the ties of the season as the two favourites for the Million Pound game, Leigh and Featherstone, were thrown together for a game at the Leigh Sports Village with top spot up for grabs.

But we would have to wait until Monday evening and the Premier Sports live game.

The other six ties were played on Sunday afternoon with an early kick off in the Cumbrian derby between Workington Town and Barrow Raiders.

The remainder of the fixtures were three o´clock starts with; Batley against Newcastle, Dewsbury hosting London in a crucial game at the bottom, Whitehaven taking on the Halifax Panthers, York travelling to a beleaguered Widnes and the Bradford Bulls at the Sheffield Eagles.

Wakefield Trinity took on the Wolves as a bottom of the table dogfight took place on Sunday afternoon at Belle Vue with ninth against eleventh and the chance of all change with a home win by twenty-four points or more heralding a position switch to push the Wolves into eleventh spot.

Wakefield won the round six the game in Warrrington back in mid-March by 38-22, and a week later they knocked Warrington out of the Challenge Cup by a score line of 16-12, today they were looking for the treble.

The home side were given a four-point start on the coupon, the bookies struggling to pick a winner but favouring the Wolves based on league position.

It was fourth against fifth as two sides with aspirations of making Old Trafford at the end of the season with Hull FC travelling to the south of France to take on the Catalans Dragons.

A win for the visitors wouldn´t alter their league position but would put some daylight between them and their arch rivals from across the city whereas a win for the Dragons would lift them two places and back into second spot.

Both sides came into the game on the back of defeats after the Dragons lost at home to the Huddersfield Giants and FC were pipped in golden point by strugglers Wakefield Trinity after an enormous fightback.

The Dragons were the favourites for the win, but it promised to be a great battle.

A resurgent Leeds Rhinos travelled to the Huddersfield Giants to take on a side who took little time to dismiss their Challenge Cup disappointment and show that their focus for the 2022 season is now well and truly making the Old Trafford Grand Final in October, while the Rhinos would settle for making the play-offs as they struggle to get out of the bottom half of the table.

Giants coach Ian Watson stuck with Pryce in the half-backs due to the continued unavailability of Fages, and was also without O´Brien and Russell, while Rohan Smith´s Rhinos were without Bentley, Gannon and skipper Kruise Leeming who missed out through illness The home side were slight favourites with the bookies to consolidate their place in the top four, with the Rhinos being given a four-point start on the handicap coupon as they looked to overtake the Tigers and move into seventh place.

It´s that time of year again, the time that Australia goes doolally over the State of Origin and we get to tune in halfway across the globe to for a televisual feast as New South Wales take on Queensland at Sydney´s Accor Stadium at Olympic Park.

The Blues regained the honours last season with a two-one victory over the Maroons to whom they had lost the honour in 2020.

Queensland are currently leading through the ages with twenty-two series wins against New South Wales sixteen as the teams started the forty-first full series in the forty-third year.

The Blues were slight favourites with the bookies, the Maroons getting a four-point start on the handicap coupon, but it really was anyone´s in what promised to be another close series.

It was 9th v 5th in the final match of Magic Weekend Saturday in Newcastle, as Leeds sought to continue their climb into the play-offs and Castleford looked to secure their place in the post-season clashes which decide the title.

After a shakey start to the season, when both teams looked like they would be struggling with the opponents in the day's opening match and looking fearfully at the bottom of the table and possible relegation.

But the Tigers and the Rhinos had both started putting a winning run together in recent weeks and the question at St James's Park was who would continue that run and who would stutter to another loss.

Bradford kicked off the final game of the Jubilee weekend in the Betfred Championship - with  Featherstone expected to win and return to the top of the table.

The Bulls, with just three wins in the last six games, would be happy to reverse last month's 32-18 loss to Rovers.

The hosts had first use of the ball, playing up the slope in the opening 40 minutes and dominating the early part of the game.

And with less than five minutes gone, Bulls prop Muizz Mustapha had to leave the field for a head injury assessment after going clumsily into a defensive tackle.