As Super League 2021 edges ever closer to the play-offs, both Hull FC and the Castleford Tigers knew that a loss in tonight’s fixture could prove disastrous to their play-off hopes as they jockeyed for position inside the all-important top six.

A win for the home side could see them up to fifth and complicate the Tigers path to a top six finish, while a win for the visitors would lift them into a minimum of seventh, and depending on the result of the game between Hull KR and Wakefield Trinity, might even see them entering the six.

The Airlie Birds were the bookies favourites for the win but with seventh against eighth it was almost too close to call, the visitors getting just a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

With just five games remaining in the regular rounds of Super League 2021 the race for the all-important top-six was heating up as fourth placed Wigan Warriors hosted a Leeds Rhinos currently sitting in seventh spot, but who knew that a win would lift them into fifth above both Hull clubs.

Wigan were without the suspended Willie Isa but Jai Field and Brad Singleton both returned to the starting line-up alongside a John Bateman who had a one game suspension overturned on appeal, while the Rhinos were without a ill Callum McLelland but with Rhyse Martin, Matt Prior and Cameron Smith all back in the seventeen.

The Warriors were slight favourites for the win with the Rhinos being given a two-point start on the coupon, but there was very little in it for the pundits who were divided on who would take the win to improve their league win percentage.

While defeat for the Leigh Centurions against the Salford Red Devils wouldn’t signal the relegation of the home side it would make their chances of survival increasingly difficult and the likelihood even more remote than it was before kick-off.

Salford themselves aren’t having the best of seasons by their recent standards but a win would at least come close to guaranteeing their position in Super League 2022 as they moved above the Huddersfield Giants and into ninth spot in the league table.

Most neutrals will have been hoping for a Leigh win to at least give them and their supporters some hope, but you can be sure than the supporters of Huddersfield and Wakefield were hoping that Salford would send them to their seventeenth loss of the season.

The game between Newcastle Thunder and the London Broncos was this week’s victim of the dreaded Covid postponement but the remainder of the fixtures all took place on Sunday afternoon with a close game and several runaway wins.

League leaders Toulouse Olympique XIII were away at Oldham in what promised to be a game of one-way traffic as Featherstone took on the Dewsbury Rams with a similar likely outcome.

The Bradford Bulls had a seemingly easy home game against Swinton while the York City Knights took on Whitehaven while Batley hosted the Sheffield Eagles and Halifax Panthers had a tough trip to the Widnes Vikings.

The most anticipated game of the Rivals weekend, and for the great people of Hull the season, was the derby match between the black and white, and red and white, sides of the city as FC took on KR with much more at stake than local bragging rights.

A Hull KR victory would see them open up a big gap between themselves in fifth place and the chasing pack of the Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC as they attempt to make the play-offs, while a home win would lift FC above the Rhinos into sixth spot and put them just 0.

2% behind their arch enemies as the season run-in looms.

Despite the current league positions, it was the Black and Whites who were slight favourites with the bookies going into the game, KR with a four-point start on the handicap coupon.

The original, and some would argue, the best derby in the game was the Rivals round meeting between the fourth placed Wigan Warriors and a St Helens side sitting pretty in second spot but knowing a win would leave them trailing the Dragons at the top of the table, while a loss would see them open the door to third placed Warrington.

Despite both sides coming into tonight on the back of defeats, Saints were the favourites with the bookies, and the pundits, with Wigan having been given a six-point start on the handicap coupon in what for them had been an indifferent season, their fans hoping that they’ve saved their best for the play-offs.

It was Saints who won the meeting between the two sides back at the start of July by 24-6, but a great crowd at the DW Stadium were hoping that it would be much closer this time out.

The last three games between the Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants have seen the sides separated by just a single point and with both sides hovering around the middle of the table and fielding weakened teams, there was a school of thought that tonight’s match would also be a close affair.

It was ‘Rivals’ week and there was increased poignancy brought about by the attendance of south stand hero, and guest of honour, Rob Burrow who was taking the opportunity to launch his book ‘Too Many Reasons to Live’.

While a win wouldn’t make the Giants mathematically safe from relegation in reality it would take a catastrophe of monumental proportions to see them overtaken by Leigh Centurions, while the Rhinos are walking a fine tightrope to the play off’s and came into the game knowing that a loss could cost their aspirations dear.

With the visit if the Halifax Panthers to Toulouse Olympique XIII another victim of the ongoing coronavirus situation there were six games in round eighteen of the Betfred Championship as the battle for the play-off places continues to heat up.

Newcastle took on the Bradford Bulls on Saturday afternoon while a Featherstone Rovers side who are widely tipped for play-off glory faced the York City Knights.

The remaining games took place on Sunday afternoon with; Dewsbury against Widnes, Swinton playing hosts to the Batley Bulldogs, Whitehaven at home to London Broncos and Sheffield doing battle with strugglers Oldham.

After snatching defeat from the jaws of victory last weekend, Wakefield Trinity parted company with their coach Chris Chester and welcomed Willie Poching to the helm as interim coach for the daunting visit of the high-flying Warrington Wolves.

While a win would be enough to gain the Wolves more points than St Helens they would still trail the defending champions on win percentage while a win for Trinity would see them up a place over the Salford Red Devils and snapping at the heels of the Huddersfield Giants.

Everyone expected a Warrington win with Wakefield being given a ten-point start in the coupon but sometimes a change of coach has an immediate bounce effect.

Probably the most intriguing fixture of the round was the battle for fourth place as Hull Kingston Rovers hosted the Wigan Warriors as the Robins looked to pull clear of Hull FC in sixth and closer to their opponents on the league ladder.

Wigan had Liam Farrell and Oliver Gildart back in their squads but were without John Bateman who missed out with illness while Ethan Ryan was back for KR and Ryan Hall made his 400^th career appearance.

Hull KR won the fixture between the two sides in June by 18-8, but despite being away from home the bookies were favouring a Wigan win and had given KR a twelve-point start on the handicap coupon.

A win would still not be enough to send home side St Helens into top spot as they took on a struggling Castleford Tigers side who came into the game trying to keep alive their slim hopes of an end of season play off place and a shot at Old Trafford for departing coach Daryl Powell.

Saints had James Bentley back in the seventeen but were without the services of Regan Grace who picked up a knock last weekend and was rested as a precaution while the Tigers had O’Brien and Richardson in the halves with Matago and Millington starting in the front row alongside McShane.

The bookies couldn’t see past the thirteenth Saints win of the 2021 Super League season and they had given the Tigers a fourteen-point start on the coupon, the same margin by which Saints beat the Tigers in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley in July.

 

The Leigh Centurions are still without a win in Super League 2021, and any chance of avoiding relegation looks to have long since passed, as they took on a Hull KR side who still have aspirations of a top five finish and who knew that a win in Sunday evenings game would lift them above the Black & White side of Hull.

KR were without Abdull, Quinlan and Johnson with Sims named at loose forward, Minikin on the wing and Crooks at full back while Leigh had Logan back in the centres but would miss suspended pair Ashworth and Butler.

The bookies and pundits couldn’t see past a KR win and a continuation of the Leigh misery as they gave the home side a twelve-point start.

Round sixteen of the 2021 Betfred Championship again consisted of six fixtures as the clash between the Bradford Bulls and Sheffield Eagles fell victim to COVID issues at the South Yorkshire club.

Plenty of mouth-watering fixtures did go ahead with Halifax facing Newcastle, Swinton looking to get back-to-back wins as they faced Oldham, and Whitehaven hosting the Dewsbury Rams.

Widnes were at York while Featherstone travelled to Batley to face the Bulldogs, and the league leaders Toulouse were at London.

A bottom of the table clash saw the Huddersfield Giants host Wakefield Trinity with both sides desperate for a win which would ease them closer to Super League safety and with Trinity knowing that a win, by enough points, would lift them into ninth place in the table.

Wakefield were boosted by the return of star winger Tom Johnstone after a long lay off through injury complications with Liam Kay moving to hooker while the Giants are still suffering an injury crisis and had Ashall-Bott starting at full back with Russell and Pryce in the halves.

The Giants were the pre-game favourites for the win with the bookies giving the visitors a ten-point start on the coupon, but Huddersfield would not take anything for granted and knew that Wakefield would have targeted this as a must win game.

Without a shadow of doubt, the game of the round in Super League was the top of the table clash between St Helens and the Catalans Dragons at a floodlit and rain drenched Totally Wicked Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

A win for the visitors would put them almost out of sight on 94.

11 win percent, with Saints down to 78.

57, but a home win would put Saints on 85.

71 percent while the Dragons would drop down to 88.

24, and it would be all to play for over the closing rounds.

The bookies had made Saints big favourites to for the win and had given the Dragons an eight point start on the coupon, mainly due to the number of first-teamers that weren’t available to Steve McNamara for selection, but this is a different Catalans side and one with the potential to go all the way to Old Trafford and get their name on the games ultimate prize.

The last time these two sides met the Leeds Rhinos were runaway 60-6 winners over the Castleford Tigers, inflicting their largest ever Super League win at Wheldon Road and securing massive bragging rights for the Rhinos fans.

Castleford were getting back to something resembling full strength after issues in recent weeks, but the Rhinos were without skipper Matt Prior due to Covid protocols and in the absence of Luke Gale who was serving a suspension, Ash Handley was named as captain for the night.

Leeds were the favourites for the win and to widen the gap between themselves in sixth and the Tigers in eighth with the bookies giving the visitors an eight-point start on the coupon.

It was the chance for the finest young talent to shine as the War of the Roses battle was re-invigorated by the best young talent that the game has to offer as Yorkshire faced Lancashire, sadly behind closed doors at Weetwood Hall in Leeds, with an 11am kick-off.

A number of players selected for each of the arch enemies already had some top-flight experience including rising star Will Pryce from the Huddersfield Giants and Jason Qareqare already becoming established in the Castleford Tigers side.

The lack of atmosphere would be counteracted by an intensity from two sets of players hungry to impress and to win the game for their county.

Being without a win since the last weekend in June wasn’t the ideal way for Hull FC to prepare for a Monday night home game against a high-flying St Helens side who were looking to maintain pressure on minor premiers elect, the Catalans Dragons.

A loss for FC could see them drop below archrivals Hull KR, depending on how their fared in their home game against the Dragons on the other side of the city, whereas either outcome would not have any effect on Saints league position.

Saints comfortably won the first meeting between the two sides back in early June and the bookies and pundits all tipped them to do the double.

Fresh from a big win against Hull FC the Leeds Rhinos were back at Emerald Headingley for an unusual Sunday evening kick-off against another side who are flying high, a Warrington Wolves who gave a debut George Williams following his early return from Australia.

It would be an emotional night for the home supporters as they said and fond goodbye to Kevin Sinfield after twenty-four honour filled years at the club as player, captain, and first ever Leeds Director of Rugby.

Warrington were slight favourites to take the win, but there were few pundits who would back against a Leeds win despite them getting a four-point start on the coupon after they took the points when the two sides met just four weeks ago.

There was one standout game from the six fixtures scheduled for round fifteen of the Betfred Championship when the two one-hundred-percenters, Featherstone Rovers and Toulouse Olympique XIII, met in a top of the table battle.

But that wasn’t the only fixture to get the juices flowing with Halifax Panthers hosting the Bradford Bulls, Newcastle Thunder facing Whitehaven and Oldham at home to the London Broncos.

Dewsbury had a home game against the leagues' whipping boys, the Swinton Lions while the final game was between the Widnes Vikings and Batley Bulldogs.

The game between the Sheffield Eagles and York City Knights fell victim to another dreaded Coronavirus cancellation.