Top spot was a ‘long-shot’ prize for the South Sydney Rabbitohs as they opened round five of the NRL with a game against a Brisbane Broncos side who needed the win to keep in touch with the high fliers in an intriguing match at Stadium Australia in Sydney between fourth and tenth on the ladder.

Wayne Bennett was up against Kevin Walters in a fixture which has traditionally favoured the visitors and in which honours were shared last season, when both sides won their home matches.

Benji Marshall was named in the starting line up for Souths as both sides made a number of changes with the home side looking to build upon their impressive nilling of the Bulldogs last time out, while the Broncos sought to bounce back from their heavy loss to the Storm.

One year, twenty-four days, and twenty-one hours after the last tackle was made on the 8^th March 2020, the Betfred Championship finally got underway as the Halifax Panthers hosted the London Broncos in the opening fixture of the opening round.

Seven fixtures were scheduled for the Easter weekend with new boys the Newcastle Knights closing out the round with a Sunday evening clash with the Widnes Vikings at Kingstone Park in north Newcastle.

It was a pleasure to be back, despite the lack of crowds, and all games being streamed to season ticket holders in their living rooms.

Huddersfield Giants were looking for their first win as they wrapped up the Mose Masoe round at the Totally Wicked Stadium with a tough game against a Catalans side who themselves were seeking a second win after their Golden Point victory last weekend.

Jake Wardle, Sam Wood and Michael Lawrence all returned for the Giants who were still without the services of Aidan Sezer, with Samisoni Langi and Gil Dudson into the side for the Dragons.

Despite an awful run of losses, the Giants were only given a two-point start on the coupon against Steve McNamara’s Jekyll and Hyde side.

 

Hull FC provided a convincing and dominant display to take the league points as they kicked off final day of Super League’s second round, at St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium against Salford.

The sides traded set for set in a tentative first 10 minutes before Reds half Kevin Brown tried to open it up with a chip over the Hull defence, who nevertheless had the resulting charge covered.

The only round two game between two round one victors, was the second instalment of the Totally Wicked double-header with the Leeds Rhinos taking on the Castleford Tigers, both sides looking to join Saints and Wigan on four points at the top of the table.

Leeds were without Richie Myler who was ruled out with a hamstring injury as they brought in Corey Hall and switched Broadbent into the full-back slot.

There was no Kyle Eastmond, Robert Lui or Konrad Hurrell, as the Rhinos suffered a mini injury crisis.

Castleford were without several of their first teamers too, Gareth O’Brien failing a head-assessment.

The bookies made the Tigers slight favourites for the win, but the Rhinos only had a two-point start on the coupon.

Two sides, who were disappointed in the result of their opening fixtures, were first up in the Totally Wicked Stadium Mose Masoe double header as the Warrington Wolves took on the new boys, Leigh Centurions, with a crucial two points up for grabs and both teams looking to stay in touch with the top of the table.

The Centurions had Ben Reynolds back in their side after he returned from Toulouse Olympique without playing a game for his new side.

A transfer fee was involved but the scrum half adds a special dimension to the Leigh line-up.

Warrington were big favourites for the win, Leigh getting a sixteen-point start on the coupon, but the Wolves wouldn’t be taking anything for granted.

The current plan is that a limited number of fans will be allowed back into stadia from Monday 17th May and as a result, most of the Super League teams have shifted their fixtures to the Monday evening for Round Six to take advantage.

It will be the first time in fourteen months, since Castleford and St Helens met on the 15th March 2020, that supporters will be allowed in to cheer on their teams, but number will still be limited and clubs now have the new headache of how to prioritise admissions.

It is understood that the current guidance is a capacity of 10,000 or 25% of an all-seater stadium, whichever is lower, will be permitted initially and this will gradually be increased over the coming months.

 

After losing out to a golden point in their opening match against the Catalans Dragons, Hull KR had the unenviable task of a second round home game against St Helens, in St Helens, as the round one league leaders looked to extend their lead at the top of the table.

Saints were massive favourites with the bookies, KR being given a twenty-point start on the coupon, but stranger things than a Robins win have happened, especially with two rusty sides playing in early season.

Saints only leaked a single try against Salford last time out and KR arrived knowing that they would need to be on top form to take the points.

The Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens was the venue for Round Two of Super League 2021 as the Mose Masoe round got underway with an Easter Thursday fixture between the Wigan Warriors and Wakefield Trinity.

Wigan had a narrow, and unconvincing win over the new boys from Leigh Centurions last weekend while Wakefield Trinity counted themselves unlucky to lose out narrowly to local rivals, the Leeds Rhinos.

Wigan were without superstar close season signing Jai Field who was ruled out for at least six weeks and potentially up to five months with a hamstring injury suffered within twenty minutes of making his Wigan debut last weekend.

Wakefield were given a ten-point start on the coupon with Wigan the strong favourites to get their second win of the season, and their fourth consecutive win over Trinity, and an eighteen-point win would demote Wakefield to the bottom of the table.

Two sides at opposite ends of the ladder met at Lottoland in Sydney for the opening round four fixture as top of the table Penrith Panthers travelled to take on a Manly Sea Eagles side who are winless so far this campaign, and shipping in a shed load points through a leaky defence.

The bookies were offering you a big win if you were brave enough to back the home side, but your investment in a Penrith win was hardly worthwhile as the watching Thursday night TV audience, and a stadium without crowd number restrictions for the first time since COVID, settled down for a one-sided affair.

Coach Ivan Cleary would have been delighted to welcome back star half-back and skipper Nathan Cleary to his side after he missed out last week, Dylan Edwards missed out as Stephen Crichton moved back to full-back.

The draw for the third round of the 2021 Betfred Challenge Cup took place at Victoria Park on Monday morning with the assistance of Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, drawing out all of the ties.

The four sides who progressed through the second round over the weekend; Featherstone, Swinton, York and Widnes, were joined by the twelve Super League sides including the holders, the Leeds Rhinos, with all ties to take place over the weekend of the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th April.

Full draw below.

The potential for complacency was Widnes Vikings worst enemy coming into today’s Challenge Cup second round fixture against Whitehaven as the cup kings of the seventies and eighties took on a side who have never made it to Wembley and who are looking forward to their first season back in the Championship after gaining promotion in 2019.

The bookies couldn’t see past the win for Simon Finnigan’s side who had done well to knock out the Dewsbury Rams in the last round a week ago.

Matt Cook and Paul Clough were making their first appearances for the Vikings and despite no fans being in the ground the home advantage, and i-pitch, would certainly count in their favour.

Castleford and Warrington brought the curtain down on the first round of Super League in an empty and windy Emerald Headingley Stadium, with both teams knowing their coach was starting his final season in charge.

Castleford were on just their second set when Jake Trueman put a teasing kick into the Wolves’ in-goal, which Josh Charnley twice failed to bat clear and Oliver Holmes charged through to ground the ball just shy of the dead-ball line.

Gareth O’Brien converted to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

When the draw for the second round of the Betfred Challenge Cup was made, the potential for a clash between two highly ambitious sides was likely to be the most mouth watering prospect as the possibility of the London Broncos hosting the York City Knights was on the cards.

And with York beating Sheffield and London being victorious over Keighley, so it came to pass.

The chance of a big game against one of the top Super League outfits was the prize on offer as the sides met at Rosslyn Park in south west London.

The two teams met in round five last year, before the competition was truncated by the pandemic, and it was the visitors York who triumphed by 24-22 on that occasion.

One of the biggest stories of the close season, the capture of Ian Watson as coach of the Huddersfield Giants from the Salford Red Devils, had reached its judgement day as the Giants took on Hull FC at Emerald Headingley in the first of Sunday’s double headers as they looked for a winning start for their new coach Brett Hodgson.

After the two sides finished either side of half-way in the 2020 table, FC were slight favourites with the bookies but with the Giants getting just a two-point start on the coupon there was very little to choose between the two sides on paper.

A team announcement shock was that Aiden Sezer was missing for the Giants with a niggling injury that wasn’t worth the risk.

They did debut six new players while Hull FC fielded a very similar side to that which finished the 2020 season, just new signing Josh Reynolds getting his debut in black & white after signing from Wests Tigers.

A late March start for Super League 2021 might have rekindled hopes for summer rugby in the sunshine.

But with Covid restrictions in force on both sides of the Channel, Catalan Dragons found themselves playing their opening home match in the grey of Emerald Headingley – along with every other tie of the round – rather than the sun of Perpignan when they came up against Hull KR.

 

Rovers finished bottom in an 11-team competition last year, and with relegation facing any team finishing 2021 in 12^th, have made some big signings, in both senses of the word.

 

Wakefield Trinity were the designated home side at Emerald Headingley as they took on the Leeds Rhinos in the third game of the opening round of Super League 2021.

It was the first game of a double header which would later see the Catalans Dragons face Hull KR.

The Rhinos were favourites to start the season with a win, something that they have done more often than not over the last twenty-five years.

Wakefield had a six-point start on the coupon indicating that there was the expectation of a close game after four months for both sides without kicking a competitive ball.

There was no place in the Rhinos seventeen for acquisition Kyle Eastmond, but they did give a debut to new boy Zane Tetevano.

Super League’s new boys, the Leigh Centurions, had a baptism of fire as they took on the Wigan Warriors in their opening fixture as the second part of the 2021 opening night double header.

It was the league’s youngest coach in charge of a hastily assembled side after gaining promotion in 2020 to replace the now defunct Toronto Wolfpack.

Leigh had a twelve-point start on the coupon with Wigan massive favourites for the win but there would have some pre-game concern amongst Adrian Lam’s side that they were facing the unknown in their opening fixture.

Leigh had nine debuts in their seventeen against a Warriors side without a handful of regular first teamers who miss the season start but they were buoyed by the return of John Bateman who’d spent the last two seasons plying his trade down under.

The Champions were first up as the 2021 Super League season got underway at Emerald Headingley, the opposition were a Salford Red Devils under the management of ex-Saints assistant coach Richard Marshall as a new era began.

Morgan Knowles is ruled out until at least round four but did welcome back Mark Percival.

Salford were without Joe Burgess, out with an ankle injury but had former NRL superstar loose forward Elijah Taylor making his debut.

Saints were massive odds-on favourites with the bookies and you could get a fourteen point start for Salford on the coupon, but after four months (119 days) of off-season, and fundamental coaching changes to the Salford side, it could have been a bit of a lottery.

Round three’s opening game was an eagerly anticipated Grand Final rematch as the Penrith Panthers hosted the Champions, the Melbourne Storm.

The home side were slight pre-match favourites with the bookies but were without Nathan Cleary who suffered a head-knock last week, the half-back being replaced by Matt Burton.

Melbourne suffered two injury blows and would be without the services of Ryan Papnhuyzen and Felise Kaufusi as Craig Bellamy’s side looked to repeat their Grand Final success against Ivan Cleary’s men.

The Panthers are yet to concede a point in 2021’s competition, having nilled both the Cowboys and the Bulldogs, the Storm began the match in ninth place with one win and one loss.