The final game of round nine of Super league XXX saw what was, on paper, the game of the round as fourth placed Hull FC took on the champions Wigan Warriors for the chance to finish the weekend in second spot in the league table.

A win for Wigan would be enough to take them second and leave them just two league points behind Hull KR, FC needed to win by thirty-seven points to lift them above the Leigh Leopards on points difference, but they knew that a win of any description in front of their vociferous fans, would lift them above the Warriors and into third.

The bookies thought that it would be a win for the visitors and had given the Black and Whites a twelve-point start on the handicap coupon.

Eighth played ninth for a chance at seventh spot as Wakefield Trinity got on the plane to the south of France to face the Catalans Dragons in round nine of Super League.

The bookies were tipping a home win having given Trinity an eight-point start on the handicap coupon and without a win at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in the last seven years, history was on the side of Steve McNamara’s men.

Coming into the game the sides were separated on the table by only by points difference, barring a massive score for one of the sides, the winner would replace Warrington Wolves in seventh place in the table and be on the same league points as Leeds and St Helens ahead of them.

Round 9 of Super League XXX meant that it was the Leeds Rhinos turn to try and displace the league leaders Hull KR as the Robins looked to ensure that they stayed at the top of the pile, whatever happened elsewhere in the round.

A win for the Rhinos would put them up to third in the table and open the door to Wigan to finish the round above Hull KR, but should the points go back to East Hull then the Red & White’s would be four points clear of the Warriors in top spot.

Hull KR were the favourites for the win, but they had only been handicapped by four points on the coupon against the continually improving Rhinos, the bookmakers and pundits alike were not sure that the league leaders would have it all their own way.

The record-breaking start to the 30th Super League season has hit new peaks with bumper attendances across the Easter weekend. 

An aggregate of 86,080 across the six fixtures from Thursday to Saturday was a new record for a single six-match round of matches since the Super League was launched in 1996, beating the previous best of 83,357 which was set over Easter two years ago. 

It was the second best attended round of fixtures in those 30 seasons, behind only one seven-match round from the seasons when the competition consisted of 14 teams – Easter 2012, which had an aggregate gate of 88,455. 

The final game of the Rivals round was a bottom of the table affair as eleventh placed and embattled Salford red Devils travelled to the south of France to face a Catalans Dragons who themselves were languishing in ninth place after a poor start to the season, which has seen them with just three wins in seven outings.

The Dragons were handicapped by sixteen points on the coupon with the bookies and pundits alike, unable to see anything other than a decent sized win for the home side.

The two sides had already met in 2025, the Dragons winning by 20-12 to eliminate Salford from the Challenge Cup at the quarter finals stage, the last two league meetings between the two sides in Perpignan saw Salford leaving without scoring a single point.

The final game of the Good Friday Rivas round of Super League XXX was the one that the bookies were tipping to be the most one-sides, the Rhinos handicapped by twenty-four points on the coupon as they took on bottom side and winless Huddersfield Giants who are in the depths of a chronic injury crisis.

Honours were shared between the two sides in 2024, the Giants winning the round eight encounter a day under a year ago by 30-24, Leeds victorious in the last meeting between the two sides by 34-6 in July.

Leeds had new re-signing Kallum Watkins in their seventeen, the Giants scraping the barrel for a functioning seventeen as their injury list was longer than their fit player roster.

The oldest derby in the game was sold-out as Wigan Warriors faced St Helens as the teams in third and fourth spot, tied together on ten league points, went into battle for the chance to go into second spot ahead of Hull FC who lost out in the earlier Hull derby.

Wigan had been installed as favourites with the bookies, and they were handicapped by ten points on the coupon but with the rain falling steadily in front of a massive crowd, there was little to choose between the two sides with the conditions as a leveller.

Wigan have been victorious in the last two games between the sides, the last St Helens win was over a year ago in round six of 2024.

The hottest ticket of the Good Friday Rivals Round was undoubtedly for the Hull derby as the top two sides in Super League met in a round eight encounter with the top position in the table up for grabs between the fiercest of opponents.

The full house notices had been printed a week ago as the MKM became a sea of black, red and white and a cacophony of sound welcomed the gladiators to the arena.

The visitors were the favourites with the bookies and were handicapped by ten points on the coupon as they looked to repeat their victory of a fortnight ago when they eliminated the Black & Whites at the quarter final stages of the Challenge Cup.

The opening fixture of the Rivals round of Super League XXX on Easter Thursday evening saw Wakefield Trinity play host to the struggling Castleford Tigers as eighth faced tenth, the home side with one eye of finishing the evening in sixth spot.

Pre-kick off Wakefield were strong favourites with the bookies with a twelve-point handicap on the coupon most pundits believing that it would take a minor Easter miracle for the Tigers to make the short nine-mile journey home clutching the two points.

A win of any description would lift the Tigers two points clear of Salford in eleventh, but a win of any description would see Castleford into seventh, and a win by fifty-two points or more would se them up to sixth ahead of the Leeds Rhinos.

After neing knocked out of the Challenge Cup by archrivals Hull KR, and then dropping to fourth in the table as a result of last nights fixtures, Hull FC were looking for a crucial two points as they went on the road to Cheshire to face the Warrington Wolves.

The home side were favourites for the win and had been handicapped by fourteen points on the coupon, despite being two league places below the visitors on the league table.

A win for Warrington would see them jump ahead of FC into fourth, a win for the Black and Whites would put them back into second and crucially see them trailing the red and white half of the city by a single league point.

A Grand Final rematch between the only unbeaten side in 2025, against the defending Champions pitted Hull Kingston Rovers against the Wigan Warriors at Craven Park in a much anticipated encounter, on paper the highlight of round seven.

The home side were without injured talisman Mikey Lewis but had a more than able stand-in with Jez Litten named in the starting thirteen at stand off against a very strong looking Wigan Warriors side who had been installed as slight favourites with the bookies.

The last time that the two sides met was at Old Trafford last October when Wigan emerged as 9-2 victors, the last time that KR got a win was four meetings ago back in April 2024 when the Robins won by 26-10.

After meeting in round two, the Salford Red Devils and Leeds Rhinos were thrown together again for a Thursday night round seven encounter as the home side lurched from one disaster to the next, the bookies suggesting that there was simply no way that the Red Devils could get a win.

Salford named just seven of the players who took to the field on the 22^nd of February in the 6-32 loss to the Rhinos as the ongoing ‘fire sale’ of players does untold damage to the club currently second bottom with just the single win over fellow strugglers Huddersfield Giants to show for their toils in 2025.

The home side had been given a twenty-point start on the coupon, but many pundits feared that the recently resurgent Rhinos would run in a ‘cricket score’ with any win lifting the Rhinos into fifth place.

A place in the semi-final draw alongside Catalans Dragons, Leigh Leopards and Hull KR awaited the victors of the last quarter final match-up between the Warrington Wolves and St Helens in a game at the Halliwell-Jones Stadium where the bookies and the neutrals were struggling to pick a favourite.

Warrington, currently trailing Saints on points difference in the league table, were light favourites with the bookies and were handicapped by two points on the coupon against a Saints side in fourth place in the league table.

Saints have lost the last five games straight against Warrington, including the game just a fortnight ago when the sides were separated by just two points, and Warrington knocked Saints out of the cup at this same stage last season.

The draw for the semi-finals of the 2025 Challenge Cup was made at half time during the last quarter final encounter between the Warrington Wolves and St Helens at the Halliwell-Jones Stadium.

Catalans Dragons, Leigh Leopards, and Hull KR went into the draw thanks to their wins earlier in the weekend and were joined by a ball representing the winners of the final clash of the round.

The draw was made by John Wilkin and England footballing icon Stuart Pearce.

A week after the two met in a one-sides Super League XXX encounter at the Leigh Sports Village, Wakefield Trinity and the Leigh Leopard were again sent out head-to-head, but this time in the quarter finals of the Betfred Challenge Cup.

The bookies weren’t expecting another walkover and had made Daryl Powell’s Wakefield marginal favourites by handicapping them two points on the coupon, Adrian Lam’s side expected to put up a much stronger fight than they did last time out.

The sceptics might say that Leigh were happy to sacrifice the league encounter for cup progress, but the home side were desperate to cement their return to the topflight with a cup semi-final place and the change of making it to Wembley.