The teams in third and fourth place in the 2021 Super League table met at the Halliwell-Jones Stadium as the Warrington Wolves played host to a Wigan Warriors side who are still trying to reverse a slide which saw them plummet from the top spot earlier in the season.

Warrington were favourites with the bookies to pick up the win, and had been handicapped by six points on the coupon indicating that it might be a close thing.

A win for the Warriors would lift them into the third spot currently occupied by Warrington, but a loss would see them drop below Hull FC into fifth spot in the table as the sides jostle for a play-off finish.

It was another COVID restricted round in the Betfred Championship as the games between the London Broncos and Widnes Vikings and Toulouse Olympique XIII and Dewsbury fell victim.

The remaining five games were all played on Sunday afternoon with the match of the day being the top of the table clash at Odsal between the Bradford Bulls and Featherstone Rovers.

Elsewhere, Sheffield took on high flying Halifax in the early kick-off, while Batley welcomed Newcastle, Whitehaven played hosts to Oldham and poor Swinton had a trip to York to face the City Knights.

The Betfred Championships game of the day was without doubt the clash at Odsal between third placed Bradford Bulls and second placed Featherstone Rovers who were looking to maintain their one hundred percent record and keep up the pressure on a Toulouse Olympique side who are top of the table courtesy of a superior points difference.

The home side had Sam Hallas back in their line-up but were without Aaron Murphy and Thomas Doyle who both had minor injuries keeping them out of the game while Rovers welcomed back Kris Welham but were without the services of Craig Kopczak who was rested.

Despite home advantage the Bulls were the underdogs with the bookies, Featherstone clear favourites to record their thirteenth win of the season with Bradford getting a twelve-point start on the coupon.

Following back to back losses to the Catalans Dragons, the Leeds Rhinos had what looked like, on paper, a simpler fixture as they welcomed strugglers Salford Red Devils to Headingley and a full unrestricted crowd for the first time since the start of the COVID epidemic.

For the Red Devils Ata Hingano was given his debut with a start from the bench while the Rhinos welcomed back King Vuniyayawa and kicker Rhyse Martin but were without the services of Luke Gale, Mikolaj Oledzki and Tom Holroyd.

Neither sides league position would benefit from a win but for both it would increase the buffer over the chasing clubs and for Salford it could be the win that finally secures their safety in Superleague as it would leave the Leigh Centurions requiring five emphatic wins from their remaining games to catch them up.

I was challenged within the heated exchanges of the withdrawal of Australia and New Zealand to write an article about it instead of just spouting off missives in 280 characters on twitter.

So here we are, for a bit of background, I have covered Rugby League for over 25 years, and covered events as accredited media including Grand Finals and World Cups.

This makes me no more or less knowledgable about a situation that has come about due to a rampant virus than anyone else of course.

On the day that the rugby league world was stunned by the withdrawal of Australia and New Zealand from this year’s World Cup, tonight’s Superleague encounter between the Huddersfield Giants and Hull FC had somewhat slipped under the radar.

Both sides knew that a win would do nothing for their respective league positions but for Hull FC it would consolidate their fourth position in the table and keep Warrington in their sights in terms of win percentage while a win for the Giants could be the final nail in the coffin for Leigh Centurion’s season and edge the home side to safety.

The bookies were expecting a close game, the visitor’s slight favourites with the Giants being given a four-point start on the handicap coupon with both sides being decimated by injuries and COVID issues.

>>>>> Rugby League Radio - The Sunday Roast <<<<<<< Recorded on 18-07-2021 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final Bet Fred Challenge Cup Final Plus much chatter around the formats, the decisions, the game and the future of the game.

The eagerly anticipated Betfred Challenge Cup Final saw St Helens and the Castleford Tigers meet for the very first time in the showpiece final as the two sides ran out into a crowded and sweltering Wembley for what promised to be a fascinating match.

There is currently a gulf between the two sides in league position with the Tigers having had a torrid time in recent weeks with some awful results while Saints haven’t lost for a month and have a recent 24-0 over their opponents tucked under their belt.

But this is Wembley, and this is the Challenge Cup Final, and it usually throws up surprises and shocks despite St Helens being massive favourites for the win.

After a days long ‘will they, won’t they’ the AB Sundecks 1895 cup final was given the go ahead as two Covid depleted sides, and their fans, made their way to Wembley Stadium for the Challenge Cup curtain raiser and a chance to lift the first trophy of the season.

Featherstone came into the game on the back of twelve straight wins in the 2021 Championship season, their only loss of the season coming to Superleague opposition in Hull FC in the Challenge Cup.

The experienced City Knights have had a disappointing season with just four wins in thirteen league outings and having lost their last four as well as going down by 16-12 when they faced Rovers earlier in the season.

The bookies and pundits couldn’t see past a Featherstone win, with many also fancying them to go on and secure promotion to Superleague at the end of the season.

A week after the Catalans Dragons came from behind to secure victory at Emerald Headingley, the Leeds Rhinos travelled to the south of France in a re-arranged round ten fixture on the eve of tomorrow’s Challenge Cup Final.

Neither side would alter their league position with either a loss or a victory but a win for the Dragons would mover them further clear of tomorrow’s cup finalists, St Helens, while a win for the Rhinos would edge them closer to sixth placed Hull KR on win percentage and increase their margin ahead of the other Wembley bound side, the Castleford Tigers.

The Dragons were massive favourites with the bookies for the win with the Rhinos being given a fourteen-point start on the handicap coupon.

With New South Wales having already sealed am emphatic series win, all that was left for Queensland was the thought of retaining some pride by picking up a win in the third and final State of Origin in a game played at the Cbus Stadium on the Gold Coast, a change to the original venue in Newcastle which was brought about due to a Coronavirus outbreak.

A capacity of just 27,000 were allowed into the stadium to see the concluding game of the 2021 series with coaches Fittler and Green both making several changes to their line-ups.

The Blues were without Saifiti, Luai and Cleary as Gutherson, Finucane, Moses and Hynes were brought into the side while the Maroons were without McCullough, Fifita, Arrow and Field who were replaced by Brimson, Ponga, Mann, Tabuai-Fidow, and Fleger, the latter two on debut.

Wakefield Trinity are still without a 2021 victory in the Women’s Super League and tonight they came up against a Bradford Bulls side with just a solitary win to their name which came against the Warrington Wolves ladies.

A convincing win for the Bulls would lift them above Featherstone Rovers but a loss to Trinity could see their West Yorkshire rivals jump ahead of them and send them to the bottom of the pile.

There was plenty to play for as the Bradford Ladies played their first game at Osdal in over two years.

It was a full round of Championship fixtures as we entered round thirteen with the majority of games being scheduled as three o’clock kick offs on Sunday afternoon, the one exception being an early encounter between the Halifax Panthers and Whitehaven.

The other six games saw; Toulouse at Batley, London take on York, Newcastle at home to Dewsbury, Oldham face Bradford, Swinton against Sheffield and Widnes play Featherstone.

It would be a round which was not short of tries or points.

Super League was once again decimated by postponements due to Coronavirus with both Hull sides having their fixtures cancelled, one of the surviving games was between a Wigan Warriors side desperate to stop their slide down the table after a number of recent losses against a Huddersfield Giants side looking to climb the table after a dreadful start to the season.

The Giants gave debuts for loan signings Nathan Peats and Nathan Peteru who both arrived from the Leigh Centurions yesterday for the rest of the 2021 season.

Wigan made a couple of small tweaks to the side to accommodate the suspension of Willie Isa.

The Warriors were favourites to end their five-game losing streak and get the two points, the Giants getting an eight-point start on the handicap coupon.

Something had to give at Emerald Headingley as a Leeds Rhinos side, unbeaten in their last  four games came up against a top of the table Catalans Dragons side who were unbeaten since losing in the Challenge Cup at the beginning of May and who were on a winning run in Super League going back as far as the 24^th April.

Leeds coach Richard Agar welcomed back skipper Luke Gale, Richie Myler, King Vuniyayawa and Cameron Smith while the league leaders were without the services of Gil Dudson and Micky McIlorum who missing through suspension and injury.

The bookies made the away side slight favourites but there wasn’t a lot in it, the Rhinos being given just a four-point start in the handicap coupon.

Although a victory over the Leeds Rhinos in Monday night’s round thirteen game would put the Warrington Wolves ahead of all challengers in terms of competition points, it would still leave them in third spot in the table on the win percentage ladder.

The Rhinos also knew that they couldn’t improve their position in the league table with a win, but they would pull further clear of a Castleford Tigers side who were today awarded a 24-0 victory over Huddersfield as the Giants are unable to fulfil their fixture tomorrow evening.

Warrington were big favourites to continue a winning run going back over a month while the Rhinos are unbeaten since the 23^rd of May, having lost a number of fixtures to Coronavirus.

One of the seasons most eagerly anticipated games had a unfamiliar new slot as St Helens took on fierce rivals, the Wigan Warriors, for a Sunday evening kick-off in the opening game of round thirteen of Super League.

The Warriors have been on a downward spiral having lost on their last four outings while this is Saints first game for almost three weeks after the game against Hull KR was postponed, and they were awarded a walkover against the Castleford Tigers, who couldn’t raise a team.

The bookies couldn’t see past a home win, and a continuation of Wigan’s misery, and they gave the Warriors a twenty-point start on the coupon.

 

Once again, Toulouse Olympique found themselves without a fixture as Oldham were not compelled to travel to the South of France as an amateur side.

The remaining fixtures took place over Saturday and Sunday with Featherstone Rovers hosting London in the only fixture on Saturday.

The remainder of games took place on Sunday afternoon, the Halifax Panthers game against the Widnes Vikings was delayed by thirty minutes due to a downpour just before the scheduled kick off time.

Bradford had a local derby against Batley while Sheffield made the short trip to Dewsbury to take on the Rams.

Elsewhere Whitehaven were the hosts to lowly Swinton and York entertained Newcastle Thunder.

After just one outing in June, the Rhinos were looking to get July underway with a third successive 2021 victory as they took on a struggling Leigh Centurions at Emerald Headingley in one of the surviving Round Twelve fixtures.

Leeds were without Luke Gale, Alex Mellor and Bodene Thompson after the all picked up bans following the bad-tempered meeting with the Salford Red Devils, Konrad Hurrell was added to the casualty list after suffering a head impact assessment failure in the same match.

The Centurions were without Tyrone McCarthy and Ben Reynolds who both picked up injuries against the Warrington Wolves on their last outing, but Adam Sidlow and Alex Gerrard returned from injury.

Having not won a game since they beat the Leigh Centurions just over six weeks ago, the Wigan Warriors needed to defeat the side one place above them in the Super League 2021 table to try and halt an alarming downward spiral.

Warrington came into the match looking for a sixth consecutive Super League victory having already claimed the scalps of St Helens and the Catalans Dragons in a season which is starting to show promise for them being in the mix when the race for Old Trafford really gets underway.

Warrington were odds on favourites with the bookies to extend their unbeaten run and send Wigan down to fifth below Hull FC on the win percentage league ladder.