Some familiar names will be battling it
out this season in Super League XVIII, as the race to be the best
rugby league side resumes. The Leeds Rhinos are the reigning
champions in the Super League after managing to gun down the powerful
Warrington Wolves in the Grand Final at the climax of last season. It
was a tough run to the title for Leeds through the play offs, who had
to edge their way past the Catalans Dragons, Wigan and then
Warrington in the final. It certainly showed a lot of steel about
them and should keep them fired up for a title defence this season.
Leeds are a good knockout rugby side, but last year through the
regular season, they could only finish in 5th place in the standings,
a good ten points adrift of table topping Wigan. The top eighth of
the 14 teams in the Super League move through a knockout stage to
determine the Super League Champions.
So it was the Wigan Warriors who
grabbed top spot in the league last year, just beating Warrington to
the post by a single point. Wigan are the most successful league club
in Britain, having won the title nineteen times before. But Wigan
haven’t tasted Super League success since back in 2010, and after
throwing everything into finishing top of the table, they fell in the
semi finals against eventual winners Leeds. Wigan lost that semi
final match by a single point. So there is no reason why Wigan
shouldn’t be back among the big threats to win the Super League
title this year. While there is the power of Leeds clearly to contend
with, there is also the Warrington Wolves.
Warrington have won the Challenge Cup
three times in the last four years, but their last Super League title
was all the way back in 1955. They almost topped the pile in the
regular season, but couldn't quite get across the line, and they were
favourites in last season’s Grand Final, but were toppled there by
Leeds. They, along with St Helens are also drawing some big interest
in the 2013 Super League betting markets, wondering if either of them
could take the title. St Helens, the second most successful club in
the Super League with 12 titles (the last in 2006) took third spot in
the league standings last season and lost in the semi finals in a
battle against Warrington. They do form a powerful big four, so is it
worth looking at an alternative angle?
Who will win the Super League without
Wigan, Warrington, St Helens and Leeds? In other words, take those
four big guns out of the Super League XVIII season and who will
finish the highest in the regular season standings? The French
outfit, the Catalans Dragons look a very capable side and finished
fourth in last season’s regular season standings before getting
dumped out in the preliminary semi finals by Leeds. Huddersfield
started the new Super League season with a bang and it will be
interesting to see if they can sustain things. The Bradford Bulls and
Hull may also represent value in the regular season winner market
without Warrington, Wigan, St Helens and Leeds.
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