2012 Super League season

The Stobart Super League XVII was the official name of the 2012 Super League season.^[2] Fourteen teams competed over 27 rounds, after which the 8 highest finishing teams entered the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win the championship and the Super League Trophy.

Super League XVII
League	Super League
Duration	27 Rounds
Teams	14
Highest attendance	21,522 Wigan Warriors vs St Helens (7 September)
Lowest attendance	1,517 London Broncos vs Salford City Reds (4 August)[citation needed]
Average attendance	10,151[citation needed]
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports BBC Sport Eurosport beIN Sports Fox Soccer Plus Sport Klub
2012 season
Champions	Leeds Rhinos 6th Super League title 9th British title
League Leaders	Wigan Warriors
Runners-up	Warrington Wolves
Man of Steel	Sam Tomkins
Top point-scorer(s)	Scott Dureau (281)[citation needed]
Top try-scorer(s)	Josh Charnley (31)[1]
← 2011 2013 →

The season kicked off on 3 February with two Round 1 fixtures being played: the Widnes Vikings, in their first Super League match since 2005, lost to the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, while defending champions the Leeds Rhinos defeated the Hull Kingston Rovers and ended on 6 October with Leeds Rhinos beating Warrington Wolves 26-18 in the 2012 Super League Grand Final.^[3]

Teams

Super League XVII was the first year of the second round of Super League licences. Under this system, promotion and relegation between Super League and Championship was abolished, and 14 teams were granted licences subject to certain criteria. All existing Super League teams except Crusaders (who pulled out of the application process) earned a place in the 2012 season, Championship team Widnes Vikings were given a licence after their application was deemed better than Halifax and Barrow Raiders.

Geographically, the vast majority of teams in Super League are based in the north of England, five teams – Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan and Widnes – to the west of the Pennines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and seven teams to the east in Yorkshire – Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. Catalans Dragons are the only team based in France and are outside of the UK and London Broncos are the only team to be based in a capital city (London).

The maps below indicate the locations of teams that competed in Super League XVII.

Dragons

Broncos

Vikings

Saints

Wolves

Warriors

Reds

Hull

Hull KR

Tigers

Rhinos

Wildcats

Bulls

Giants

	Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
	Bradford Bulls (2012 season)	Odsal Stadium	27,000	Bradford, West Yorkshire
	Castleford Tigers (2012 season)	PROBIZ Coliseum	11,750	Castleford, West Yorkshire
	Catalans Dragons (2012 season)	Stade Gilbert Brutus	14,000	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
	Huddersfield Giants (2012 season)	John Smith's Stadium	24,544	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
	Hull F.C. (2012 season)	Kingston Communications Stadium	25,404	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
	Hull Kingston Rovers (2012 season)	MS3 Craven Park	9,471	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
	Leeds Rhinos (2012 season)	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	22,250	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	London Broncos (2012 season)	Twickenham Stoop	12,700	Twickenham, London
	Salford City Reds (2012 season)	Salford City Stadium	12,000	Salford, Greater Manchester
	St Helens R.F.C. (2012 season)	Langtree Park	18,000	St. Helens, Merseyside
	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (2012 season)	Rapid Solicitors Stadium	12,600	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
	Warrington Wolves (2012 season)	Halliwell Jones Stadium	15,500	Warrington, Cheshire
	Widnes Vikings (2012 season)	Stobart Stadium	11,500	Widnes, Cheshire, England
	Wigan Warriors (2012 season)	DW Stadium	25,138	Wigan, Greater Manchester

Legend
	Reigning Super League champions
	Defending Challenge Cup Champions

Rules

Rule changes

• Teams will now only be able to make 10 interchanges in a match which has been reduced from 12.
• If a player in possession of the ball hits the corner flag he will no longer be deemed 'In Touch'.
• After a try, teams now have the option of taking the conversion as a drop-kick instead of from a tee.

Operational rules

• All Super League clubs agreed to operate within the £1.7million salary cap for their top 25 first-tier players.
• Quota spots were reduced to 5, meaning only 5 players could be from abroad. However, players from France, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea all count as federation-trained and thus do not count against the quota.

Table

Main article: 2012 Super League season results

Super League XVII

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wigan Warriors (L)	27	21	0	6	994	449	+545	42	Play-offs
2	Warrington Wolves	27	20	1	6	909	539	+370	41
3	St Helens	27	17	2	8	795	480	+315	36
4	Catalans Dragons	27	18	0	9	812	611	+201	36
5	Leeds Rhinos (C)	27	16	0	11	823	662	+161	32
6	Hull F.C.	27	15	2	10	696	621	+75	32
7	Huddersfield Giants	27	14	0	13	699	664	+35	28
8	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	27	13	0	14	633	764	−131	26
9	Bradford Bulls	27	14	1	12	633	756	−123	23[a]
10	Hull Kingston Rovers	27	10	1	16	753	729	+24	21
11	Salford City Reds	27	8	1	18	618	844	−226	17
12	London Broncos	27	7	0	20	588	890	−302	14
13	Castleford Tigers	27	6	0	21	554	948	−394	12
14	Widnes Vikings	27	6	0	21	532	1082	−550	12

Source: superleague.co.uk and BBC Sport.
Rules for classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners
Notes:

1. Bradford Bulls deducted 6 points on 25 July 2012 for entering administration^[4]

Play-offs

See also: 2012 Super League season results - Play-offs

The play-offs commenced following the conclusion of the 27-round regular season. To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, Super League uses its unique play-off system. The finals concluded with the 2012 Super League Grand Final.^[5]

#	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time (Local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINALS
Q1	Wigan Warriors	46–6	Catalans Dragons	14 September 2012, 20:00 BST	DW Stadium	Richard Silverwood	7,232
Q2	Warrington Wolves	6–28	St. Helens	15 September 2012, 18:00 BST	Halliwell Jones Stadium	Ben Thaler	10,190
E1	Leeds Rhinos	42–20	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	15 September 2012, 20:00 BST	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	Steve Ganson	9,044
E2	Hull F.C.	46–10	Huddersfield Giants	16 September 2012, 18:00 BST	KC Stadium	James Child	8,662
PRELIMINARY SEMI-FINALS
P1	Catalans Dragons	20–27	Leeds Rhinos	21 September 2012, 20:45 CEST	Stade Gilbert Brutus	Ben Thaler	11,523
P2	Warrington Wolves	24–12	Hull F.C.	22 September 2012, 18:45 BST	Halliwell Jones Stadium	Richard Silverwood	7,323
SEMI-FINALS
SF1	Wigan Warriors	12–13	Leeds Rhinos	28 September 2012, 20:00 BST	DW Stadium	Richard Silverwood	8,235
SF2	St. Helens	18–36	Warrington Wolves	29 September 2012, 18:15 BST	Langtree Park	Ben Thaler	12,715
GRAND FINAL
F	Leeds Rhinos	26–18	Warrington Wolves	6 October 2012, 18:00 BST	Old Trafford, Manchester	Richard Silverwood	70,676

2012 Super League play-offs bracket
Qualifying/Elimination playoffs Preliminary semifinals Qualifying semifinals Grand Final 1 Wigan Warriors 46 4 Catalans Dragons 6 Catalans Dragons 20 Leeds Rhinos 27 Wigan selected Leeds[6] 5 Leeds Rhinos 42 Wigan Warriors 12 8 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 20 Leeds Rhinos 13 6 October, Old Trafford Leeds Rhinos 26 Warrington Wolves 18 6 Hull F.C. 46 St Helens 18 7 Huddersfield Giants 10 Warrington Wolves 36 Hull F.C. 12 Warrington Wolves 24 2 Warrington Wolves 6 3 St Helens 28 Week 1. Qualifying/Elimination play-offs: Fixtures decided by regular reason finishing positions. Higher ranked teams play lower ranked teams. Higher ranked teams receive home ground advantage. Week 2. Preliminary semi-finals: Fixtures decided by regular season finishing positions. Higher ranked teams play lower ranked teams. Higher ranked teams receive home ground advantage. Week 3. Qualifying semi-finals: Winners of Qualifying play-offs play winners of Qualifying semi-finals. Fixtures decided by club call. Winners of Qualifying play-offs receive home ground advantage.

Season statistics

Top try-scorers Rank Player Club Tries[1] 1 Josh Charnley Wigan Warriors 31 2 Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors 29 3 Ryan Hall Leeds Rhinos 26 4= Ryan Atkins Warrington Wolves 23 Chris Riley Warrington Wolves 6= George Carmont Wigan Warriors 20 Joel Monaghan Warrington Wolves 8 Paul Wellens St Helens RLFC 19 9= Vincent Duport Catalans Dragons 18 Danny McGuire Leeds Rhinos

Top try assists Rank Player Club Assists[1] 1 Michael Dobson Hull Kingston Rovers 35 2 Tim Smith Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 34 3 Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors 33 4 Rangi Chase Castleford Tigers 29 5 Brett Finch Wigan Warriors 28 6 Scott Dureau Catalans Dragons 28 7 Daniel Holdsworth Salford City Reds 23 8 Craig Gower London Broncos 21 9 Jonny Lomax St Helens RLFC 21 10 James Roby St Helens RLFC 20

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals[1] 1 Kevin Sinfield Leeds Rhinos 118 2 Scott Dureau Catalans Dragons 113 3 Michael Dobson Hull Kingston Rovers 103 4 Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants 101 5 Danny Tickle Hull FC 76 6 Daniel Holdsworth Salford City Reds 69 7 Brett Hodgson Warrington Wolves 68 8 Paul Sykes Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 68 9 Luke Gale Bradford Bulls 65 10 Josh Charnley Wigan Warriors 56

Top points scorers Rank Player Club Points[citation needed] 1 Scott Dureau Catalans Dragons 281 2 Kevin Sinfield Leeds Rhinos 257 3 Michael Dobson Hull Kingston Rovers 245 4 Josh Charnley Wigan Warriors 240 5 Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants 225 6 Danny Tickle Hull FC 186 7 Pat Richards Wigan Warriors 178 8 Brett Hodgson Warrington Wolves 160 9 Daniel Holdsworth Salford City Reds 164 10 Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors 158

Discipline

Rank	Player	Club	[7]	[7]
1	Michael McIlorum	Wigan Warriors	0	2
2	Luke O'Donnell	Huddersfield Giants	1	1
3=	Bryn Hargreaves	Bradford Bulls	0	1
	Gareth Hock	Wigan Warriors
	Shaun Magennis	St Helens RLFC
	Sam Moa	Hull FC
	Tony Puletua	St Helens RLFC
	Chris Tuson	Wigan Warriors
9=	Jason Baitieri	Catalans Dragons	2	0
	Ben Cross	Widnes Vikings
	Michael Dobson	Hull Kingston Rovers
	Olivier Elima	Bradford Bulls
12=	Vinnie Anderson	Salford City Reds	1	0
	Jason Chan	Huddersfield Giants
	Jon Clarke	Widnes Vikings
	Tony Clubb	London Broncos
	Leroy Cudjoe	Huddersfield Giants
	Gil Dudson	Wigan Warriors
	Jacob Emmitt	Castleford Tigers
	Brett Ferres	Castleford Tigers
	Paddy Flynn	Widnes Vikings
	Jamie Foster	St Helens RLFC
	Luke Gale	Bradford Bulls
	Gareth Haggerty	Widnes Vikings
	Ian Henderson	Catalans Dragons
	Chris Hill	Warrington Wolves
	Daniel Holdsworth	Salford City Reds
	Ben Jeffries	Bradford Bulls
	Heath L'Estrange	Bradford Bulls
	Willie Manu	Hull FC
	Stephen Nash	Castleford Tigers
	Mark O'Meley	Hull FC
	Richard Owen	Castleford Tigers
	Luke Patten	Salford City Reds
	Steve Pickersgill	Widnes Vikings
	Karl Pryce	Bradford Bulls
	Michael Robertson	London Broncos
	Michael Shenton	St Helens RLFC
	Kevin Sinfield	Leeds Rhinos
	Scott Taylor	Hull Kingston Rovers
	Anthony Watts	Widnes Vikings
	Paul Wood	Warrington Wolves

Awards

Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:^[8]

• Man of Steel: Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors)^[9]
• Coach of the year: Mick Potter (Bradford Bulls)^[9]
• Engage Super League club of the year: Wigan Warriors^[9]
• Young player of the year: Zak Hardaker (Leeds) Rhinos^[9]
• Carnegie community player of the year: Danny McGuire (Leeds Rhinos)^[9]
• Frontline Fairplay Index winners:
• Metre-maker: James Roby (St Helens) - 3,971 metres^[9]
• Hit Man: Danny Washbrook (Wakefield Trinity Wildcats) - 991 Tackles^[9]
• Mike Gregory Spirit of Rugby League Award: Jamie Peacock (Leeds Rhinos)^[9]
• Lifetime Achievement: Ryan Hudson, Ben Jeffries and Danny Orr^[9]

Media

Television

2012 is the first year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season.^[10] The deal which runs until 2016 is worth £90million.

Sky Sports coverage in the UK see two live matches broadcast each week – one on Friday night, which kicks-off at 8:00 pm and another usually on Saturday evenings at 5:45 pm,^[11] although for 2012, some matches between May and August will be scheduled for Monday nights^[12] at 8:00 pm, filling the gap vacated by the summer break of Premier League football. Regular commentators were Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Shaun McRae, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights this season in a new show on Sunday Nights called Super League - Full Time, usually airing at 10pm.

BBC Sport broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme. The first is only to the BBC North West, Yorkshire & North Midlands, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35pm on BBC One,^[13] while a repeat showing is shown on BBC Two in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.^[14] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package.

Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Māori Television (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), NTV+ (Russia), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Eurosport (Australia) or SportsNet World (Canada).

Radio

BBC Coverage:

• BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (National DAB Digital Radio) normally carry one Super League commentary a week on Friday Nights.
• BBC Manchester will carry commentary of Wigan and Salford whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Merseyside.
• BBC Humberside will have full match commentary of all Hull KR and Hull matches.
• BBC Leeds carry commentaries featuring Bradford, Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
• BBC Merseyside (AM/DAB only) will have commentary on St Helens and Widnes matches whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Manchester.
• BBC London 94.9 airs all London Broncos games home & away, mainly via online streaming only.

Commercial Radio Coverage:

• 102.4 Wish FM will carry commentaries of Wigan & St Helens matches.
• 107.2 Wire FM will carry commentaries on Warrington & Widnes Matches.
• BCB 106.6 (Bradford Community Broadcasting) have full match commentary of Bradford Bulls home and away.
• Yorkshire Radio increases its coverage to air 50 games in the 2012 season.
• Radio Warrington (Online Station) all Warrington home games and some away games.
• Grand Sud FM covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (in French).
• Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (in French).

All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.

Internet

ESPN3 has worldwide broadband rights.

Starting from Thursday 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports will also be available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand. List of Super League games available on Livestation.com