2017 Super League season

The Betfred Super League XXII,^[2] was the year 2017 Super League season and 123rd season of rugby league in Britain.

Super League XXII
League	Super League
Duration	30 Rounds
Teams	12
Highest attendance	23,390 Wigan Warriors vs St Helens (14 April)
Lowest attendance	2,678 Salford Red Devils Vs Hull F.C. (9 June)
Average attendance	8,568
Attendance	1,182,437
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports BBC Sport Fox League beIN Sports Fox Soccer Plus Sport Klub
2017 season
Champions	Leeds Rhinos 8th Super League 11th British title
League Leaders	Castleford Tigers
Runners-up	Castleford Tigers
Biggest home win	Castleford Tigers 66–10 Leeds Rhinos (2 March)
Biggest away win	Catalans Dragons 12–56 Huddersfield Giants (10 June)
Man of Steel	Luke Gale[1]
Top try-scorer(s)	Greg Eden (38)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Championship	Hull Kingston Rovers
Relegated to Championship	Leigh Centurions
← 2016 2018 →

Super League XXII featured twelve teams, the third year in which this number has taken part. This was also the third year since promotion and relegation was reintroduced into the competition, seeing Leigh promoted and Hull KR relegated from last season.

Teams

Eleven teams in Super League are from the North of England. Six teams hail from the historic county of Lancashire, west of the Pennines: Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan, Leigh, and Widnes. Five teams hail from the historic county of Yorkshire, east of the Pennines: Huddersfield, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, and Hull F.C. Catalans Dragons, located in Perpignan, France, are the only team outside the North of England. St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, and Leeds Rhinos are the only teams to have played in every season of Super League since 1996.

Leigh were promoted from the Kingstone Press Championship after finishing in 2nd place in The Qualifiers for 2016. Leigh became the first club promoted to the Super League under the Super 8s system, and the first club promoted to Super League since Widnes received a license for Super League XVII. Leigh last competed in the top flight in Super League X. Hull Kingston Rovers were relegated to the Championship after losing the 2016 Million Pound Game to Salford.

West Yorkshire

Greater Manchester

Hull

St. Helens

Warrington

Widnes

Locations of Super League XXII teams

Catalans

Locations of Super League XXII teams

Castleford

Huddersfield

Leeds

Wakefield

Locations of Super League XXII teams in West Yorkshire

Leigh

Salford

Wigan

Locations of Super League XXII teams in Greater Manchester

Team	2016 position	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Castleford Tigers (2017 season)	5th	The Mend-O-Hose Jungle	11,750	Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons (2017 season)	6th	Stade Gilbert Brutus	14,000	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Huddersfield Giants (2017 season)	12th	John Smith's Stadium	24,544	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull (2017 season)	3rd	KCOM Stadium	25,404	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions (2017 season)	Promoted	Leigh Sports Village	12,700	Leigh, Greater Manchester
Leeds Rhinos (2017 season)	9th	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	22,250	Leeds, West Yorkshire
Salford Red Devils (2017 season)	10th	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Salford, Greater Manchester
St. Helens (2017 season)	4th	Totally Wicked Stadium	18,000	St. Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity (2017 season)	8th	Beaumont Legal Stadium	11,000	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves (2017 season)	1st	Halliwell Jones Stadium	15,500	Warrington, Cheshire
Widnes Vikings (2017 season)	7th	The Select Security Stadium	13,500	Widnes, Cheshire
Wigan Warriors (2017 season)	2nd (Champions)	DW Stadium	25,138	Wigan, Greater Manchester

Regular season

Main article: Super League XXII results

Standings at end of regular season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Castleford Tigers	23	20	0	3	769	378	+391	40	Super League Super 8s
2	Leeds Rhinos	23	15	0	8	553	477	+76	30
3	Hull F.C.	23	13	1	9	541	483	+58	27
4	Salford Red Devils	23	13	0	10	576	500	+76	26
5	Wakefield Trinity	23	13	0	10	572	509	+63	26
6	St. Helens	23	12	1	10	516	420	+96	25
7	Wigan Warriors	23	10	3	10	539	518	+21	23
8	Huddersfield Giants	23	9	3	11	519	486	+33	21
9	Warrington Wolves	23	9	2	12	426	557	−131	20	The Qualifiers
10	Catalans Dragons	23	7	1	15	469	689	−220	15
11	Leigh Centurions	23	6	0	17	425	615	−190	12
12	Widnes Vikings	23	5	1	17	359	632	−273	11

Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;

Super 8s

Main article: 2017 Super 8s

Super League

Main article: Super League XXII Super 8s results

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Castleford Tigers (L)	30	25	0	5	965	536	+429	50	Semi-finals
2	Leeds Rhinos (C)	30	20	0	10	749	623	+126	40
3	Hull F.C.	30	17	1	12	714	655	+59	35
4	St Helens	30	16	1	13	663	518	+145	33
5	Wakefield Trinity	30	16	0	14	714	679	+35	32
6	Wigan Warriors	30	14	3	13	691	668	+23	31
7	Salford Red Devils	30	14	0	16	680	728	−48	28
8	Huddersfield Giants	30	11	3	16	663	680	−17	25

Source:
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders Shield

The Qualifiers

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Warrington Wolves	7	7	0	0	288	138	+150	14	Super League XXIII
2	Widnes Vikings	7	5	0	2	188	96	+92	10
3	Hull Kingston Rovers (P)	7	5	0	2	166	158	+8	10
4	Leigh Centurions (R)	7	4	0	3	203	104	+99	8	Million Pound Game
5	Catalans Dragons	7	4	0	3	130	143	−13	8
6	London Broncos	7	1	1	5	174	220	−46	3	2018 Championship
7	Featherstone Rovers	7	1	1	5	110	272	−162	3
8	Halifax	7	0	0	7	82	210	−128	0

Source:
(P) Promoted to Super League; (R) Relegated

Playoffs

Super League

See also: 2017 Super League Grand Final

#	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time (Local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Semi-finals
SF1	Castleford Tigers	23–22[a]	St. Helens	28 September 2017, 19:45 BST	Mend-A-Hose Jungle	James Child	11,235
SF2	Leeds Rhinos	18–16	Hull	29 September 2017, 19:45 BST	Headingley Carnegie	Phil Bentham	12,500
Source:[3]
Grand final
F	Castleford Tigers	6–24	Leeds Rhinos	7 October 2017, 18:00 BST	Old Trafford	James Child	72,827
Source:[4]

1. After extra time

Million Pound Game

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Leigh Centurions	10–30	Catalans Dragons	30 September 2017, 15:00	Leigh Sports Village	Ben Thaler	6,888

Player statistics

Top try scorers Rank Player Club Tries 1 Greg Eden Castleford Tigers 38 2 Liam Marshall Wigan Warriors 21 3 Ben Jones-Bishop Wakefield Trinity 20 4= Greg Minikin Castleford Tigers 19 Jermaine McGillvary Huddersfield Giants Albert Kelly Hull 7 Joe Burgess Wigan Warriors 18 8= Matt Parcell Leeds Rhinos 17 Mason Caton-Brown Wakefield Trinity Jamie Shaul Hull Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Luke Gale Castleford Tigers 129 2 Marc Sneyd Hull 103 3 Liam Finn Wakefield Trinity 96 4 Mark Percival St. Helens 95 5 Luke Walsh Catalans 69 6 Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants 61 7 Ben Reynolds Leigh Centurions 48 8 Michael Dobson Salford Red Devils 46 9= Liam Sutcliffe Leeds Rhinos 45 Gareth O'Brien Salford Red Devils Kallum Watkins Leeds Rhinos

Top try assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 George Williams Wigan Warriors 29 2 Danny McGuire Leeds Rhinos 24 3 Robert Lui Salford Red Devils 23 4 Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants 22 5= Luke Walsh Catalans Dragons 20 Luke Gale Castleford Tigers 7= Paul McShane Castleford Tigers 19 Michael Shenton Castleford Tigers 9= Zak Hardaker Castleford Tigers 18 Marc Sneyd Hull Top points scorers Rank Player Club Points 1 Luke Gale Castleford Tigers 317 2 Mark Percival St. Helens 254 3 Marc Sneyd Hull 237 4 Liam Finn Wakefield Trinity 196 5= Greg Eden Castleford Tigers 152 Kallum Watkins Leeds Rhinos 7 Luke Walsh Catalans Dragons 150 8 Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants 141 9 George Williams Wigan Warriors 131 10 Gareth O'Brien Salford Red Devils 124

Attendances

Average attendances Club Home Games Total Average Highest Lowest Castleford Tigers 11 104,776 9,525 11,500 7,094 Catalans Dragons 11 96,551 8,777 10,804 7,254 Huddersfield Giants 11 64,081 5,826 8,666 4,973 Hull 11 128,900 11,718 15,487 10,222 Leeds Rhinos 11 164,449 14,950 18,029 13,169 Leigh Centurions 11 71,732 6,521 9,012 4,938 Salford Red Devils 11 51,736 4,703 6,253 2,678 St Helens 11 118,240 10,749 13,138 9,040 Wakefield Trinity 11 58,178 5,289 7,187 4,017 Warrington Wolves 11 115,253 10,478 11,681 9,152 Widnes Vikings 11 63,437 5,767 8,279 4,253 Wigan Warriors 11 153,810 13,983 23,390 11,637

Top 10 attendances Rank Home club Away club Stadium Attendance 1 Magic Weekend: Day 1 St. James' Park 35,361 2 Magic Weekend: Day 2 St. James' Park 30,046 3 Wigan Warriors St Helens DW Stadium 23,390 4 Leeds Rhinos Castleford Tigers Headingley Stadium 18,029 5 Leeds Rhinos Wigan Warriors Headingley Stadium 17,030 6 Leeds Rhinos Hull Headingley Stadium 16,938 7 Wigan Warriors Leigh Centurions DW Stadium 15,699 8 Hull Leeds Rhinos KCOM Stadium 15,487 9 Leeds Rhinos Widnes Vikings Headingley Stadium 15,408 10 Wigan Warriors Leeds Rhinos DW Stadium 15,119

• Statistics correct as of 23 July 2017 (round 23)

End-of-season awards

Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:^[5]

• Man of Steel: Luke Gale - Castleford Tigers
• Coach of the year: Daryl Powell - Castleford Tigers
• Super League club of the year: Castleford Tigers
• Young player of the year: Oliver Gildart - Wigan Warriors
• Foundation of the year: Wigan Warriors
• Rhino "Top Gun": Marc Sneyd - Hull F.C. (89% - 103 goals)
• Metre-maker: Alex Walmsley - St. Helens (4256 metres)
• Top Try Scorer: Greg Eden (38) - Castleford Tigers
• Hit Man: Danny Houghton - Hull F.C. (1123 tackles)
• Outstanding Contribution:
  Thomas Bosc - Catalans Dragons
  Chris Bridge - Warrington Wolves
  Rob Burrow - Leeds Rhinos
  Eorl Crabtree - Huddersfield Giants
  Gareth Ellis - Hull
  Andy Lynch - Castleford Tigers
  Leon Pryce - Bradford Bulls
  Iafeta Paleaaesina - Hull

Media

Television

2017 is the first of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 100 matches per season.^[6]

Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights.^[7]

Regular commentators will be Eddie Hemmings with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights on Sunday nights on Super League - Full Time at 10 p.m.

BBC Sport will broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme, the first to the BBC North West, Yorkshire, North East and Cumbria, and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35 p.m. on BBC One,^[8] while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30 p.m. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.^[9] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.^[10]

Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Fox Sports (Australia) and Sportsnet World (Canada).

Radio

BBC Coverage:

• BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (National DAB Digital Radio) will carry two Super League commentaries each week on Thursday and Friday nights (both kick off 8pm); this will be through the 5 Live Rugby league programme which is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and also includes interviews and debate..
• BBC Radio Humberside will have full match commentary of all Hull F.C. matches.
• BBC Radio Leeds carry commentaries featuring Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
• BBC Radio Manchester will carry commentary of Leigh, Wigan and Salford whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Merseyside.
• BBC Radio Merseyside will have commentary on St Helens and Widnes matches whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Manchester.

Commercial Radio Coverage:

• 102.4 Wish FM will carry commentaries of Wigan & St Helens matches.
• 107.2 Wire FM will carry commentaries on Warrington Home and Away.
• Radio Yorkshire will launch in March carrying Super League commentaries.
• 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.