Normally a fixture associated with the play-off places, it was eighth against tenth as the Warrington Wolves hosted the Leeds Rhinos in an important game in the bottom half of the table as both sides looked to maintain a place on the fringes of the top six, the home side knowing that a win would lift them to at least seventh and the Rhinos looking to jump above their hosts into eighth.

Daryl Powell´s Wolves had new loan signing Kyle Amor on the bench in a strong looking line up after almost a fortnight off, while Leeds boss Rohan Smith made an enforced change to an equally rested side which beat Wakefield last time out to accommodate the most recent suspension of James Bentley.

Warrington were the favourites with the bookies, the Rhinos getting an eight-point start on the handicap coupon.

It was a important sunny Saturday afternoon in Perpignan for both the Catalans Dragons and Warrington Wolves with the former knowing that a win would lift them into second spot in the table, and the latter hoping for a win by six or more points which would lift them above Hull KR and into the top half of the league.

The bookies had the home side as firm favourites and were giving the Wolves a ten-point start on the handicap coupon prior to the game, and with full back talisman, Sam Tomkins, back in the side, coupled with rushed travel arrangements for the Wolves, and the news that Charnley and King were missing, no one could blame the weighted odds.

Warrington started this home Cup tie as clear favourites to beat Wakefield at home and book a date to welcome Wigan to the Halliwell Jones Stadium in the quarter final.

The bookies had them at 10-3 on for the win, while Trinity were 5-2 - despite beating their hosts in the league last weekend.

Warrington started this home Cup tie as clear favourites to beat Wakefield at home and book a date to welcome Wigan to the Halliwell Jones Stadium in the quarter final.

The bookies had them at 10-3 on for the win, while Trinity were 5-2 - despite beating their hosts in the league last weekend.

Willie Poching´s Wakefield Trinity were looking for their second win of the season to give themselves some breathing space to the bottom of the table but there are usually fewer more daunting tasks in Super League than having to travel to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to take on Daryl Powell´s Warrington Wolves.

Both sides were missing a number of regular first teamers, the Wolves would be without Greg Minikin, Matt Davis and Josh Charnley while the visitors were missing Bill Tupou, Thomas Minns, Max Jowitt and Tom Lineham.

The bookies believed that there would be only one winner and Wakefield were given a fourteen-point start on the handicap coupon, the Wolves expected to take the points and move into fifth spot in the table.

After their fightback win over the Leeds Rhinos last time out, Daryl Powell had his first home fixture as Warrington Wolves coach as the welcomed his old club, the Castleford Tigers, under their new coach Lee Radford as the visitors looked for their first win of the season after last weeks loss to the Salford Red Devils.

Powell shuffled his pack making plenty of changes to compensate for the loss of the suspended Oliver Holmes, Daryl Clark who suffered a head knock against Leeds and late withdrawal Mike Cooper through illness.

The Tigers were without half back and goal kicker Danny Richardson who was injured in last week’s loss to Salford.

It was a ground-breaking afternoon for the greatest game as Channel 4 became the first free to air channel to cover a Super League encounter as the Leeds Rhinos hosted the Warrington Wolves who are under the new stewardship of ex-Rhinos coach Daryl Powell.

Warrington had sold over 2,000 tickets for the game, and with a big Saturday lunchtime home crowd at Emerald Headingley a vociferous crowd welcomed the sides onto the pitch in wet, blustery and cold winter conditions.

The house was packed, the British public were on their sofas, and the scene was set for a fantastic season opener for these two sides with Grand Final aspirations.

The Warrington Wolves named a strong squad to take on a Castleford Tigers side who knew that a win would guarantee them play-off rugby next weekend, and for whom a loss would mean an end to the coaching reign of Daryl Powell on a low note as they missed out on the end of season excitement.

With the Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR supporters willing the Warrington side a win, the away supporters knew that the home side would throw everything that they had at them to keep their season alive.

With Warrington having nothing but ‘form’ to play for with third place already secured, the bookies were backing the home side to record a narrow victory as they were giving the Wolves a four point start on the coupon in a game that could well have been a dress rehearsal for next week’s first play-off if it went the home sides’ way.

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.

Two sides, who were disappointed in the result of their opening fixtures, were first up in the Totally Wicked Stadium Mose Masoe double header as the Warrington Wolves took on the new boys, Leigh Centurions, with a crucial two points up for grabs and both teams looking to stay in touch with the top of the table.

The Centurions had Ben Reynolds back in their side after he returned from Toulouse Olympique without playing a game for his new side.

A transfer fee was involved but the scrum half adds a special dimension to the Leigh line-up.

Warrington were big favourites for the win, Leigh getting a sixteen-point start on the coupon, but the Wolves wouldn’t be taking anything for granted.

Super League’s top two teams, Warrington and St Helens, kicked off today’s quarter-final action in the Coral Challenge Cup when they staged a replay of last year’s final at Salford’s AJ Bell stadium.

 

On that occasion, Warrington took the honours and lifted the cup they were defending, against a team any regarded as the cup kings of the Super League era.

 

And they took the field this afternoon with the best defence in the top flight against a team with the highest scoring attack.

 

A coronavirus ravaged Warrington Wolves gave debuts to Leilani Latu, Ellis Robson and Ellis Longstaff as they were without the services of seven regular first teamers due to self-isolation measures.

They elected to play the game when they could have postponed, their effort to stop the season descending into farce.

A win for the Wolves would lift them into second spot, level on points with St Helens who had just demolished the Huddersfield Giants.

A win for Hull, unless it was by more than forty-eight points would not make any difference to their league position but it would maintain their push for a top four place should the sides above them slip up over the coming weeks.

The Wolves were slight favourites, but FC had only been given a two point start on the coupon as the bookies and pundits thought that the enforced changes would make it a competitive game.

Last weeks one point winners were thrown together as Hull FC played hosts to the Warrington Wolves in the seventh round of Super League 2020.

Third place was up for grabs, should either side secure a large enough margin of victory, but realistically the side to take the spoils would end the night in fourth spot, tucked in behind the Castleford Tigers.

Both sides have had indifferent starts to the season and tonight was a night when a win could kick start something decent, while a loss would start to see a gap opening up to the top sides.

Warrington welcomed Castleford to the Halliwell Jones Stadium knowing they needed something different after being nilled at Leeds in last week’s Round Five game.

Steve Price’s team went back to basics, and it paid off in a low scoring, but tense, arm-wrestle of a game.

Defences were on top in the opening session, but the hosts were the team applying the early pressure for the first 10 minutes or more.

After last Saturdays' superb Challenge Cup win over St Helens, the Warrington Wolves could be forgiven for poor preparation ahead of tonights Super League round twenty-seven encounter with the Salford Red Devils.

But despite the fastest of turnarounds it was essential that they backed up their cup victory with another win to assist them in their quest for second spot.

The prize for Salford could not have been bigger.

A win would lift them into third ahead of the rest of the weekends games, but a win by twenty-four points of more would see the home side go above their opponents tonight and into second spot, poised for an assault on Old Trafford.

It was a game of massive importance to both sides.

If you listened to the pundits, the bookies and the neutral fans, then there was only one side who would be lifting the Challenge Cup at the end of eighty Wembley minutes, runaway league leaders St Helens.

But this is the Cup, and it’s a funny old thing, and anything could happen.

Warrington are the side with the recent Challenge Cup pedigree having figured in five finals, winning three since, since Saints were last represented in this auspicious event.

The top two sides in Super League met in the first final of the year, with many believing that they will also meet at Old Trafford in October.

This was the fourth meeting between these two sides in 2019 with Saints having emerged victorious on every occasion, the most recent being a 30-12 win just over a fortnight ago.

Both sides ran onto the sun baked field with the neutrals hoping that it would be more competitive than it appeared on paper.

St Helens took the minor premiers crown with their win, and a Warrington Wolves loss, last weekend.

The outcome of the game was therefore much more important for the Wire who were looking to cement their second place, while Saints were playing for pride.

The two sides met as recently as round twenty, when Saints were 21-10 winners at the Halliwell-Jones, despite trailing by 4-0 at the interval and not scoring their first point until the hour mark.

Saints were looking for a hat-trick of 2019 wins against their near neighbours after also picking up a 38-12 win in round 10, in tonight's Challenge Cup dress rehearsal.

After the ‘battle of Stade Gilbert Brutus’ last weekend the home side made eight changes including the addition of a number of youngsters.

Saints made just a couple of changes to their starting line-up with Jonny Lomax and Matty Costello into the side.

It was second against fifth in the game of round fourteen as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle saw the Castleford Tigers host the Warrington Wolves.

  Warrington were looking to build on last weekend’s big win over the Huddersfield Giants, whereas the home side needed to put the disappointment of a tryless loss away at Wigan behind them.

A win would put the visitors within two points of the top of the table St Helens, and a loss could see the Tigers finish the weekend by slipping outside the top six.

With the Tigers having an indifferent season, and missing eleven first choice players, the Wolves were strong favourites for the away win.

The upwardly mobile Hull FC had an intriguing round eight game against fellow play-off contenders the Warrington Wolves, with both sides looking to build on their respective wins last weekend.

FC have lost just one game in their last six outings while Warrington have recorded just one loss in 2019, their away fixture in Perpignan.

A win would have sent FC into fourth and a fifteen point win would have put them up to third but the Wolves were unlikely to be able to make progress unless they got a big win, while St Helens upset the odds and lost at Hull KR.

The game of the twentieth round drew the SKY cameras to the DW Stadium as second placed Wigan Warriors hosted third placed Warrington Wolves with both sides looking to consolidate their top four spots ahead of the split into the Super Eights.

This is the fourth 2018 meeting between the two sides with the Wolves having been the victors on two previous occasions, the last meeting being their 23-0 win in the Challenge Cup on the 2nd June.

A rejuvinated Warriors were favourites with the bookies, but the Wolves are a side who have a recent habit of beating their hosts.