The Bulls Are Back!

UK's Super League is moving from 12 to 14 teams in 2026, by all accounts. With the demotion of Salford Red Devils, a third vacancy came up. Toulouse Olympique and York Knights the obvious teams to gain promotion as they contested the Championship (division 2) grand final. 

So three slots in all up for grabs with no shortage of clubs putting their hands up to be one of those entering the promised land.

There is a grading system to decide who qualifies and while on field performance is included in that, there are many off field criteria that are also important. 

To the right is a chart showing the top 12 clubs. On that basis, the Bradford Bulls have been granted the replacement slot created by Salford's relegation. This has created a stir among some RL fans that the Bradford Bulls have no business being rated that highly. 

I'm not going into that conspiracy theory. What the club does bring is a strong RL culture in the city, good crowds both home and away plus they are at this point financially doing well.

The downside is their antiquated stadium and for some, their historically poor financial performance. Whatever, they are in.

So what about the other two if indeed the competition goes to 14? To the left, are the next 12 clubs with their rankings. That would mean that Toulouse and York are the clubs joining the Bulls. I hope there are 14 teams and I hope they are the two.

Are there any unlucky sides if the above becomes reality? The London Broncos have new ownership and are determined to go places. Their history isn't good and London is a tough nut to crack. I think a year in the expanded Championship would do them good in the longterm. 

So congratulations to the Bradford Bulls. I think you are lucky to get this break so I hope you don't blow it. Good luck to Toulouse and York who IMO deserve to join them. London, if you miss out, use 2026 to establish youself in the capital and prove that there is an appetite for top flight RL down there. 

Super League Men's Finals Series : 2025

The grand final highlights are above. 

Going into the finals series, it was hard to see past a Wigan Warriors v Hull KR final. KR had won the league with the Warriors second. KR also won the Challenge Cup but in this case Wigan was nowhere near the final. Still the Warriors were my favourites to win the final with match winning players in Field and French.

Of course, in knock out games anything can happen. A team just needs to have a bad day and it's all over rover. So lets see  how it panned out.

Quarter finals: Two sides sat this round out, the reward for being one of the top two in the league. The Leigh Leopards defeated a galant Wakefield Trinity 26-10. In the other match the Leeds Rhinos lost a tight one, 14-16 to St Helens RLFC. 

Semi finals: Wigan returned to defeat Leigh 18-6 and Hull KR also won, 20-12 over Saints. Neither winner was that convincing, with KR getting some calls in their favour. The two best teams in the league progressed to the big one.

Grand Final: The same two sides from last year met when Wigan were the victors 9-2. The 2025 gf was again held at  Old Trafford football ground. In the 2025 edition, Hull KR made some early mistakes which Wigan didn't capitalise on. Then KR took its chances to lead 10-2 at the break.

In the second half, the Warriors tried to come back but the mistakes continued and KR was able to pull away to win the game 24-6. Opposite to the song, Wigan saved the worst to last. KR were more composed and deserved not only winning the grand final but also the treble. 

NSW Cup League & Finals : 2025

The first article on this competition - one below the NRL - and while it's called the NSW Cup, it includes Canberra, Victoria and New Zealand. Melbourne (Victoria) aren't fielding a side in it and rarely have. 

I looked into the history of the competition to do a piece on that but decided against doing so. It doesn't have the consistency of participants, so trying to establish historical success would have little meaning.

As for the 2025 season, the NZ Warriors easily won the league with an eleven point margin over the second placed St George. Second to tenth was tight with only a six point spread covering them.  

The chart below shows where the clubs finished in 2024 with St George and Parramatta in particular improving their rankings. North Sydney was the big loser. Blue shows the five sides that progressed to the playoffs, which are discussed below. 

First round: There were three teams from Sydney and two from elsewhere. The NZ Warriors had a bye while the second to fifth teams did battle. Two close games saw winners St George and Canberra progress, along with Parramatta whose third league placing gave them another life.  

Second Round: The Warriors joined for this round and were upset by St George 10-24. In the other match, Parramatta narrowly got past Canberra 36-30. St George went directly to the grand final.

Third Round: The NZ Warriors picked themselves up after the last round defeat to breeze past the Eels 42-12. They now had to do what they failed to do the week before if they wanted to add to their winning the league with a grand final victory as well.

Grand final: The Warriors got their revenge with a sound 30-12 result. They were the best side through the season and thoroughly deserved the double. 

The grand final highlights are below. The commentator's voice is interesting to say the least.