Queensland Cup Finals : 2025 (Plus Last Five Years Ranked)

The finals were surprisingly close in terms of scorelines. The semi finals were an excellent example of that with both decided by just two points and ironically identical scores too. 

The two clubs that came top of the league also made the grand final. Burleigh again prevailed over the Norths Devils 'Bridesmaids'. So well done Burleigh and commiserations to Norths.  

I have included below a bonus previous five year summary of the competition. The top sides for 2025 are found at the top here too, with the positions switched in favour of the Norths Devils. The Western Clydesdales have only been part of it for the past three years.

Super League Attendances : 2025

Super League is in some ways struggling as future media deals to maintain the competition's financial situation are uncertain. Clubs are dependent on owners to balance the books which is not uncommon in sports generally. Hopefully, SL clubs can continue to rely on such benefactors.  

Crowd support is an important part of a club's earnings so how are the numbers in 2025 compared with 2024? They are up 8.4% which is impressive although it does come with some provisos, which will be mentioned as we go along.

Winners: Wigan is top of the list with a 19,300 average, up 29.3%. They did get a boost playing a game in  Las Vegas but even without that, they have done really well. Hull FC is much improved in terms of performance and the supporters are responding with the attendance average up 10.8%. 

Wakefield returned to the top flight and they also have a nicely refurbished stadium. These two factors have pushed spectator numbers up 41.6% compared to their crowd numbers in the Championship (division 2). The fact that they replaced London means the increase against that club is 150.5% which does add an unavoidable distortion in 2025. 

Losers: Not the same number of candidates. In terms of attendees, Castleford is the disappointment. Their on field performances are at their usual not too successful standards. Has near neighbour Wakefield's improved situation left them feeling neglected? 

Salford has been sailing close to the wind financially and without a well heeled backer to rely upon things came to a head in 2025. Unable to play their strongest roster due to restrictions and gradually offloading good players they should never had signed in the first place has affected performances. 

Yet the fans have been remarkably loyal, but the club stopped reporting attendances during the season. I had to estimate and gave them 4,000 per game not reported for a 11.6% drop. Hopefully this sorry state can be sorted but they won't be in SL next year. 

Ceiling dwellers: Hull KR (stadium capacity) and Leigh (population size) have plateaued. I wonder what it would do for KR's average if there was more capacity. I'm thinking the stadium is OK for most games, with more popular opponents the only times when more seats would be useful. Leigh has a 12,000 stadium so they could technically increase their 8,800 average but that will be a big ask.

Newbies: Next year there will be between one to three new clubs in SL, depending on expansion going ahead. The Bradford Bulls used to exceed 10,000 in the Bullmania era but to do that now is unlikely. Other contenders such as Toulouse, York and London will definitiely not do that number so the 2025 average may be the best for some time to come. 

Queensland Cup Regular Season : 2025

The regular season consists of fifteen teams vying to win the league, or failing that, make the top eight for a play offs berth. The Gold Coast's Burleigh Bears won the league title, from the Brisbane based Norths Devils. The Western Clydesdales from Toowoomba came up the rear, although they did come first equal in the most draws column. I jest of course and I hope 2026 has more success for them. 

I don't follow the competition on a weekly basis but looking at the points differential, the matches appear to be quite close, not something the modern game produces with momentum rewarded as it is. The exception is the Clydesdales, who were well down in that department.

The eight finalists will be covered in a future article. 

UK League 1 Season : 2025

This will be the last report under the League One label as the division closes. Its first year was 2003 and the last 2025. It merges with the Championship division two. Some clubs will have to lift their level of performance. 

Over the season Cornwall pulled out early on and the results of the games they did play were expunged from the record. Sad but these things happen. The new club to this level was the Goole Vikings and they acquitted themselves well. 

Congratutaions to North Wales Crusaders for taking the league title. The playoff matches to decide who would get promoted were cancelled as they all get promoted anyway if they choose to join the expanded Championship.

UK Championship Regular Season : 2025 (Men's)

This is the division two of the game in the UK that includes a side based in France. After the regiular season was completed, the league table is as seen below. 

Three teams stood out for me and they took the top three spots. They are very keen to make the elite Super League. The play offs will assist in sorting that out but if only it was that simple. 

SL is most likely to go to fourteen teams and one of the current twelve sides making up that division won't be there. If that is how it all goes, three of these clubs will bein SL next year. So the three I mentioned earlier are the likely three? 

That's the complicated bit. Clubs have to meet varoius criteria to be acceoted and it isn't just about on field performance. London finished back in tenth place but they are to become a very different club in 2026 with new ownership. So the playoffs will help clubs trying to make SL and that will be reported on soon. 

The other issue is that no club will be relegated from the Championship as usually happens. That's because division three (League One) will amalgamate with the championship in 2026. Hopefully that won't create a lopsided competition. 2026 won't be dull in UK RL but then again it never is. 

SL Regular Season : 2025

The video is the last round game between Hull KR and Warrington Wolves. Don't be startled by the noisy music for the first few seconds. You may want to read the text below before viewing.

The 2025 regular season has finished. Twelve teams played 27 matches and some played each other three times to complete 27 rounds. Ludicrous. So how did they go? Here we go from bottom to top with a brief opinion for each club. In the chart, blue means finals football.

Salford Red Devils: The club payed the price for living beyond their means and had to sell most of their side this season as a result. Short notice loan players were at times used, meeting the regulars on the bus going to the game. Yet the players showed loads of spirit and the fans rallied behind them. 

Castleford Tigers: It really looked a very ordinary team and sacking the manager during the season was never going to be the solution. Last made the finals in 2019.

Huddersfield Giants: Not much better than Cas' so another side that needs to recruit well if either can afford that. 

Catalan Dragons: A second consecutive season with finals football. The coach was sacked as results went against them but that didn't help. Definitely should have done better with the players at their disposal.

Warrington Wolves: Made the cup final as their form was good early on but they fell away badly at the backend of the season. A team with potential but there is something wrong with the culture.

Hull FC: The club's best result since 2020 but still very much a work in progress. There was hope of a finals berth but ultimately fell short.

St Helens: This is such a successful club that the past two seasons have felt like failures to the fans. Calls for the coach to go have gone unheeded, but for how much longer? Can there be some redemption in the finals? 

Leeds Rhinos: After missing the finals in the last two campaigns, they are back. An improved side in 2025, but there is some work to be done if they want to go forward from here. 

Leigh Centurions: Their fans must be pinching themselves to make sure they are not dreaming. The points differential would suggest they are overachieving but what do they care? A third consecutive year in the finals shows the character the team has. 

Wigan Warriors: Started really slowly and got knocked out of the cup early. They have since played catch up and nearly won the league. With a full complement of players, they are the best side. 

Hull KR: They won the cup and now the league, only the grand final to go to make it a clean sweep. Their form has dipped toward the end of a tiring season. They will need to show a bit more zest if they are to take the treble. 

Summary: There could be fourteen teams next year and Salford has not applied to be one of them. The composition of the clubs involved in Super League is therefore still up in the air. Clubs have to earn a place through meeting both on and off the field requirements.

UK Championship (Women) Regular Season : 2025

The second division (the Northern Championship) in the women's game increased from nine to eleven teams for 2025. All but two of the clubs competing are from the north of England. The teams played each other once. Oulton was deducted a point for failing to fulfill a fixture. 

London and Cardiff were promoted from the Southern Championship and both sides acquitted themselves well, coming in first and third. As a result, they both make the two round playoffs and could end up in the grand final together. 

The finals will be covered in a future post. 

PS. The Southern Championship had five sides playing four fixtures each. This was won by the Army with Bristol second. The Midlands Championship had six clubs playing ten matches each with Telford prevailing. 

SLW Regular Season : 2025

The eighth regular season of women's rugby league has been completed. Eight sides battled it out and a resurgent Wigan pipped St Helens for the title. Saints win their first league title in 2024 but could not quite repeat that success.

The problem is having the best players gravitate to just four sides. The clubs in blue below progressed to the finals series and their points differential is it stark contrast to the sides that failed to make the cut. Warrington withdrew from the competition for the last two fixtures. Two points and 48-0 scores were credited to the sides that would have played them.

The women's game needs a rethink regarding the lopsided standard between the haves and have nots. More depth in player quality will come but in the meantime too many matches are massacres. It can't be easy for players in those fixtures. Their only reprieve comes when meeting sides of similar quality. The better players need more fixtures that test them. 

The video above is Wigan v Saints. 

NRLW Regular Season : 2025

The season kicked off with twelve teams, up two on 2024. The Canterbury Bulldogs from Sydney and the NZ Warriors from Auckland. Could the new sides hit the ground running? Would there be any surprises in the final ranking?

The final table below shows there wasn't much change from the previous season. In 2024 there were four finalists and they all returned to the finals again. The difference in 2025 was there were two more sides were included in the playoffs. 

The Canberra Raiders dropped four rankings but otherwise no side moved more than two placings. Neither of the new clubs made the finals series but they weren't the lowest placed clubs either. The NZ Warriors did extremely well in nearly getting a neutral points differential (-4) in their first season back. 

I won't critique the sides individually but a few general comments should suffice. The top two were head and shoulders above the rest and they would make a great grand final match up. The three sides at the foot of the table will be disappointed the new teams were able to finish above them. 

The finals series will be covered in three weeks when they have concluded. 

The video is highlights of the top two sides meeting in round 3.  

NRL Attendances 2025

If all the teams played home games at home, then that would keep things simple. However, double header games and Magic Round creates scenarios that can distort figures. There is no right way to get around this but I'll explain what I do.

If more than one team play at a venue, then all competing sides count the highest attendance figure. That is because an accurate breakdown by game isn't always given. The one exception I make is the Magic Round where the attendance is credited to the total but not to the individual clubs. 

Winners: The total is up 4.2% over 2024 and 25.4% when compared with 2000-2024. That's quite an improvement historically.

Brisbane continues to confound me with its ongoing increases when I've assumed for the past few years that they have reached a ceiling. The Canterbury Bulldogs have had a ripper season both on field and with crowds, the latter helped by a bumper Easter Weekend turnout.

Canberra had a stellar season in winning the league and attendances reflected the public getting behind the success. Cronulla and South Sydney were involved in a double header but through a full season, these one off gains don't hugely affect the average. They both increased their averages, the latter despite a poor season.

The Gold Coast has always been a challenging area for rugby league but 2025 attendances were good considering the poor form of the team. The NZ Warriors managed another increase despite being close to stadium capacity.

Losers: Penrith had a 'home game' in Las Vegas which was helpful. Penrith needed that badly as their home game numbers are being badly affected by having to travel to another stadium while their stadium is redeveloped. 

Manly didn't do well with crowds, although the team usually performs well at home. Parramatta, North Queensland and Newcastle didn't play well overall and some fans were put off by that. I can't blame them. 

The St George - Illawarra club is the only team that has decreased on the 2000-24 average. Its now has the lowest attendances in the league, which is sad for a club with such a proud history. 

A point with the Dolphins. They are down historically but they have only had three seasons. The first was higher than the two since, which creates a historical negative. Their home stadium is tiny so when they can play home games at the larger Suncorp Stadium, that gives the attendance a real boost. So they are affected by Suncorp availability. More seasons are required to paint a clearer picture. 

For any unfamiliar with the game, the video above will explain all. 

NRL Regular Season : 2025

The 2025 regular season has finished. Teams played 24 matches and had three byes to complete 27 rounds. So how did they go? Most teams had tough injury runs, the demands of modern sport ensure that is the case. Ignoring that, here we go from bottom to top with a brief opinion for each club.

Newcastle Knights: They lacked quality in depth, especially in the forwards. They went from a finals appearance to last in one season. The coach then left as expected. 

Gold Coast Titans: Had potential and at times looked really good but rarely played their best for a full game. Dropped two places from 2024 and another coach left.

St George-Illawarra: Could have been a wooden spoon winner but scraped enough wins together to avoid that ignominy.

South Sydney Rabbitohs: Without the top players regularly participating, the team looked ordinary.

Wests Tigers: They strengthened their squad and avoided another last place but are very much a work in progress. 

North Queensland Cowboys: Fifth last year but dropped seven places in 2025. Looked good going forward but overall inconsistent.

Parramatta Eels: A solid roster and improved toward the end of the season. Not enough to make the finals but there is promise.

Dolphins: Can do the razzle-dazzle, which led to a good points difference for a side that failed to make the finals. Perhaps not enough grind.

Manly Sea Eagles: A good but not great side, they finished where they deserved to.

Sydney Roosters: Came home strongly to snatch a finals spot. In form, they are formidable.

Penrith Panthers: Second place and grand final winners last year, they languished at the foot of the table during the season. They got their act together and made the finals. That said, the team is not as strong as last year.

New Zealand Warriors: I predicted they wouldn't make the finals but did so through grit and determination. Most of the games they played were tight. Overachieved? Maybe, but proved a hard side to beat, even though they did fade toward the end of the competition.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks: They quietly went about their business in an effective way. Another good season.

Brisbane Broncos: Inconsistent at the beginning of the season but toward the end very impressive. 

Canterbury Bulldogs: A surprise package and led the competition for a while but finished below their best.

Melbourne Storm: Not quite the consistent Melbourne but very still competitive and came in second. 

Canberra Raiders: They surprised everyone but the coach. They were much more consistent and that paid dividends. They simply were tough to beat. 

The finals summary will follow once the matches are completed.