Queensland Cup 2026 Finals Series

The 2026 season has concluded with a long finals series, four rounds. The grand final video highlights are below, which can be viewed on YouTube. If you want to see the results first, they are below the video.

The Sunshine Coast won the league, coverage of that by me can be seen by clicking here. The finals themselves had results go as expected. It came down to the grand final with the top two league teams. Redcliffe had an advantage of having the Dolphins play in the NLR elite league, some well known names representing Redcliffe in the final.

The Sunshine Coast were on top early on but as the game progressed, Redcliffe came back and ultimately took title somewhat comfortably in the end. 

UK SLW 2026 League Standings (Women) Now Completed

The 2026 league has been concluded. How have the clubs fared? Here's my assessment.

I don't have in depth knowledge, but it's clear there are two divisions within one. There isn't enough talent to support eight clubs with any level of equality. The only way to increase the quality in depth is by offering young women a pathway and a chance to play the game competitively. 

5-8. While these four teams are good enough for the top 8, they are well off the pace when compared to the top four.

1-4. These teams possess the most talented players. Still, the top two within this elite level were a notch above the other two below them. 

To deal with the difference between the top four and lower four, the top four were then divided into the Super 4s, retaining their points from the table above and adding to them. 

Wigan did drop a game but ended well ahead. Three below had a tussle, with York slipping past St Helens on points difference. 

York's inflicting Wigan's only loss in the last game of the Super 4s, securing a playoff match with Leeds.  They won that 12-0 and headed to the grand final. York needed to defeat Wigan again and they did and took out the grand final 8-6 in a scoreless second half. 

The lower four then carried over their points into the Shield phase. The rank was only changed with Barrow moving up, courtesy of a superior goal difference. Barrow won two of their Shield games and Leigh lost all of theirs.

Leigh now had to defeat the London Broncos from the lower division to retain their Super League status. They were well beaten 6-36. London are promoted and Leigh go down to the Championshop competition below.

UK Championship League: 2026

This competition is almost in the 'too hard' basket of UK RL. It costs money to run but doesn't generate enough to stand alone. Obviously, sponsorships, ticket sales, and revenue from other locally generated means are important. Centrally distributed funds are also needed. How much does that amount to?

I don't know, but the top amount is £147,000 and the lowest £28,000. The total would exceed £1,000,000, which I assume is money they don't generate. Still, they are an important part of the pyramid of the game, so money well spent. 

As for the season itself...much to be dissected. With the combining of the two leagues below the elite Super League, it ended up as one twenty team league. Let's break it down.

Three teams were promoted to SL and one was shut down due to finances. They are listed at the bottom of the chart below. Salford was relegated from SL. Only two of the six Championship play off clubs from 2025 made it onto the list below. They are Oldham and Halifax. 

Teams marked with a P in the 25 column are clubs that came up from the lower division when it was terminated. They looked like they would be lambs to the slaughter, but not so. Three made the ten team play offs. 

The amazing club is the Newcastle Thunder. They came last in the lower League One with no wins from eighteen matches. This year, rubbing shoulders with experienced Championship sides looked a daunting prospect. Instead, they have come second! Why? Strategic partnerships with SL York and NRL Penrith helped. They have also improved their whole operation in various areas. It just shows the potential when a club is well run and gets strong initiatives in place.

Halifax and North Wales had points deducted for financial issues. North Wales moves to South Wales next year. More travel, but hopefully the southern regions of Wales has more to offer.

The play offs will be covered soon. 

SL Attendances : 2026

Attendances for the UK elite division in 2026 are up 16.6%. A positive result, but more complicated than that. Going to 14 teams has lifted total attendances, but all the new clubs are below the average figure. Yet it hasn't affected the average. 

That's a positive, as the three new teams should have negatively impacted the average. That begs the question, why has the average held up well? The incumbent clubs have, for the most part, broken even or gone up. Well done to them and their fans. 

A recent issue is playing a games in the USA. Wigan in 2025 (45,209) and Hull KR in 2026 (45,719) has affected their averages greatly. I just can't ignore their 'home game' overseas and the people who turned up to watch. This year Wigan are well down and KR well up just because of this one promotion. 

I was going to do historical averages as I did with the NRL. However, with promotion and relegation, it was going to be fiddly to do. I might do a piece separately on that. 

Queensland Cup Regular Season : 2026

I don't follow it week by week, but it is a strong competition so I check in at the end of the season to see. It does vary quite dramatically too, as we shall see. Green shows the teams making it to the finals and yellow for those whose season finished at the conclusion of the league competition. 

The Sunshine Coast won the league for the first time since 2019. The Redcliff Dolphins last won in 2018 and again missed out this year. The Central Queensland Capras came from 13th to 3rd in a huge swing in a positive direction.  

The Burleigh Bears were the league winners in 2025 but could only manage 4th this year. They also won the league in 2022 and 2023. The Mackay Cutters and Brisbane Tigers made the finals after failing to do so last year.

Wynnum-Manly, Norths Devils and PNG Hunters competed in the finals last year but missed out in 2025. Northern Pride won the league in 2024 but failed to even make the finals series since. Spare a thought for the Western Clydesdales, who since their formation four years ago, have been perennial bottom feeders. They play out of Toowoomba and do have a history that was broken for a time before their recent emergence.

NRLW 2026 League Standings (Women)

The 2026 women's league has been concluded. How have the clubs fared? Here's my assessment.

12: St George Dragons. Tenth last year and twelfth this year. They are not a strong club presently. A season to forget. 

11: Canterbury Bulldogs. Very similar to St George but slightly elevated. 

10: North Queensland. They were top four last year and didn't cover losses in the roster. 

9: Cronulla Sharks. It's been suggested they haven't invested as heavily as other clubs and if that's the case, then dropping to tenth from finals footie is all they could expect. 

8: Parramatta Eels. Much the same as last year. 

7: NZ Warriors. The roster was strengthened and early on, they looked finals ready. Then the wheels fell off and they became the worst team in the competition. Embarrassing.

I will do the top six teams, with the finals review coming soon.

European SL 2026 League Standings

The 2026 league has been concluded. How have the clubs fared? Here's my assessment.

14: Bradford Bulls. Newly promoted in 2026 and with a full allocation of funds, yet still got the wooden spoon. A rubbish effort and need to do better.

13: Castleford Tigers. One from bottom last year and with two more teams competing, still second from last. Occasionally played really well but the rest of the time terrible.

12: Huddersfield Giants. Started really badly but by the end of the season, one of the form teams. If only they had started better....

11: Hull FC. Seventh to eleventh. There were glimpses of quality but it was not delivered with any consistency. 

10: York Knights. Newly promoted and with less funding than others, yet somehow put out a more than creditable performance. They had wooden spoon potential, but were far better than that.

9: Catalan Dragons. Fully funded but paying travel expenses for all visiting UK teams. Their poor recruitment is letting the club down.

8: Toulouse Olympique. Not fully funded and paying travel expenses for all visiting UK teams. They really should have finished bottom of the table but had a wow of a season, all things considered. 

7: St Helens. My record of allocating points show this to be their worst season since the 1993-94 season. Perhaps their fifth finish last year should have been a warning. The roster needs some work. 

I will do the top six teams with the finals review coming soon.

NRL 2026 League Standings

The 2026 league has been concluded. How have the clubs fared? Here's my assessment.

17: St George Dragons. No dragon slaying here. Wooden spoon winners and dropped two places from last year. Worse points differential too so absolutely got what they deserve.   

16: Gold Coast Titans. A better roster than the outcome. Points difference higher than the two above, which indicates they should have finished higher. 

15: Wests Tigers. Started the season strongly but imploded as the season progressed. Off field dramas didn't help. 

14: Brisbane Broncos. Fourth in the league and grand final winners in 2025. What a debacle this season! A rubbish effort and underachieved badly.

13: Parramatta Eels. Not a bad roster but dropping two places from 2025 was a poor result with the potential they have. 

12: Canterbury Bulldogs. Third in 2025 and started 2026 well but imploded. This was well short of where they should be. A season to forget.

11: Canberra Raiders. From league winners to eleventh was a shock. Probably overachieved in 2025 and underachieved this season.

10: Melbourne Storm. The worst result since 2010 when they were barred from winning points. 2002 was in fact the last time they finished lower in normal circumstances. They are expected to be in the finals.

9: Manly Sea Eagles. Same as last year and have found their level. Started well and then the wheels fell off.

I will do the top eight teams with the finals review coming soon.

NRL Attendances : 2026 & Much More

Attendances for 2026 are up 1.9% on the complete 2025 figure, and up 28.3%  when compared to the previous years, going back to 2000. A positive result, especially the historical one. The averages below for each club exclude Magic Weekend matches but the total average includes it. 

The Dolphins are an anomaly, due to the fact that some of their games are played at their home ground, which is a small suburban one, and the rest that are played at Suncorp Stadium, which is very large. They are also the newest club in the competition, currently in their fourth year. 

Another recent issue is playing a few games in the USA. The Roosters and Sea Eagles benefitted in 2024 (40,746 attendance), Raiders and Panthers in 2025 (45,209), Bulldogs and Knights in 2026 (45,719). This can throw up short term variances. 

Overall, not a great result compared to 2025. Perth come in next year and the 20,000 average is the same as their full capacity. Therefore, unless they sell out every match, won't quite help the average grow. Of course, the benefit to the code is far more important than that single metric. 

NRL Offer to SL

I'll try to make sense of where it is now.

UK Objective: UK's Super League needs help and the Australian Rugby League commission (ARLC) put itself forward as the deliverer. 

ARLC Objective: To strengthen the game of RL and take it to another level globally. 

Initial Offer: Approximately £6 million per season over five years. The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) wants its stake in the Super League's commercial arm increasing 10% each year until they hold a 50% share. That gives the ARLC virtually all control of the game internationally.

UK perspective: They are pretty much giving up control for minimal gain from what they have already.

ARLC perspective: They are taking on something that isn't strong, so they're not offering much for it.

Possible outcome: Unless the offer is somewhat better, it isn't happeneing. I feel that initial comments by the ARLC would have given the UK SL/RFL hope of quite a bit more. The first offer now made may just be to lower UK expectations. 

Conclusion: The whole concept has merit but the ARLC's first offer isn't good enough. What is the ARLC's primary objective? I believe it is to increase the game's international profile and increase revenue. 

If the UK is an integral part of that, then maybe the ARLC has to accept that cutting a deal with SL needs to be done. The expansion of revenue in future won't be in Australia or the UK but new media deals elsewhere. The initial offer suggests the ARLC wants to take the game over in the UK with as little outlay as possible. For the game in the UK, giving up so much needs to have a bigger carrot. 

Men's Internationals: 2026 (Jan-July)

27.02. USA 28-20 Scotland. Location: Las Vegas. USA.
Scotland started strongly and led 12-10 but the USA came back to claim the win. 

02.07. Norway 6-56 Canada. Location: Lillestrøm, Norway.
Canada took an early lead and were ahead 22-6 at the change around. They were too strong for a gallant local side.

05.07. Scotland 22-10 Canada. Location: Hawick, Scotland.
Scotland put the USA loss behind them with a victory back at home. They led 14-6 at half time. 

11.07. Netherlands 6-34 Canada. Location: Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Canada rounded out a successful European tour. They lead 22-0 at the change of ends. 

Women's Internationals: 2026 (Jan-July)

27.02. USA 14-26 Scotland. Location: Las Vegas. USA.
Scotland led 10-0 at the break and went on to take it reasonably comfortably. 

19.07. Wales 0-14 Canada. Location: Neath, Wales.
Canada led 10-0 at half time and went on to keep Wales scoreless. 

25.07 Scotland 4-34 Canada. Location: Hawick, Scotland.  

Canada led 14-4 at the break but in the second half it was all Canada. 

25.07 France 4-38 England. Location: Toulouse, France. 
France took an early lead through two penalties, but that was their lot. England led 28-4 by half-time. England scored seven tries in all. They are yet to lose to France in the women's game. 

European U19 Championship : 2026

Held in France, the 2026 edition fielded ten teams, six in the top tier and four in the lower one. All sides played three games each. Group A members didn't play all the teams in their group. I've listed the sides they did meet on the right of the green chart below.

France won the tournament by going through undefeated. England won the previous two tournaments held but this year were well down on that standard. Or maybe France lifted its game. Perhaps a bit of both. 

In the second group, Canada was an invitation side. Greece and Ireland had heritage imports that gave them a distinct advantage. Greece won comfortably. Norway was a welcome addition and hopefully they will benefit from the experience.  

Photo: England v Ukraine. Source: European RL. 

European U19 Championship : 2024

This should have been covered before, but I missed it. So two years late. 

Six nations took part in this event in Serbia. It started off with the teams ranked third to sixth playing. The losers played off for fifth and sixth.

Ukraine 24-4 Serbia
Scotland 32-10 USA
Losers: USA 40-12 Serbia.

The semi finals were then held. The winners went into the grand final and the losers played off for third fifth. I'm not sure why Serbia lost its two matches and ended up in the third place playoff. 

England 58-4 Ukraine
France 30-18 Scotland
Fifth place playoff: USA 26-22 Ukraine
Third place playoff: Scotland 56-0 Serbia
Grand Final: England 15-8 France.

Photo: Scotland v Serbia. Source: European RL. 

Men's State of Origin : 2026

The 2026 series had momentum swings, both in the games and the series. 

Game 1: In Sydney, the visiting Queensland Maroons took an early 18-0 lead, and at the 57th minute mark were ahead 20-6. A player was sent off, a momentum swing then went the NSW Blues way. They went on to win 22-20, the last try scored with two minutes to go. 

Game 2: Played in Melbourne in front of a record 92,000 fans, the first half was a bit of a slog as NSW came off ahead 12-8. The second half was a Queensland onslaught as they raced away to win 44-24. Criticism about a lack of fight was levelled at the Blues, and the coach was under fire too. 

Game 3: 52,000 crammed into Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. The Maroons were hot favourites but trailed 18-0 after 30 minutes. They came back to trail 8-18, but the swing was not sustained. NSW ran away with the game 30-12

Summary: Critical momentum swings were evident. The winners of each game had big second half swings in their favour. It's hard to say which side was better. At times, they outplayed each other, but not consistently so. The aggregate scores of 76-76 probably say it all.

History: Queensland has won 62% of the series, won 54% of the games and scored 53% of the points. NSW has won six of the last nine series. 

The game three highlight video is below:

SL Attendances: 2000-2025

The data to the right covers the average over the past twenty five years (2021 didn't take place). The 'Yrs' colum is the number of years clubs have been in the top flight. Most of the clubs that have been consistently present are toward the top of the list. 

The names in yellow signify those not currently in SL. York is absent although in SL for 2026 because it wasn't ever during the period considered here.

Leeds leads from Wigan, the two best supported clubs. Toronto did very well considering the sport is a novelty in Canada without any history of note. 

The Crusaders Club was founded in Bridgend, Wales as the Celtic Crusaders. They relocated to Wrexham as simply the Crusaders. They are now the North Wales Crusaders in the second division. 

London is very poor for the number of years they were in Super League. With new owners and likely readmission to SL, the hope is that average will improve. 

France Men's Elite 1: 2025-26

The eleven teams that make up the Elite 1 first division are listed below. The top six spots are sought after, as this determines who makes the finals/

The League: Carcassonne took the league title from Limoux and Pia. Avigon put behind itself a poor previous season to make the finals this year. St Estève-Catalan and Toulouse Olympique have teams playing in the European Super League and act as feeder clubs for them. 

The Finals: Albi and Avignon could hardly be separated in the league and again in the quarter final. It was more decisive in the other match with Limoux too strong for St Estève-Catalan.

Carcassonne and Pia joined the semi finals and their being the top sides in the league showed. Albi put up a brave fight against a much more fancied opponent, going down 12-35. I thought Limoux may have 

kept the score closer.

The two previous finals featured Carcassonne and Albi, Carcassonne won two years ago and Albi last year. Carcassonne was back to make up for the 2025 final loss with a different opponent. It was 12-12 at the break and 30-30 at full time. XIII Pia prevailed in a close and entertaining match. 

The video features the match. You will need to speed past the introduction to see the game and the commentary is in French. Well worth a look. 

France Women Elite 1: 2026

After extensive searching for historical information of the women's game in France, it became obvious that it has virtually zero recognition or interest. Had I been following year by year, I presume I'd have more information but posted, it doesn't remain long on the Internet. 

Cup Final: Lescure Arthes led 14-4 at half time and 20-4 with a quarter of the game remaining. Then St Estève Catalan made a stunning comeback but just fell short 20-18. 

League: To the right is the 2026 season. Only five sides competed, although the Elite 2 has seven teams. Why not six each? Regardless, each team plays the others twice.

The top two are evenly matched but the rest are some way below, the points difference indicating the gap. Limoux is straddles the two each side of it. 

Finals: In the semi finals, Lescure Arthes cruised into the final 60-0, The other game was a draw, with Limoux advancing due to outscoring St Estève Catalan 4-3 in tries. A novel way of deciding.

The Final: The semi final scores probably determined who was likely to win if not the league table. Lescure Arthes won 46-6 after leading 10-6 at the break. Full coverage of the game is below.  You may want to go past some extraneous content.

UK Women's Challenge Cup: 2026

The women's version is different to the men's. There were eleven teams participating and they played in four groups of three with one group with just two sides. Then it went to the quarter finals with only three teams dropping out. For the two team group, they both qualified, which I found odd.

It didn't make any difference as one team is head and shoulders above the rest of the teams. That is confirmed by the results below. In fact, depth is one thing the women's game in the UK is embarrassingly short of. All about a lack of funding for many clubs.

In the quarter finals, only Huddersfield put up any sort of resistance. In the semi finals, Leeds and Saints was a contest but Wign overran York. Saints won the final two years ago, defeating Leeds. Last year, Wigan won the trophy 42-6. The question was could Saints reverse that? 

Only a rabid Saint's apologist would have thought so. Wigan thrashed them 52-6 after leading 28-6 at the break. The highlights video is below. 

Photo: Wigan Warriors.

UK Men's Challenge Cup: 2026

Sixty seven teams over seven rounds. The last eight assembled for round five, all of the survivors being in the top Super League. The four winners I would have tipped to progress. The same could have been said in round six as cup holders Hull KR defended their title against twenty one times winner Wigan Warriors.

When these two sides met just over a week ago, KR put out a full strength side against a Wigan reserve team. KR cruised home 62-4. This time it was the best Wigan side.

Wigan came in at half time up 10-4 but looked in control. A momentum swing was required by Hull but it never came. Wigan ran away with the final 40-10. To see highlights, there is a video below.