IS Super League becoming unwatchable?

That might seem like a strange question for someone whose very career involves watching a lot of games to ask, but it is one that I am hearing with increasing regularity as games appear to be more stop-start than ever before.

Perhaps that has never been clearer than in the recent game between Bradford Bulls and Wakefield Trinity at Odsal.

That night, two hours and five minutes passed between kick-off and the final hooter. Let that sink in for a moment – 125 minutes, or 115 if you don’t count the half-time break, for an 80-minute match to be completed. That means there were 35 minutes of fans and players waiting around with the clock stopped. You could almost fit an entire other half into that time.

Contrast that with a Women’s Super League game I attended a few weeks earlier. With no video referees to call on and no Captain’s Challenges thrown in, I was back in my car and heading home less than two hours after kick-off, and that was after waiting to get a post-match interview with both coaches as well.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for video technology to ensure the game is officiated as accurately as possible. But it is perhaps getting to the point where change is needed to find a happier balance between that and fan enjoyment.

I don’t think anyone enjoys standing around watching the same replays over and over again on big screens that, let’s face it, aren’t exactly ultra-HD quality.

But that’s what seems to be expected of fans more and more often – be it through a Captain’s Challenge, or the video referee checking tries that have either been awarded or not.

Players have a shot clock to work to for certain plays within a game; maybe a similar time restriction should be brought in for the video referee. Allow them, say, 30 seconds to examine a couple of the best angles of the incident, and if no decision is clear, then go with the on-field referee’s original call.

It would be quick, it would cut out fan frustration, and it would keep the momentum of the game flowing.

I was at that Bradford v Wakefield game as a supporter, and there was one particular incident that highlighted a major flaw in the Captain’s Challenge initiative, and one which perhaps leaves the paying fans as the ones being short-changed.

During the first half, Wakefield lost possession, and the referee awarded a knock-on, which Trinity challenged, claiming a ball steal. All fairly straightforward – until, that is, Wakefield’s challenge was successful, yet Bradford still ended up with the ball.

There were certainly some confused faces around me at that point, and it doesn’t send out a great message that I only got a clear explanation about what happened the following day when I was talking to a colleague who had watched the game on Sky.

The TV viewers had the benefit of hearing the conversation between the officials, which confirmed that Wakefield hadn’t knocked on – hence the successful challenge – but it had been a one-on-one ball steal, leaving Bradford to retain possession.

Were the referees mic’d up in such a way, as they are in Premier League football, that the officials could relay their decisions to those in the crowd, some of those frustrations would surely be eased.

Personally, I am not a fan of the Captain’s Challenge – not just for the disruption and time delays that it causes, but because it puts so much of the spotlight on the referees and the mistakes they sometimes make. They’re only human, and we all make mistakes sometimes.

That is not what the game should be about; it should be about fast-flowing, end-to-end action that thrills the crowds. But if the crowds aren’t getting that because of endless stoppages, then they will start to drift away. And what is rugby league without its crowds? Nothing, that’s what.

One thing we must always remember, though, is that rugby league is just a game, and however much it frustrates us at times, we need to keep a bit of perspective.

Sadly, we have had more reminders this month that there are more important things than sport to think about, after the deaths of Scott Dureau and Dean Williams were announced.

Scott and Dean had very different involvements in the game, but will be missed equally throughout it by all who knew them.

Scott was an NRL and Super League star, who during his time in our competition helped the Catalans Dragons to reach the play-offs, was named in the Dream Team and was named the Albert Goldthorpe Medal winner in 2012 – an award that is handed out by our sister publication League Express to the most consistent player across the season.

My abiding memory of him will perhaps always be that last-second, touchline conversion of Daryl Millard’s try that capped a quite remarkable comeback win over St Helens in 2012.

Unfortunately, Scott finally succumbed to cancer after battling the disease for over a decade. He fought his illness with dignity throughout, and the thoughts of everyone here at Rugby League World go out to his wife Libby, daughters Imogen and Everly, and all who knew and loved him.

The same sentiments go out to the family, friends and colleagues of Dean, a friend and contributor to all our titles here at League Publications Ltd.

Admittedly, Dean’s name may not be as familiar as Scott’s to many of you, but if you’ve been to any Wakefield Trinity game over the last 12 years, you’ll no doubt have seen him on the sidelines with his camera in hand as the club photographer.

He was great at his craft and contributed many excellent images to this very publication, not just from Wakefield but elsewhere too, and will definitely be a huge loss to the sport.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 523 (August 2026)