THERE have certainly been plenty of hot topics to discuss this year.
The ongoing financial crisis at Salford and the planned league restructure have dominated headlines, but here Rugby League World looks back at six events that got people talking – sometimes for the right reasons, but not always.
WIGAN V BEAUMONT
FEW games have ever had as bizarre a build up as this season’s Wigan v Leigh play-off semi-final.
On Wednesday, 1st October Wigan released a statement claiming Leigh owner Derek Beaumont had contacted the club and informed them that his team would not fulfil the fixture that weekend due to a dispute over the number of tickets available to Leopards supporters.
Beaumont then released his own lengthy statement criticising Wigan for their actions in releasing details of a private conversation, without actually saying if his team would play or not.
The game went ahead with Wigan winning 18-6.
WHAT AN ENDING!
PLAY-OFF rugby often produces single moments of something special, but it’s not often that two separate incidents in the same game get tongues wagging.
Saints pulled their way back into their semi-final against Leeds through a controversial Jon Bennison try five minutes from time that was wrongly awarded after being short of the line.
That was talking point enough, but then Saints kept the ball alive on the last and in quite a sensational passage of play worked the ball left to Shane Wright to win it at the death.
Rugby league at its very best.
SINEAD PEACH SEES RED
WE’VE all heard about players getting sent off for dissent, but rarely to we actually find out what was said to the match official that warranted the red card.
And maybe it’s a good thing, because when referee Oliver Salmon repeated Sinead Peach’s “Which one are you s****ing?” comment during a St Helens v York Valkyrie game the clip went viral, reached audiences across the globe and had people talking for all the wrong reasons.
Peach was later landed with a four match ban for unacceptable language/questioning the integrity of a match official and will miss the opening stages of 2026.
OPENING NIGHT MADNESS
THE Super League season certainly started with a bang with Wigan hosting neighbours Leigh Leopards in the opening game of the season.
The legendary Michael Buffer opened the game with his famous ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’ catchphrase as Wigan geared up for their trip to Vegas, and the two sides lived up to that call, playing out a tough game of big hits, but no scores.
For the first time in Super League history a game ended 0-0, before a Gareth O’Brien golden point drop goal saw the Leopards claim an historic 1-0 win.
ENGLAND LOSE IN VEGAS
THE least said about England Women’s involvement at the Las Vegas event in March the better.
Stuart Barrow’s side made the trip confident of giving the Australian Jillaroos a competitive game, but instead they were outmatched in almost every department and went down to a 90-4 defeat.
Questions were inevitably asked about the performance, the result and what it meant for the future of the game in the UK – all perfectly acceptable in sport. But what wasn’t acceptable was the level of personal abuse a number of players received on social media following the game.
ARISE, SIR BILLY BOSTON
AFTER a 130-year wait, rugby league finally has its first Knight, with Wigan legend Billy Boston receiving the prestigious honour from King Charles III back in June.
90-year-old Boston is one of the greatest stars of to ever play the game and became a trailblazer for black sports stars when he moved from his native Wales to play for Wigan and Great Britain in the 1950s and 1960s.
Few can deny that Boston is a worthy recipient of such an honour, and the reception he gets whenever he is shown on the big screen during a Wigan game always brings a smile to his face, as well as that of everyone watching on.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 514 (November 2025)