We’re past the halfway point, and we’ve seen how the 25th Super League season is taking shape.
So in the style of a school head, I reckon it’s time to give you my half-term report and marks out of ten for each of the twelve clubs.
ST HELENS continue to set the benchmark as they aim to win the title for the fourth season running, which would be the first time it has been done since the switch to summer.
Having matched Leeds’ run of 2007 to 2009, they certainly have the wherewithal to succeed in their mission, but they still have that slightly arrogant habit of turning the tap on and off.
It’s all about timing, and Kristian Woolf must take sure he gets it right, because there are enough teams capable of exploiting any slip-ups. 8.
CATALANS DRAGONS are a very able side, with a nice mix of power and prowess, and while they are up there challenging, I don’t think they’ve hit their straps.
They weren’t far off Saints in last season’s Grand Final, and with that experience under their belt, if Steve McNamara can coax more consistency for his team, they could be capable of challenging even more strongly. 8.
WIGAN WARRIORS have been the standout side for me so far this season.
It was the Cherry and Whites who ended Leeds’ hopes of four on the spin by beating them in the play-offs back in 2010, when they went on to beat Saints in the Grand Final, and their Challenge Cup triumph underlined the danger they pose to their rivals this year.
Well done to Matty Peet, Lee Briers and Sean O’Loughlin, who fully deserves his OBE – welcome to the club, my friend! – because they have produced not just a winning team, but an entertaining one too.
The three of them are certainly getting more out of John Bateman, Liam Farrell is having a great season, and Harry Smith is pushing his claims for a place in England’s World Cup team. 9.
HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS put on a great show in the Challenge Cup final, and fair play to Ian Watson, who went into this season under pressure to produce and has responded positively.
My old club have shown they can cut it with the big boys, they have a deep squad, and if they can regroup after the high disappointment of Tottenham, they should make the play-offs with comfort. 8.
HULL FC have been so up and down. I’m not sure even Brett Hodgson knows his best team.
If they are to be in with a shout of making a genuine bid to reach a first Grand Final in 16 years, the coach must sort out that halfback partnership between Josh Reynolds and Luke Gale.
And Luke really needs to stop getting banned so he can do what he was brought in to do. 7.
CASTLEFORD TIGERS have recovered from a distinctly dodgy start to the season, which had Lee Radford’s critics baying for blood.
They have taken a few decent scalps, and in Joe Westerman, possess one of the best performers in Super League this season.
But while the former Wakefield man has proved capable of churning out good performances on a regular basis, his team hasn’t, and they will need to address that if they are to make the play-offs. 7.
HULL KR have had a strange old first half of the campaign. They’ve been very good, very ordinary and very bad.
Matching last season’s memorable run to the play-off semi-finals was always going to take some doing, and with the Tony Smith to leave at the end of the season scenario thrown into the mix, it’s become even harder.
We know Willie Peters is coming in as coach next season, but we’re far less sure what note Tony will leave on. Hopefully it’s a good one, because he’s someone I both respect and admire. 6.
WARRINGTON WOLVES are obviously hoping Daryl Powell will be the man to end their long wait for a league title, and he might yet be, but while I wouldn’t write off a team with so much talent in the ranks, it’s hard to see it happening this season.
While he’ll undoubtedly be working overtime to embed his philosophies and playing style, the message seems to be taking a while to get through, and he’s already started changing the squad, which could have quite a different look in 2023. 2.
SALFORD RED DEVILS have had a tricky few years with the departure of a highly-successful coach in Ian Watson and a short reign for his successor Ricard Marshall.
Paul Rowley isn’t doing a bad job, and along with the wins achieved so far, pushing both Saints and Wigan close suggested they shouldn’t be dragged into a survival scrap.
With suggestions of new investment in the club, there are reasons for fans to be optimistic. 6.
LEEDS RHINOS remain well off the level their supporters expect and demand.
It was a shocking start to the season, leading to a change of coach, and Richard Agar’s successor Rohan Smith has it all to do to win round the faithful.
As a former player and now fan, I desperately want to see the club become successful once again, but there’s a big gap to be closed, which, to be fair, they started to do in Friday night’s great win at Warrington. 6.
WAKEFIELD TRINITY must be worried, because they are in a perilous position and have the only team below them in the table breathing down their neck.
With the long-overdue redevelopment of their ground set to start, they can ill afford to go down to the Championship.
I can see Willie Poching’s side pulling off the odd victory, but they have they got the quality to go on decent winning run? 4.
TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE certainly made life hard for themselves by not recruiting more ambitiously following promotion, then falling out with two of their top players, Mark Kheirallah and Johnathon Ford.
Both those two are now members of a Featherstone side who could swap places with Toulouse at the end of the season, but it’s far from cut and dried that (a) Rovers come up and (b) the French side go down, because there are definite signs of progress. 5.
My Round 15 predictions
Looking ahead to round 15, I don’t see any of the games providing an unexpected result ahead of the international break.
Huddersfield should have the edge in their home derby against Leeds, and I’m tipping them to win by ten, while over the Pennines on Friday, I think Salford will give Wigan a good game but lose out by six.
The battle of the packs will be crucial in Perpignan on Saturday, with Catalans Dragons beating Hull by 14.
And in Sunday’s three showdowns, I’m going Castleford by seven at Toulouse, St Helens by 36 at home to Hull KR and Warrington, even allowing for that dire display against Leeds on Friday, by ten at Wakefield.
And of course it’s Origin on Wednesday, and I’m really looking forward to seeing Brad Fittler’s Blues and a young Maroons side now coached by Billy Slater rip into each other in Sydney.
The game signals the start of the Kangaroos’ build-up to the World Cup, and while it will be tight, I believe New South Wales will seal a seven-point success in game one.
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