Welcome to Super League: Beginner’s guide for 2025 as rugby league’s top flight competition enters 30th season | Rugby League News happymamay

The Premier League is entering its 30th season and of course it will be 12 months of celebration! Do you want to learn about this sport but are not sure where to start? Let us help you…

First things first: what is the Premier League?

Super League is the premier European rugby league competition. Starting in 1996, 11 clubs from the top flight of the Rugby Football League plus new team Paris Saint-Germain came together to kick off the summer rugby era and take the sport into a new era.

There have been 29 editions of the competition to date, and 2025 marks the Super League’s big 30th birthday.

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A look back at Wigan Warriors’ road to a second successive Premier League title as they won an unprecedented quadruple

So far, of the 24 clubs that have participated in the Premier League, Only four They won the grand final at the end of the year: Wigan Warriors (8), St Helens (9), Bradford Bulls (7), and Leeds Rhinos (8).

Talk about domination!

Previous grand final results

1998 Wigan Warriors 10-4 Leeds Rhinos
1999 St Helens 8-6 Bradford Bulls
2000 St Helens 29-16 Wigan Warriors
2001 Bradford Bulls 37-6 Wigan Warriors
2002 St Helens 19-18 Bradford Bulls
2003 Bradford Bulls 25-12 Wigan Warriors
2004 Leeds Rhinos 16-8 Bradford Bulls
2005 Bradford Bulls 15-6 Leeds Rhinos
2006 St Helens 26-4 Hull
2007 Leeds Rhinos 33-6 St Helens
2008 Leeds Rhinos 24-16 St Helens
2009 Leeds Rhinos 18 – 10 St Helens
2010 Wigan Warriors 22-10 St Helens
2011 Leeds Rhinos 32 – 16 St Helens
2012 Leeds Rhinos 26-18 Warrington Wolves
2013 Wigan Warriors 30-16 Warrington Wolves
2014 St Helens 14-6 Wigan Warriors
2015 Leeds Rhinos 22-20 Wigan Warriors
2016 Wigan Warriors 12-6 Warrington Wolves
2017 Leeds Rhinos 24-6 Castleford Tigers
2018 Wigan Warriors 12-4 Warrington Wolves
2019 St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils
2020 St Helens 8-4 Wigan Warriors
2021 St Helens 12-10 Catalonia Dragons
2022 St Helens 24-12 Leeds Rhinos
2023 Wigan Warriors 10-2 Catalonia Dragons

Put them on your side: What are the ground rules?

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Take a look at some exclusive footage as Wigan Warriors players, staff and fans celebrate their Super League Grand Final win over Hull KR at Old Trafford

Let’s put this sport in its simplest terms, shall we?

Rugby League is a 13 vs 13 code of rugby where each team gets six tackles for a scoring attempt before handing the ball over to the opposing team. The duration of the match is 80 minutes, divided into two halves of 40 minutes each.

Each team then has a bench of four players that can be rotated throughout the match.

Unlike football, the clock stops on injuries, penalties and attempts.

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Wigan Warriors lifted the Premier League trophy after defeating Hull KR in the grand final at Old Trafford

It’s worth trying Four pointswith subsequent additional conversion Two points. Penalty kicks are also worth it Two points. Dropping the target is worth an additional amount One point.

Among the 13 players, there are four main roles: forwards, full-backs, hookers and half-backs.

Strikers mainly focus on driving the ball forward and gaining as many meters as possible. Their backs appear to attack the edges. The hooker is there to control the play of the ball (when the player is tackled and the ball is distributed). The half-back controls the distribution of the ball.

In brief: 13 players have six chances to get on the field and cross the try line. Simple, right?

Fighting to win: How many teams are there?

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Check out the top five tries of the 2024 season for St Helens

Over the years, there have always been 12 clubs competing in the Premier League, and this is no different in 2025.

Castleford Tigers, Catalans Dragons, Huddersfield Giants, Hull FC, Hull KR, Leeds Rhinos, Leigh Leopards, Salford Red Devils, St Helens, Warrington Wolves, Wakefield Trinity and Wigan Warriors will compete in February to be crowned champions in October.

Premier League: Qualifying format

Week 1: The third against the sixth and the fourth against the fifth
Week 2: 1st versus the lowest ranked team on the left and 2nd versus the highest ranked team on the left
Week 3: Grand final

Over the years, there have been 12 other clubs who have had their chances in the top competition: London Broncos, Bradford Bulls, Widnes Vikings, Halifax Panthers, Sheffield Eagles, Crusaders, Oldham, Paris Saint-Germain, Gateshead Thunder, Workington Town and Toronto. Wolfpack and Toulouse Olympique.

Although it is often described as a northern England competition, the Premier League has certainly had some international reach!

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Check out Hull KR’s five best attempts in the 2024 season, which saw them reach the Grand Final for the first time

Knockout? Race for points? Premier League format..

The Premier League competition is almost a combination of a Premier League football and knockout format.

Therefore, the 12 teams compete across 27 rounds of the regular season, with the top six then qualifying for the playoffs.

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George Williams sent Warrington Wolves into the Premier League semi-finals with a stunning goal against St Helens.

From there, the top two teams have a week of rest, with the third-placed team playing sixth and the fourth-placed team playing fifth.

The lowest-ranked team from the play-offs will then play the regular season winners, also known as the League Leaders’ Shield winners, while the second-placed team will play the highest-ranked team still involved.

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Hull KR fans sing ‘A Little Respect’ ahead of their Premier League semi-final against Warrington Wolves

The winners of these two matches will then compete in the Grand Final to be crowned Premier League winners.

No landing?! Welcome to IMG Standards

Super League in the franchise era (sort of)!

Teams in the Premier League are not determined to be promoted or relegated from 2025 onwards. Instead, it will be the 12 teams that achieve the most points across a range of criteria, including fanbase, performance on the pitch, finances, stadium and community.

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John Wilkin gives his thoughts on Wakefield Trinity replacing the London Broncos in the Premier League next year after gaining top flight status as part of a restructuring of the sport.

The IMG rating system offers 20 points to clubs. To become a first division club, you need to achieve at least 15 points and to be a second division club, you need 7.5 points.

The idea is that top-flight clubs automatically enter the Premier League, with the best-performing second-tier clubs making up the rest of the 12 clubs in the competition.

As the ratings improve and one day there are more than a dozen top-flight clubs, the top league will then expand, as happens in franchise sports such as the NRL and NFL.

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Wigan Warriors’ Harry Smith and Liam Marshall take on Hull KR’s Jack Brown and Jack Broadbent in this nine-dart challenge.

Big boys vs. underdogs: Who’s the team to beat?

There is one team heading into 2025 with a huge target on their back: Wigan Warriors.

The Warriors absolutely dominated 2024, taking all four major trophies on offer: the Grand Final, World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup and League Leaders Shield.

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Joe Cullen is looking forward to arriving in Las Vegas to watch Wigan stars Liam Marshall and Harry Smith, who face Warrington Wolves at Allegiant Stadium in 2025.

The likes of St Helens, Warrington Wolves and grand final runners-up Hull KR will be among the teams looking to knock Wigan off their perch but Matt Peat’s side don’t look like they will slow down.

In other words, Wigan are having a “Manchester United under Fergie” moment, and everyone wants to stop them firmly in their tracks.

Premier League 2025 – key dates and what to look out for

March 1: Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves in Las Vegas
April 17-19: Round 8 – Contenders Round
May 3-4: Magic Tour (St James’ Park, Newcastle)
July 24: August 31 – Round 20 – Round split over two weekends
September 4-7: Round 25 – The Contenders Round match dates have been reversed
September 18-21: Round 27 – Final round of the regular season (dates and times TBD)
September 26-27: Playoffs
October 3-4: Semi-final
Saturday 11 October: Grand Final (Old Trafford)

Sky Sports Every Premier League match will once again be shown live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches shown each week on Sky Sports+.

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