RESULTS: 2022 Betfred Super League Round 1

Round 1 is done and dusted for the Super League - get a wrap of the action here!

All match reports courtesy of Andrew Ferguson

All listed times are AEDT (NSW/VIC/ACT).

RELATED: See the full list of 2022 Betfred Super League Draw and Results.

Sparks fly in season opener

A pair of yellow cards and a red card dominated the post match discussion of this Grand Final rematch. Gil Dudson was sin binned in the opening tackle of the season which resulted in a brawl, yet despite being down a player, the Catalans Dragons were the first team to score when Fouad Yaha crossed shortly after Dudson returned to the field, courtesy of a well placed crossfield kick by Josh Drinkwater. Sam Tomkins converted.

St Helens equalised in the 22nd minute when Tommy Makinson was on the receiving end of a lovely cut-out pass from Sione Mata'utia. Lewis Dodd failed to convert.

Saints crossed again just four minutes later when Konrad Hurrell made one of his trademark bustling runs before getting an offload away to James Roby who scored to give St Helens the lead. Dodd again failed to convert.

Dodd though did post points just shortly after when he executed a wonderful chip and chase to score, however he again failed to convert.

With three minutes remaining in the half, Saints extended their lead even further when Makinson bagged his second try of the match courtesy of a lovely cut-out pass from Jonny Lomax. Dodd again failed to convert, however just before halftime, he and Tomkins both landed a penalty goal apiece to give the Saints an 18-8 lead at halftime.

Both sides were defensively strong in the second half, with another Dodd penalty goal the only scoring play up until Dylan Napa got sent off for a high tackle in the 71st minute. Morgan Knowles was also sent to the sin bin for his reaction and despite it still being 12  v 12, Saints lifted another gear, running in tries to Joey Lussick, who dived over from dummy half, and Hurrell, who performed a strip on Yaha before scoring to come home with a 28-8 win.

St Helens 28 Catalans Dragons 8

Venue: Totally Wicked Stadium
Crowd: 13106
Date: Friday 11 February 2022 at 7:00am

St Helens (28)
Tries: Joey Lussick, Tommy Makinson 2, Lewis Dodd, James Roby, Konrad Hurrell
Goals: Lewis Dodd 2

Catalans Dragons (8)
Tries: Fouad Yaha
Goals: Sam Tomkins 2

Sneyd boots Salford home

Salford halfback Marc Sneyd produced a perfect goalkicking display, landing 7 goals from as many attempts to help lead his side to a 10 point win over the Tigers. Both sides bagged 3 tries each, but while Sneyd landed 7 goals, Castleford's goalkicker Danny Richardson only managed to land 2 goals.

Salford opened the scoring courtesy of a penalty goal to Sneyd, before Castleford snared the opening try of the game, when Paul McShane's deft grubber was collected by prop George Griffin who scored. Richardson converted. 

A Joe Burgess break five minutes laid the perfect platform for Tim Lafai to send Ken Sio over for a try, which Sneyd converted.

Just 6 minutes later and the Tigers regained the lead when Mahe Fonua got a good ball to Derrell Olpherts who scored. Richardson failed to add the extras.

In the 36th minute bench forward King Vuniyayawa barged over for a powerful try which Sneyd converted and just before the halftime siren sounded, and with Castleford down to 12 men after Bureta Faraimo was sent to the sin bin, Deon Cross scored a spectacular length of the field try, which started by another great run by Burgess from the restart. Sneyd again converted and at halftime Salford led 20-10.

Scoring was much tougher in the second half and just before Faraimo returned to the field, Olpherts powered over the line to score his second try for the game. Richardson landed the sideline conversion brilliantly, reducing the deficit to 4 points.

But Sneyd landed 3 successive penalty goals in the 56th, 58th and 72nd minute to help the Reds skip away to a comfortable first up victory.

Castleford Tigers 16 Salford Red Devils 26

Venue: Mend-A-Hose Jungle
Crowd: 10500
Date: Saturday 12 February 2022 at 7:00am

Castleford Tigers (16)
Tries: Derrell Olpherts 2, George Griffin
Goals: Danny Richardson 2

Salford Red Devils (26)
Tries: Deon Cross, King Vuniyayawa, Ken Sio
Goals: Marc Sneyd 7

Wigan sloppy but victorious against Rovers

Wigan got their campaign underway with a solid first up victory against a disappointing Hull KR side. The Warriors were up 18-4 at halftime despite gifting their opponents plenty of opportunities.

Wigan scored first in just the ninth minute when Sam Wood dropped a bomb and Jake Bibby was on the spot to clean up the loose ball and score. Jai Field converted.

Hull KR hit back in the 18th minute when Mikey Lewis threw a good dummy, which opened up the Wigan defence, which he shot through before racing away to score a very good try. Jordan Abdull failed to convert.

Wigan extended their lead in the 26th minute when a clever early kick by Cade Cust, off the back of a scrum, caught the Rovers defence out, as they were all up in the defensive line. Jai Field raced downfield, collected the ball uncontested and raced away to score a good try. Field failed to convert.

Liam Marshall scored a length of the field try in the 34th minute when a Jordan Abdull kick to Wigan's left corner was taken cleanly by Bibby, who then linked with Marshall and the winger went the full diatnce to score a scintillating try. Field again unable to add the extras.

Just two minutes shy of halftime the Warriors, Wood, who had been peppered with kicks all night and struggled, dropped another which Bibby cleaned up near the Rovers line and he scored. Field was once again unsuccessful with the shot at goal.

The second half saw both sides struggle with both discipline and ball control, highlighted by the fact that both sides could only manage a try each.

Wigan's defence denied Hull KR of two tries after the break before Marshall snared his second try of the game in the corner which was converted by Zak Hardaker in the 61st minute.

Hull KR needed a fightback but it didn't start early enough when Matt Parcell dived over to score in the 74th minute, which Abdull converted.

Hull Kingston Rovers 10 Wigan Warriors 24

Venue: Sewell Group Craven Park
Crowd: 9044
Date: Saturday 12 February 2022 at 7:00am

Hull Kingston Rovers (10)
Tries: Mikey Lewis, Matt Parcell
Goals: Jordan Abdull 1

Wigan Warriors (24)
Tries: Liam Marshall 2, Jake Bibby 2, Jai Field
Goals: Zak Hardaker 1, Jai Field 1

Wolves late comeback sinks Rhinos

The Warrington Wolves escaped with a narrow 2 point victory over a Leeds Rhinos side who played for 55 minutes with 12 men and 10 minutes with just 11.

Leeds were in command from the outset but it was Warrington who scored first in the 11th minute courtesy of a great ball from Connor Wrench to winger Matty Ashton, who found space before  linking with Gareth Widdop who scored a good try. Stefan Ratchford failed to convert.

Leeds then lost halfback Richie Myler to injury before James Bentley was sent off for an ugly high shot on Widdop in the 15th minute. However it didn't deter the Rhinos, who scored next when Brad Dwyer, close to the line, put Zane Tetavno over for a strong try with a nice short ball. Rhyse Martin converted to give the Rhinos the lead.

Just 4 minutes later Matt Prior, playing in his 300th club game across the NRL and Superleague, barged over off a crash ball to score. Martin again added the extras to give Leeds a 12-4 lead.

In the 33rd minute, Dwyer was sent to the sin bin for pushing Widdop after he had passed the ball, reducing the Rhinos to just 11.

Five minutes later, George Williams sent the ball right to Matt Davies who recognised that Leeds were short on numbers. Davies passed to Holmes who then got a ball to Josh Charnely which resulted in an easy try for the winger. Stefan Ratchford converted, reducing the Wolves deficit to just 2 points at halftime.

Three minutes after play resumed, Kruise Leeming put in a crafty kick which found Ash Handley who scored a good try. Martin converted from touch.

10 minutes into the second half Olly Holmes was given ten in the bin for a high tackle on James Donaldson. Martin kicked a penalty goal to give Leeds a 10 point lead.

Despite both sides being down to 12 men, neither could trouble the scoreboard. It wasn't until Holmes returned and the Wolves had the extra man, were they able to take control of the game.

The Wolves fightback began in the 66th minute when Ratchford delivred a brilliant cut-out ball to Charnley who scored his second try of the game. Ratchford converted to reduce the deficit to just 4 points.

Ratchford then got a good ball to Connor Wrench, who hit a gap and dived over to score in the 73rd minute. Ratchford converted to give Warrington the lead and ultimately the win.

Leeds Rhinos 20 Warrington Wolves 22

Venue: Emerald Headingley Stadium
Crowd: 14135
Date: Saturday 12 February 2022 at 11:30pm

Leeds Rhinos (20)
Tries: Ash Handley, Matt Prior, Zane Tetevano
Goals: Rhyse Martin 4

Warrington Wolves (22)
Tries: Connor Wrench, Josh Charnley 2, Gareth Widdop
Goals: Stefan Ratchford 3

Giants score big in Southern France

Toulouse made the perfect start to their first ever appearance in Super League, jumping out to a 10 nil lead, but Huddersfield piled on 42 points in 55 minutes to swamp the newcomers.

The game was just 2 minutes old when the scoreboard attendant was sparked into action when Matty Russell scooped up a brilliant Junior Vaivai offload to score in the left corner. Chris Hankinson failed to convert from touch in the trying conditions.

A Tui Lolohea handling error in the 17th minute put Toulouse on the attack and at the end of the ensuing set, Tony Gigot put up a bomb which Ilias Bergal caught before scoring in the right corner. Hankinson nailed the sideline conversion with a great kick.

Then the points started to roll in for the Giants. Luke Yates barged over for a try in the 25th minute to open their account, which was converted by Oliver Russell. Ten minutes later and Yates was again involved, this time linking with Innes Senior, who scored out wide to level the scores 5 minutes shy of halftime.

Jake Wardle had a try disallowed shortly after but Louis Senior wasn't to be denied when he crossed for a try right on halftime, which Russell converted.

Wardle wasn't to be denied a second time around when he broke through the Touolouse defensive line in the 47th minute to score a good try, which Russell converted. The Huddersfield attack was unrelenting and shortly after, Josh Jones very nearly extended the scores further, but he was ruled to have been held up over the line.

Russell landed a penalty goal in the 57th minute and then camped themselves in the Toulouse half as they earnt a bunch of repeat sets. The defensive workload took its toll on the rookie French side and Huddersfield ran in three more tries to Wardle in the 65th minute, Chris McQueen in the 69th and Olly Ashall-Bott 3 minutes before fulltime, all of which were converted by Russell.

Toulouse centre Guy Armitage scored a consolation try in the final minute of the game which Hankinson failed to convert.

Toulouse Olympique XIII 14 Huddersfield Giants 42

Venue: Stade Ernest-Wallon
Crowd: 5238
Date: Sunday 13 February 2022 at 6:00am

Toulouse Olympique XIII (14)
Tries: Ilias Bergal, Matty Russell, Guy Armitage
Goals: Chris Hankinson 1

Huddersfield Giants (42)
Tries: Oliver Ashall-Bott, Chris McQueen, Jake Wardle 2, Louis Senior, Innes Senior, Luke Yates
Goals: Olly Russell 6, Leroy Cudjoe 1

Gale Shines as Hull denies Wakefield

The black and whites looked to be in complete control of their opening round clash with Trinity up until Jake Connor was sent off for a high tackle which gave the home side an opportunity to stage a comeback.

Despite showing stubborn defence to start the game, Wakefield eventually cracked in the 12th minute when Connor Wynne made a break down the left sideline before passing back inside to half Luke Gale who raced away to score a good try. Gale then converted his own try.

A Jake Connor handling error in the 37th minute saw Tom Johnstone swoop on the loose ball and then race 50 metres before he was tackled. From the next play, Trinity went left and Corey Hall scored. Max Jowitt nailed the conversion to level the scores at 6 all at halftime.

Hull regained the lead just 2 minutes after halftime when Joe Lovodua dummied and then exploded through a huge gap, to skip away and score a brilliant solo try. Gale added the extras.

In the 50th minute Hull crossed again and it looked like they were about to run away with the game, when Darnell McIntosh barged over out wide for a strong try. Gale was unable to convert from out wide, keeping Hull's lead to 10 points.

With 14 minutes remaining in the game, Jake Connor was sent off by referee Marcus Griffiths for a high tackle on Lee Gaskell. Just three minutes later, Wakefield scored courtesy of a try to Tom Johnstone who dived over in the corner. Jowitt nailed the tricky conversion to reduce the margin to just 4 points.

The final 10 minutes were gripping, however Hull managed to bravely hold on to get the victory.

Wakefield Trinity 12 Hull FC 16

Venue: Be Well Support Stadium
Crowd: 6418
Date: Monday 14 February 2022 at 2:00am

Wakefield Trinity (12)
Tries: Corey Hall, Tom Johnstone
Goals: Max Jowitt 2

Hull FC (16)
Tries: Luke Gale, Joe Lovodua, Darnell McIntosh
Goals: Luke Gale 2

Ladder after Round 1

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