WRAP: 2024 Betfred Super League Round 13

A full wrap of Round 13 Super League thanks to the combined genius of Rob McHugh and our friends at Rugby League Project.

All listed times are venue local (UK time).

RELATED: See the full list of 2024 Betfred Super League Draw and Results.

Huddersfield Giants 24 Hull FC 18
Venue: John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield

Date: Fri, 31st May.   Kickoff: 7:45 PM.   Halftime: Huddersfield 14-6.   Penalties: 4-all.   Referee: Ben Thaler.   Crowd: 4,102.

Huddersfield: Lolohea, Bibby, Marsters, Naiqama, Halsall; Russell, Clune; Hill, Deakin, Yates (C), Rushton, Hewitt, Cudjoe. Int: Golding, Wilson, Ikahihifo, Connor.
Hull FC: Moy, Barron, Scott, Sutcliffe, Briscoe; Trueman, Reynolds; Ese'ese, Houghton (C), Sao, Lane, Chan, Aydin. Int: Fash, Ashworth, Smith, Litten.

Huddersfield Giants (24)
Tries: Jake Bibby 2, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Sam Halsall
Goals: Oliver Russell 4/6

Hull FC (18)
Tries: Herman Ese'ese, Cameron Scott, Logan Moy
Goals: Ben Reynolds 3/3

Round 13 in Super League got underway with two Friday night games, including a battle between two of the league's struggling sides. Hull FC succumbed to an eleventh consecutive defeat, going down 24-18 to a Huddersfield Giants side who are desperately clinging on to their slender play-off hopes. 

Huddersfield coach, Ian Watson, came under severe criticism after last week's defeat against Leigh and was forced to defend his record with the Giants. However, this result and, more importantly, performance, will have done little to assuage the doubters. 

For Hull FC, it represents an improvement on the ritual humiliations they experienced earlier in the season, but it was another game where they only really started to play once their opponent had one eye on the post-match showers.

Huddersfield only needed 9 minutes to take a lead as Jake Bibby went over to open the scoring. A good pass from Adam Clune was tipped on by Kevin Naiqama and into the hands of Bibby. Bibby headed for the corner before stepping inside at the last moment to evade the covering defence to score. Olly Russell was on target with the conversion as the Giants took a 6-0 lead.

Hulking prop, Seb Ikahihifo, was the next to cross the line for the Giants as they stretched their lead. Tui Lolohea set off towards the posts 10 metres out, before passing on to Leroy Cudjoe, whose crash ball found Ikahihifo to go over from close range. Russell was again on target to stretch the Giants' lead by six points. 

However, the next score came for the Black and Whites, as Herman Ese'ese, fresh from being cleared of an allegation of verbal abuse, pegged the Giants back in the 34th minute.

Ese'ese received the ball under the sticks from Ben Reynolds and barged through three Huddersfield defenders to score. The extras were added by Reynolds, however, a penalty on the stroke of half-time from Russell meant the Giants went into the sheds with a 14-6 lead. The Giants again struck first in the second half, and it was again Bibby who scored a simple try in the corner, after good hands from Lolohea. Lolohea was again involved in the next try. This time, working the ball to Esan Marsters on the left side, who passed to Sam Halsall to score in the other corner. Russell missed both kicks, however, to give FC a glimmer of hope, with the scoreline at 22-6.

Russell added another penalty after 70 minutes, to extend the Giants' lead, but then Hull found some fight. First, a brilliant offload from Ligi Sao found young full-back, Logan Moy, to score from close range. Then Cameron Scott broke away after Huddersfield failed to deal with a Ben Reynolds kick-through on halfway to give the Giants some late jitters. 

Reynolds kicked both conversions to reduce the deficit to just six points, however, as the final score came in the 78th minute, FC ran out of time to really worry the Giants. The win keeps Huddersfield in touch with the top six, four points behind Salford Red Devils with six wins from their opening 13. Hull FC will struggle to challenge Castleford, who are currently five points ahead in 10th place. FC face a huge task to avoid the wooden spoon. 

St Helens 24 Catalans Dragons 12
Venue: Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens

Date: Fri, 31st May.   Kickoff: 8:00 PM.   Halftime: 6-all.   Penalties: St Helens 4-2.   Referee: Aaron Moore.   Crowd: 11,088.

St Helens: Welsby (C), Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Blake; Mbye, Dodd; Delaney, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Mata'utia, Bell. Int: Paasi, Davies, Royle, Stephens.
Catalans: Rougé, Davies, Ikuvalu, Laguerre, Johnstone; Fages, Abdull; Navarrete, Mourgue, Dezaria, Sims, Bousquet, Garcia (C). Int: Nikorima, Satae, Castano, Maria.

St Helens (24)
Tries: Thomas Makinson, Konrad Hurrell, Sione Mata'utia, Matty Lees
Goals: Mark Percival 4/4

Catalans Dragons (12)
Tries: Julian Bousquet, Tom Johnstone
Goals: Arthur Mourgue 2/2

Two of Super League's leading pack met at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Friday, hoping to strike a decisive blow in the race for the top spot. St Helens came out on top in a pulsating contest, which proved to be the archetypal game of two halves.

Catalans dominated the opening proceedings, but were unable to capitalise on their field position, leaving the door open for Saints to pinch the game.

After spending the first 10 minutes effectively camped in the Saints half, Catalans opened the scoring in the 11th minute, through Wakefield-bound, Tom Johnstone. Johnstone has not quite rediscovered his best form this season in a misfiring Catalans attack. However, he was on hand to finish a flowing move from right to left, gratefully collecting a Jordan Abdull kick-through to touch down in the left-hand corner. Mourgue kicked the extras, with both him and Percival converting every try, to give Les Dracs a 6-0 lead. 

However, powerhouse centre, Konrad Hurrell pegged them back on the half-hour mark, to bring Saints back to parity. After good hands from the Saints moved the ball from left to right, Welsby offloaded inches from the ground to Hurrell, who ran in unopposed to score. Franck Maria was sin-binned for a high shot in the 35th minute, however, neither side added to the score as they went in level at half-time. 

But, with Maria still off the field, Saints took full advantage after the break, as Sione Mata'utia went over after two minutes in the second half. Dodd kicked to the corner and somehow managed to get to his own kick before Catalans full back, Cesar Rogue. Dodd batted the ball back to Mata'utia who scored an easy try.

At this point, Saints had the bit between their teeth and it wasn't long before they had extended their lead further. Moses Mbye found the man of the match, Jack Welsby, who broke the Catalans' line. Faced with just Rogue, he passed the ball out to Tommy Makinson, who way well be a Catalans player next year, to score in the corner in the 48th minute.  

Saints effectively put the game to bed in the 65th minute thanks to a try from prop, Matty Lees. Daryl Clark played the ball two yards out, under the posts, and dabbed in goal. Lees was quickest to react and scored the Saints' fourth of the night, and his first of the season.  

Catalans' Julian Bousquet barged over in the 74th minute to cause some nerves for the Saints, however, it was too late for them to set up a grandstand finish. The win keeps Saints on top of the table on 20 points, with only points difference separating them from the Wigan Warriors. Back-to-back defeats mean Catalans drop four points behind Saints and Wigan, into fifth place on 16 points. They are now closer to seventh than the top.

Warrington Wolves 18 Wigan Warriors 19
Venue: Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington

Date: Sat, 1st June.   Kickoff: 3:00 PM.   Halftime: Wigan 19-12.   Penalties: Warrington 9-4.   Referee: Jack Smith.   Crowd: 12,181.

Warrington: Taylor-Wray, Lindop, Wrench, Tai, Thewlis; Ratchford (C), Drinkwater; Bullock, Powell, Wood, Holroyd, Tupaea, Whitehead. Int: Musgrove, Green, Nicholson, Hartill.
Wigan: Hampshire, Douglas, Keighran, Eckersley, Marshall; French (C), Smith; Havard, O'Neill, Byrne, Nsemba, Walters, Ellis. Int: Mago, Leeming, Dupree, Hill.

Warrington Wolves (18)
Tries: Stefan Ratchford, Josh Drinkwater, Arron Lindop
Goals: Stefan Ratchford 3/4

Wigan Warriors (19)
Tries: Kruise Leeming, Liam Marshall, Junior Nsemba
Goals: Adam Keighran 3/3
Field Goals: Harry Smith 1

The marquee fixture of the round, and a dry run of next weekend's Challenge Cup final, did not disappoint, as the two sides produced a thrilling encounter to whet the appetite for next weekend.

A much-changed Warrington squad, featuring nine changes from the previous weekend, and four debutants, nearly produced a huge shock against a relatively strong Wigan side. Wigan coach, Matt Peet, may live to regret not rotating his side, as Adam Keighran was sent off, meaning he now risks a ban for the final.

The young Warrington side raced into an early lead in the game. After Stefan Ratchford, one of the few experienced Warrington players on show, kicked an early penalty, debutant Arron Lindop went over for the game's opening try. Centre, Lindon, latched onto a clever kick from Josh Drinkwater to touch down near the left touchline. Ratchford missed the kick, which meant that Warrington led 6-0.

They soon extended their lead, with Drinkwater turning from creator to scorer. Wigan will question their defence for the try, as Drinkwater's kicked through and hit the padding on the post. Nobody seemed to react to the bounce of the ball, and Drinkwater was able to jog through to score from his own kick. Ratchford made no mistake this time, as Warrington took an unexpected 12-0 lead.

But Wigan soon roared back, and Drinkwater was involved again. This time, though, he was being brushed aside by Wigan's rising star, Junior Nsemba. Nsemba ran through Drinkwater like he wasn't there to get Wigan's first score. On current form, it won't before he is attracting the attention the England selectors, and possibly suitors in the NRL.

Nine minutes later, Wigan were level. Harry Smith sent a brilliant looping pass over the top of the Warrington defence into the arms of prolific winger, Liam Marshall. There is no stopping Marshall from that range, and he produced an acrobatic finish in the corner, which Keighran brilliantly converted from the touchline.

Wigan were soon in the lead, thanks to the dynamic combination of Bevan French and Kruise Leeming. Smith found French, who burst through a gap in the retreating Warrington line on halfway. 

French then passed back inside, unselfishly, with the full-back committed for Leeming to race over from 20 metres out after 34 minutes. Crucially, the scoring was not quite complete for the half, as Smith added a one-pointer on the stroke of half-time, which would prove to be the winning point. 

The second half was a tense exchange, with neither side able to break through the other's defence. That is until Keighran received his red card in the 69th minute. Lindop took the ball into contact, and as he was being tackled by Nsemba, Keighran's shoulder made contact with his head. 

The referee deemed that there was insufficient mitigation, as Keighran had not attempted to wrap his arm and issued a straight red. Keighran now faces a nervy wait to see whether the Match Review Panel issues him with a suspension which would rule him out of Wigan's date at Wembley.

Stefan Ratchford's late try narrowed the scoreline to a one-point margin, however, Wigan were able to hold on for the narrowest of wins. Despite the defeat, Warrington have arguably drawn first blood in the psychological contest, with their young side pushing Wigan to the wire. Whatever happens, it sets the Challenge Cup final up beautifully.

Leeds Rhinos 32 Castleford Tigers 4
Venue: AMT Headingley Stadium, Leeds

Date: Sat, 1st June.   Kickoff: 5:30 PM.   Halftime: Leeds 14-0.   Penalties: Castleford 6-5.   Referee: Chris Kendall.   Crowd: 14,529.

Leeds: Miller, Edgell, Newman, Momirovski, Handley; Croft, Frawley; Oledzki, O'Connor, Goudemand, McDonnell, Martin, Smith (C). Int: Lisone, Sangaré, Johnson, Nicholson-Watton.
Castleford: Hoy, Qareqare, Hall, Wood, Senior; Milnes, Miller; Griffin, Horne, Hall, Mellor, El-Zakhem, Westerman. Int: Watts, Putt, Namo, Robb.

Leeds Rhinos (32)
Tries: Rhyse Martin 2, Ash Handley, Brodie Croft, Matt Frawley
Goals: Rhyse Martin 6/6

Castleford Tigers (4)
Tries: Elie El-Zakhem

Leeds Rhinos got their season back on track with a comfortable win over Castleford Tigers. In truth, the 28-point margin of victory flattered the Tigers somewhat, with the Rhinos wasting a number of good opportunities to extend their lead further. 

It only took Leeds 10 minutes to open the scoring, and they had already had a try disallowed before that. Ash Handley touched down in the left-hand corner, after a slick set play from the base of a scrum 10 metres out. Leeds' spine of Matt Frawley, Brodie Croft and Lachie Miller finally clicked, with all three playing a part in the move. Rhyse Martin, who was flawless with the boot-kicking five from five, added the extras. 

Brodie Croft was next to score for the Rhinos, crossing the line after 23 minutes. Croft showed right, then stepped left, before throwing a dummy to score a brilliant solo try under the posts and put the Rhinos further ahead. Rhyse Martin added a penalty for Leeds before half time to give them a deserved 14-0 lead, that could have been bigger.

Frawley, who has received some criticism for his performances this season, crossed for the first Leeds try of the second half. Receiving the ball on the left-hand side, he dummied and powered over the line to score in the 42nd minute. Rhyse Martin then grabbed the first of his two tries, crashing onto a short ball from Frawley to score from close range.

Elie El-Zakhem crossed for the Tigers to temporarily reduce the deficit and spoil Leeds' clean sheet, but there was never any sustained hope of a Castleford fightback. Martin completed the scoring for Leeds, running a brilliant line to a pass from Croft, bursting through the Tigers' defence on halfway and scoring a fantastic try.

Leeds now have a forgiving run of fixtures which can help them push back towards the top six, assuming they are able to take advantage. Castleford are stuck in no man's land, better than the bottom two, but way off the top six.

Hull KR 12 Leigh Leopards 0
Venue: Sewell Group Craven Park, Hull

Date: Sat, 1st June.   Kickoff: 5:30 PM.   Halftime: Hull KR 6-0.   Penalties: Leigh 7-3.   Referee: Liam Moore.   

Hull KR: Evalds, Broadbent, Hiku, Opacic, Hall; May, Lewis; Sue, Litten, Whitbread, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella (C). Int: King, Parcell, Luckley, Tanginoa.
Leigh: Hardaker, Hanley, Chamberlain, Leutele, Charnley; Moylan, Lam (C); Amone, Ipape, Trout, O'Donnell, Halton, Hughes. Int: Norman, Dwyer, McIntosh, Baxter.

Hull Kingston Rovers (12)
Tries: Niall Evalds, Tom Opacic
Goals: Mikey Lewis 2/2

Leigh Leopards (0)

Leigh Leopards were left ruing their own profligacy as they suffered a first defeat in five and a major setback in their attempt to claw their way back into the fight for the top six.

After a slow start, to the season, the Leopards were just beginning to build some momentum. However, defeat leaves them seven points off sixth place and with a mountain to climb in the second half of the season. 

Hull KR, on the other hand, continue their march up the Super League table. Their ninth win of the season moves them into third place, just two points off Wigan and Saints ahead of them. 

A tense encounter was settled by two tries from KR, with one in each half. However, the scoreline does not tell the full tale of the game. A combination of excellent KR defence and the Leopards wasting as many as six opportunities to score meant the Leopards were left wondering what might have been.

Tom Opacic, fresh from the birth of his child, capped a memorable week by opening the scoring. Tyrone May found Mikey Lewis on the left hand side, who passed to Opacic close to the line. The Leigh defence appeared to have the situation under control, however, Opacic rolled his way through the attempted tackle and somehow managed to get the ball down. Lewis kicked the conversion to give KR a 6-0 lead at half-time. 

Niall Evalds, arguably Super League's signing of the season, scored the game's second and final try in the 70th minute. With the Robins deep in Leigh territory, they produced three successive offloads in the tackle, with Evalds eventually going over to score. Lewis made no mistake with the conversion and Hull KR won a tense but entertaining contest. 

Salford Red Devils 34 London Broncos 4
Venue: Salford Stadium, Barton-upon-Irwell

Date: Sun, 2nd June.   Kickoff: 3:00 PM.   Halftime: Salford 6-0.   Penalties: London 8-4.   Referee: Liam Rush.   Crowd: 2,843.

Salford: Hankinson, Ryan, Macdonald, Lafai, Cross; Atkin, Sneyd; Singleton, Shorrocks, Wright, Stone, Watkins (C), Partington. Int: Foster, Mellor, Connell, Dudson.
London: Walker, Kershaw, Storey, Bassett, Miloudi; Leyland, Meadows; Kennedy, Davis, Bienek, Lovell (C), Adebiyi, Jones. Int: Butler, Stock, Williams, Tison.

Salford Red Devils (34)
Tries: Tim Lafai 2, Nene Macdonald, Sam Stone, Shane Wright, Deon Cross
Goals: Marc Sneyd 5/6

London Broncos (4)
Tries: Hakim Miloudi

Salford climbed back into the top six with a 34-4 win over the London Broncos, but the final score didn't reflect the true nature of London's battling performance, as they stuck with Salford for large parts of the game.

Salford thought they had their first try in the 15th minute when MacDonald caught a high kick and scored, but Oli Partington was offside. Just three minutes later, the Broncos were disappointed as Oli Leyland's kick found Lee Kershaw, but James Meadows was offside.

Video referee James Vella had a busy day, checking another potential Broncos try in the 27th minute, but referee Liam Rush ruled it out due to a double movement. 

London made life difficult for Paul Rowley's team throughout the first half. The Broncos had two of three disallowed tries, with only Sam Stone's try separating the sides at halftime. Stone crashed onto a short ball from Sneyd to score from close range, with Sneyd adding the extras to give Salford a 6-0 lead.

Salford's second try came in the 49th minute when Marc Sneyd spotted Cross in space and picked him out with a precise kick for an easy score.

The floodgates opened, and three minutes later Lafai burst through the middle and offloaded to MacDonald to finish the job.

London had their chances but dropped the ball twice near the line. Instead, another Sneyd kick allowed Lafai to score, and Sneyd showed more quick thinking when he stumbled in front of goal but rolled over to offload to Wright for another try.

With five minutes left, Sneyd and Lafai combined again for Salford's final try, but the Broncos had the last word as Miloudi scored at the end.

London remain locked on with Hull FC on two points at the bottom of the table, although the Broncos' points difference is much worse than FC's. Salford return to the top six, after temporarily dropping out over the course of the weekend. 

They face a difficult trip to Warrington the week after the cup final, although that may be the perfect time to face Sam Burgess' men.

Round 13 table

RELATED: Click here to view the current Betfred Super League table.

RLP stats leaders

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