WRAP: 2025 Betfred Super League Round 5

AJ Lucantonio recaps Round 5 of the 2025 Super League season, together with the current table and stats leaders thanks to Rugby League Project.

All listed times are venue local (UK GMT except for Catalans - CET).

RELATED: See the full list of 2025 Betfred Super League Draw and Results.

Salford Red Devils 23
Huddersfield Giants 10

Salford push money troubles aside to down lowly Huddersfield

Despite off-field dramas engulfing Salford throughout the 2025 season, the club was able to have a drama free week, and it showed on the field, defeating Huddersfield by 13 points to open Round 5.

It was a tense opening to the game, but it seemed even early on that Salford seemed to be one step ahead of the Giants. Six minutes in, a brilliant pass from Ryan Brierley found Esan Marsters who used his strength to get over the line and give the Red Devils the early advantage.

The sides went set for set with limited attacking opportunities before Salford broke away with two tries before the break to lead 16-0. The first came after 21 minutes when experienced prop Chris Hill delivered a magic offload to boom youngster Harvie Wilson who raced away to score. Seven minutes later, a beautiful shift inside their own end saw Ethan Ryan break away before linking up with man of the match Jayden Nikorima to lead by three possessions at the break.

Matters worsened for the visitors with new signing Niall Evalds feared to have broken his foot and took no further part of this game. Despite this, the Giants would suffer a further blow when Nikorima burst through some feeble middle defence of Huddersfield to score a scintillating individual try.

Huddersfield managed to play some good football in the latter stages to make the scoreline respectable through Adam Swift and Tui Lolohea with a Brierley field goal squeezed in-between the Giants' tries. Post game, Giants coach Luke Robinson slammed his team's performance as the "worst of the season".

Venue: Salford Stadium, Barton-upon-Irwell. Date: Thu, 20th March. Kickoff: 8:00 PM. Halftime: Salford 16-0. Penalties: Huddersfield 6-5. Referee: Tom Grant. Crowd: 3,764.

Salford: Connell, Ryan, Marsters, Watkins (C), Cross; Brierley, Nikorima; Hill, Atkin, Ormondroyd, Wright, Wilson, Shorrocks. Int: Morgan, Sangaré, Bullock, Chan.
Huddersfield: Evalds, Swift, Milne, Bibby, Halsall; Lolohea, Sutcliffe; Rogers, Golding, English, Hewitt, Murchie, Cudjoe (C). Int: Deakin, Rushton, Wilson, Billington.

Salford Red Devils (23)
Tries: Jayden Nikorima 2, Esan Marsters, Harvey Wilson
Goals: Ryan Brierley 3/4
Field Goals: Ryan Brierley

Huddersfield Giants (10)
Tries: Adam Swift, Tui Lolohea
Goals: Liam Sutcliffe 1/2

St Helens 12
Warrington Wolves 14

Wire show their class in tough slog with Saints

Warrington have recovered from their Las Vegas nightmare with a courageous 14-12 win over St Helens away from home.

Both teams started the game with intent and were looking for the upper hand in the opening exchanges. St Helens opened the scoring with a Mark Percival penalty goal after seven minutes to give Saints the early lead. That lead didn't last long thanks to the new look halves combination of Marc Sneyd and George Williams.

A perfectly weighted Sneyd grubber sat up perfectly for Williams to ground it in the in-goal and Warrington would lead by four points. A further penalty goal had the gap at a converted try at the break.

St Helens hit back through the one thing that Wire have struggled with in defence in 2025, second phase play. NRL bound Morgan Knowles eventually reached out for the line and the ball was grounded to get Saints level. Three minutes later, disaster struck Saints. Some more second phase turned into a nightmare as Matty Ashton scooped onto a poor Jack Welsby pass to sprint 70 metres to score and make it a 6 point game.

St Helens wouldn't die wondering and it was debutant Dayon Sambou who lept over the Warrington defence to score. Unfortunately, Percival's conversion was waved away. Despite desperation in attack, the Saints wouldn't claim the big scalp of Warrington as Sam Burgess' side escaped with a narrow victory.

Venue: Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens. Date: Fri, 21st March. Kickoff: 8:00 PM. Halftime: Warrington 8-2. Penalties: St Helens 6-4. Referee: Chris Kendall. Crowd: 14,068.

St Helens: Welsby, Bennison, Robertson, Percival, Sambou; Sailor, Lomax (C); Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Whitley, Knowles. Int: Mbye, Paasi, Wingfield, Delaney.
Warrington: Dufty, Thewlis, King, Tai, Ashton; Williams (C), Sneyd; Musgrove, Walker, Vaughan, Currie, Fitzgibbon, Harrison. Int: Powell, Philbin, Holroyd, Wood.

St Helens (12)
Tries: Morgan Knowles, Dayon Sambou
Goals: Mark Percival 2/3

Warrington Wolves (14)
Tries: George Williams, Matthew Ashton
Goals: Marc Sneyd 3/3

Wakefield Trinity 12
Hull FC 16

Hull the comeback kids as they pounce to beat Wakefield

Hull FC have continued their shock start to 2025, producing yet another come from behind victory to down Wakefield Trinity.

After an early penalty goal gave Trinity the early advantage, their attack which stunned Warrington last week again was on full display. A terrific bit of deception from Liam Hood out of dummy half set up Jack Croft to charge over for an 8-0 lead.

As has been a theme of the Hull FC season, they refused to let any deficit get the best of them. After 24 minutes, the black and whites crossed when Herman Ese'ese decided to join the circus, courtesy of a juggling act of the ball to force it with downward pressure. Despite further chances from both sides, the score remained 8-6 at the break.

Hull started the better of the two teams in the second half and crossed for two tries to open up a 16-6 lead heading into the final ten minutes. The first came just after the hour mark, courtesy of a beautiful pass from Aidan Sezer to a flying Ed Chamberlain who had too much pace for the cover to score.

The game sealer came courtesy of a terrific Sezer grubber where Lewis Martin won the race to the ball to make it a ten point game. Wakefield grabbed a consolation try inside the final five minutes when Cam Scott was on the receiving end of a great offload in traffic to make the score respectable.

Venue: DIY Kitchens Stadium, Wakefield. Date: Fri, 21st March. Kickoff: 8:00 PM. Halftime: Wakefield 8-6. Penalties: Hull FC 6-5. Referee: Aaron Moore. Crowd: 8,027.

Wakefield: Rourke, Pratt, Scott, Hall, Johnstone; Lino, Russell; McMeeken (C), Hood, Uele, Griffin, Croft, Pitts. Int: Rodwell, Atoni, Smith, Faatili.
Hull FC: Moy, Rapana, Hardaker, Briscoe, Martin; Cust, Sezer (C); Ese'ese, Bourouh, Knight, Cartwright, Lane, Asiata. Int: Chamberlain, Ashworth, Fash, Watts.

Wakefield Trinity (12)
Tries: Cameron Scott, Caleb Uele
Goals: Mason Lino 2/3

Hull FC (16)
Tries: Herman Ese'ese, Ed Chamberlain, Lewis Martin
Goals: Aidan Sezer 2/3

Castleford Tigers 4
Catalans Dragons 26

Momentum at last for Catalans as pressure eases on McNamara

Catalans have won back-to-back games, taking pressure off embattled coach Steve McNamara with a 26-4 win over Castleford in trying conditions at the Jungle.

The Dragons opened the scoring in slippery, wet and windy conditions after 17 minutes. It came courtesy of a crash ball from Alrix Da Costa to Tevita Pangai Junior who burrowed under the Castleford defence to score the first try of the contest.

Four minutes later, Da Costa decided to take matters into his own hands, fooling the Castleford defence to give Catalans something they haven't had a lot of in 2025, a comfortable lead. Sam Tomkins added a penalty goal to give the Dragons a 14-0 half-time lead.

The Dragons opened the second half scoring six minutes into the second half thanks to a grubber kick from replacement half Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet. The kick sat up perfectly for Fouad Yaha to ground it in the field of play. Just shy of the hour mark, Luke Keary delivered a terrific tap on to Tomkins who fooled the defence to give Catalans an unassailable 26-0 lead midway through the second half.

Castleford did manage some consolation in the final quarter hour with Innes Senior scoring in the left corner after some great leadup work in the middle third. Tomkins ended up in the sin-bin during the final moments for a professional foul, but it didn't take the gloss off a much needed Catalans win.

Venue: The Jungle, Castleford. Date: Sat, 22nd March. Kickoff: 3:00 PM. Halftime: Catalans 14-0. Penalties: Catalans 6-5. Referee: Liam Rush. Crowd: 6,005.

Castleford: Hoy, Simm, Cini, Wood (C), Senior; Asi, Milnes; Singleton, Robb, Lawler, Simbiken, Mellor, Horne. Int: Rimbu, Griffin, Mustapha, Namo.
Catalans: Tomkins, Yaha, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric; Keary, Aispuro-Bichet; Pangai Junior, Da Costa, Bousquet, Garcia (C), Whitehead, Partington. Int: Romano, Satae, Navarrete, Dezaria.

Castleford Tigers (4)
Tries: Innes Senior

Catalans Dragons (26)
Tries: Sam Tomkins, Fouad Yaha, Alrix Da Costa, Tevita Pangai Junior
Goals: Sam Tomkins 5/6

Leeds Rhinos 12
Wigan Warriors 10

Tough duel sees Wigan crack once more

Leeds have spun another upset, continuing Wigan's recent poor domestic form courtesy of a 12-10 win.

Wigan suffered some last minute drama with Abbas Miski injured in the warmup. This saw youngster Jacob Douglas come into the team and Leeds targeted him all night long. The first big moment of the game occurred 10 minutes in, when Douglas dropped a tough high kick and some quick hands saw Riley Lumb score in the corner to give Leeds the early ascendancy.

It was a tight first half, with neither team giving an inch. But with Wigan being the champion team they are, there wasn't a chance they were going to go into the sheds with no score. Right on half-time, a clever Harry Smith chip sat up perfectly for Liam Marshall to score outwide to trail by only two at the break.

Wigan landed the first punch in the second half with a beautifully worked move down the left edge. Bevan French was able to step his way through several defenders to get the ball down. Despite an anxious video review, the try was given to the Rob Burrow Trophy winner.

Leeds hit back to take the lead with 13 minutes to play. A terrific step and move gave Jake Connor the space to put up the high ball. It was contested by Ryan Hall who batted it backwards into the waiting arms of super sub Jack Sinfield who crossed for the Rhinos to give them a two point lead. Despite some anxious moments, the Rhinos held on to leave Wigan with some work to do after a difficult acclimatisation period back from Vegas.

Venue: AMT Headingley Stadium, Leeds. Date: Sat, 22nd March. Kickoff: 5:30 PM. Halftime: Leeds 6-4. Penalties: Leeds 5-1. Referee: Jack Smith. Crowd: 15,966.

Leeds: Miller, Lumb, Newman, Handley (C), Hall; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, O'Connor, Jenkins, Bentley, McDonnell, Palasia. Int: Lisone, Gannon, Holroyd, Sinfield.
Wigan: French, Douglas, Eckersley, Wardle, Marshall; Farrimond, Smith; Byrne, Leeming, Thompson, Nsemba, Farrell (C), Ellis. Int: Mago, Dupree, Walters.

Leeds Rhinos (12)
Tries: Jack Sinfield, Riley Lumb
Goals: Jake Connor 2/3

Wigan Warriors (10)
Tries: Bevan French, Liam Marshall
Goals: Harry Smith 1/2

Hull KR 30
Leigh Leopards 0

Hull KR have shown their championship credentials in a ruthless 30-0 massacre of the Leigh Leopards at Craven Park.

In trying conditions, Rovers played some enterprising attacking football leaving Leigh to rue several scoring opportunities. The scoring began inside the opening 10 minutes when Oliver Gildart showed his strength and power to beat a pair of Leigh defenders to muscle over the try-line.

Six minutes later, a late offload from Elliot Minchella landed in the arms of Mikey Lewis who ran untouched to score under the posts. Despite a lengthy video review, the try was awarded to last year's Man of Steel. Leigh thought they hit back midway through the opening half, but Bailey Hodgson was denied for a double movement by video referee Ben Thaler.

Leigh had several chances throughout the remainder of the first half, but every time the Rovers were there to halt their scoring raid. Against a class team like Rovers, converting these chances is paramount. Five minutes before time, Lewis got a terrific offload to Kelepi Tanginoa to score next to the posts as Rovers led 16-0.

Right on half-time, Rovers played some champagne rugby league. A shift left saw Joe Burgess into space before he kicked in-field. It was fitting that after having a hand in everything in the first half that Mikey Lewis ended up crossing for a double to lead 22-0 at the break. The second half only saw a penalty goal and a Tom Davies try added to the scoreboard as Rovers flexed their championship credentials.  

Venue: Sewell Group Craven Park, Hull. Date: Sun, 23rd March. Kickoff: 3:00 PM. Halftime: Hull KR 22-0. Penalties: Hull KR 6-3. Referee: Liam Moore. Crowd: 11,231.

Hull KR: Broadbent, Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, McIlorum, Waerea-Hargreaves, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella (C). Int: Litten, Luckley, Whitbread, Tanginoa.
Leigh: Armstrong, Hodgson, Niu, Hanley, Brand; O'Brien, Lam; Trout, Ipape, Tuitavake, O'Neill, Hughes, Liu. Int: Pene, Davis, Dwyer, Brogan.

Hull Kingston Rovers (30)
Tries: Mikey Lewis 2, Kelepi Tanginoa, Oliver Gildart, Tom Davies
Goals: Mikey Lewis 5/6

Leigh Leopards (0)

Round 5 table

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