THE WRAP: 2026 Betfred Super League Round 1

Round 1 Super League detailed reports, results, teamlists, the table and stats leaders all in one spot, thanks to AJ Lucantonio and Rugby League Project.

All times listed in the article are venue local, normally GMT excepting France.

RELATED: See the full list of 2026 Betfred Super League Draw and Results.

Miracle in York sees Rovers seeing red

The York Knights have pulled off the Cinderella story to kickstart the 2026 Betfred Super League season with a come-from-behind 19-18 win over defending champions Hull KR.

It was a tense start to the new season with the Knights have to hold off the champions several times on their own goal line. But, the Rovers were terribly ill-disciplined giving away 13 penalties in the season opener. York capitalised on this when Paul McShane exposed a short-side mismatch to send Sam Wood over in the corner for an early 4-0 lead.

Rovers did strike back when Jez Litten continued to expose gaps around the field. Off the back of the England hooker's decisive running, he went short to Jai Whitbread to crash over. More poor discipline gave the Knights a chance to hit level when Liam Harris nailed a long-range penalty goal to tie the game at 6-all.

After the break it seemed that normal transition had resumed for the Rovers, crossing for two tries just before the hour mark to give them an 18-6 lead thanks to great ball skills from Litten. Whitbread completed his double shortly after the break while Sauaso Sue crashed over for a two possession lead.

The turning point came when Grand Final Man of the Match Mikey Lewis had an almighty brain explosion, tripping over Harris and being rightfully sin-binned for it. The Knights did not waste any time making KR pay, Wood added his second try off a clever pass to make it a nervy finish.

Right as Lewis returned from the bin, a clever grubber sat up perfectly for Scott Galeano to make it 18-all. In the dying moments off yet another Rovers lapse in discipline, Ata Hingano stepped up and nailed the go-ahead field goal to give the Knights one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history.

York Knights 19 Hull KR 18
Venue: LNER Community Stadium, York
Date: Thu, 12th February. Kickoff: 8:00 PM. Halftime: 6-all. Penalties: York 13-5. Referee: Liam Rush.

York Knights (19)
Tries: Sam Wood 2, Scott Galeano
Goals: Liam Harris 3/4
Field Goals: Ata Hingano 1

Hull Kingston Rovers (18)
Tries: Jai Whitbread 2, Sauaso Sue
Goals: Rhyse Martin 3/3
Sin Bin: Mikey Lewis

York: Mata'afa, Jones-Bishop, Wood, Williams, Galeano; Hingano, Harris (C); Va'a, McShane, Vaughan, Field, Dee, Thompson. Int: Martin, Griffin, Balmforth, Sangaré.
Hull KR: Mourgue, Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Brown, Martin, Batchelor, Minchella (C). Int: Broadbent, Luckley, Whitbread, Lawton.

Catalans strike in the slush in new-era

After an off-season of significant turnover, the Catalans Dragons put their energy on the field with a strong 26-10 victory over Huddersfield at a muddy Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Like most early season matches, the game started slow but the home side quickly capitalised on their field positioned and opened the scoring. Lewis Dodd schemed across field and put in a clever grubber kick that sat up perfectly for Ben Condon to give the hosts an early lead.

A penalty goal ten minutes later saw the lead extended before Toby Sexton stamped his mark on the game. It was a lovely set play from the former Bulldog to link with Panther Zac Lipowicz to send Charlie Staines over for a 14-0 lead.

Despite Oli Russell being in the sin-bin for a professional foul, the Giants scored with one-less player as Sam Halsall punished Dodd for standing off him to score a sensational individual try to give the visitors hope at the change of ends.

With the conditions dictating the course of the game, scoring was hard to come by in the second half and Catalans. It took a bit of Solomona Fa'atape magic to get his arm free and unload to Tommy Makinson to score in the corner and extend the lead out to 20-4.

Tui Lolohea put boot to ball which sat up perfectly for George Flanagan Jr and it was game on with limited time to play. But, it would be Catalans that had the last laugh when Fa'atape scored an individual try to give the Dragons a 16-point verdict.

Catalans Dragons 26 Huddersfield Giants 10
Venue: Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan
Date: Fri, 13th February. Kickoff: 7:00 PM. Halftime: Catalans 14-4. Penalties: Catalans 4-3. Referee: Aaron Moore. Crowd: 7,252.

Catalans Dragons (26)
Tries: Thomas Makinson, Ben Condon, Toby Sexton, Charlie Staines
Goals: Toby Sexton 5/5

Huddersfield Giants (10)
Tries: Sam Halsall, George Flanagan Jr
Goals: George Flanagan Jr 1/2
Sin Bin: Oliver Russell

Catalans: Staines, Makinson, Cotric, Faataape, Simm; Sexton, Dodd; Allen, Da Costa, Navarrete, Lipowicz, Condon, Garcia (C). Int: Satae, Bousquet, Fa'asuamaleaui, Leeming.
Huddersfield: Flanagan Jr, Gagai, Hewitt, Milne, Halsall; Lolohea, Russell; Patolo, Woolford, Greenwood, O'Donnell, Rushton, Powell. Int: Burgess, English, King, Cozza.

Wire start strong to account for Saints

Warrington were quick to put 2025 in the rear-view mirror with a strong 24-14 showing over a new look St Helens side at home.

With a big turnover of talent in the off-season, Sam Burgess was looking to his consistent stable of home talent to guide the way, and it came off early in the contest. George Williams dug into the line before finding Toby King to score out wide. Cai Taylor-Wray was earmarked by everyone to be the fullback prior to Matt Dufty's departure and he showed why minutes later with one of the individual tries of the season sprinting 70 metres to score and Saints were shell shocked.

The ambush continued just before the break when Taylor-Wray again split the Saints defence wide open. He got a ball away to Josh Thewlis before linking up with Albert Hopoate to score and give the hosts a 16-0 lead. A cheap penalty goal before the break gave Wire an 18-0 lead at the change of ends.

On the hour mark, St Helens got a spark, and it was delivered by Jack Welsby who split the defence, took on the fullback and slammed the ball down. Unfortunately, it appears he will spend an extended period on the sideline after breaking his wrist in scoring the try. In the next set, a Jackson Hastings bomb was plucked out of the air by a flying missile named Tristan Sailor who picked the pocket of Taylor-Wray to cut the gap to 8.

But it wasn't to be for the Saints, Warrington sealed the game in the final 15 minutes. Taylor-Wray again had his hands in everything, delivering a spectacular pass to Thewlis to slam the ball down and put the icing on the cake. To make matters worse for St Helens, Hastings was sin-binned for a late tackle on the fullback. They did manage a consolation try when Sailor found Kyle Feldt to score in the corner.

Warrington Wolves 24 St Helens 14
Venue: Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
Date: Fri, 13th February. Kickoff: 8:00 PM. Halftime: Warrington 18-0. Penalties: Warrington 6-4. Referee: Liam Moore. Crowd: 15,064.

Warrington Wolves (24)
Tries: Toby King, Josh Thewlis, Albert Hopoate, Cai Taylor-Wray
Goals: Marc Sneyd 4/5

St Helens (14)
Tries: Kyle Feldt, Jack Welsby, Tristan Sailor
Goals: Jackson Hastings 1/3
Sin Bin: Jackson Hastings

Warrington: Taylor-Wray, Thewlis, King, Hopoate, Smith; Williams (C), Sneyd; Byrne, Walker, Yates, Stone, Harrison, Currie. Int: Sipley, Crowther, Philbin, Tanginoa.
St Helens: Welsby, Feldt, Robertson, Macdonald, Cross; Sailor, Hastings; Klemmer, Clark, Delaney, Wright, Whitley, Shorrocks. Int: Lomax, Walmsley, Host, Dagnall.

Leigh trump Leeds in spiteful encounter

The Leigh Leopards have won a fiery opening round clash against Leeds Rhinos by 12-points at home in a game marred by several flare-ups and even an alleged eye gouge.

Leeds opened the scoring after six minutes when Leigh gave away several infringements on their own try-line. But it was the clever skill of PNG hooker Edwin Ipape that opened the game up. Against tired defence, he split them open and found support in Bailey Hodgson who in turn found Lachie Lam to fire a pass left to new buy Innes Senior to score in the corner.

Ipape decided to go on his own 15 minutes before the break. Off a rampaging carry by Joe Ofahengaue, the offload came out the back to the PNG hooker and he slammed it down for a 10-2 lead which is where the scores finished at the break.

The second half couldn't have started any worse for the Rhinos. The kickoff was spilled by Riley Lumb and was toed ahead by replacement backrower Jack Hughes who won the race for the ball and scored after just nine seconds in the second half.

Leigh added further insult to injury when a clever Adam Cook grubber was spilt by several Rhinos players and was grounded by Matt Davis. Liam Rush took three agonising minutes to confirm what we could see from two looks at it and awarded the try, overturning the on-field call of no try from Tom Grant.

Leeds didn't take it lying down. Australian prop Cooper Jenkins charged his way through some feeble Leigh defence to score a sensational individual try and there was hope for the Rhinos down by 12.

But the niggle between Harry Newman and Tesi Niu boiled over, after making a claim Niu eye gouged him, Newman lost his marbles the next time Niu charged in a carry and sparked one of several spot fires. He and Davis earned themselves a 10-minute cool off.

It was Leigh that cooled down the quickest and Lam stepped off the left then the right to score the game sealer. Brodie Croft was obviously taking mental notes and scored a similar try of his own to end what was a tough opener for the Rhinos who have York next before their trip to Vegas.

Leigh Leopards 26 Leeds Rhinos 14
Venue: Progress with Unity Stadium, Leigh
Date: Fri, 13th February. Kickoff: 8:00 PM. Halftime: Leigh 10-2. Penalties: Leeds 10-8. Referee: Tom Grant. Crowd: 9,603.

Leigh Leopards (26)
Tries: Jack Hughes, Matt Davis, Lachlan Lam, Innes Senior, Edwin Ipape
Goals: Adam Cook 3/5
Sin Bin: Matt Davis

Leeds Rhinos (14)
Tries: Brodie Croft, Cooper Jenkins
Goals: Chris Hankinson 3/3
Sin Bin: Harry Newman

Leigh: Hodgson, Senior, Niu, Brand, Charnley; Cook, Lam (C); Trout, Ipape, Mulhern, Halton, Alick, Ofahengaue. Int: Hughes, Davis, Badrock, Horne.
Leeds: Miller, Lumb, Newman, Hankinson, Hall; Croft, Brown; Jenkins, O'Connor, McDonnell, Holroyd, O'Neill, Watkins (C). Int: Nicholson-Watton, Levi, Cassell, Littlewood.

Hull deny Bulls top flight return victory

Hull FC have spoiled Bradford's return to Super League with a 27-20 verdict to claim a rare home victory.

It was the Bulls that opened the scoring after five minutes after Rowan Milnes went short to Zac Fulton who got a terrific offload to Waqa Blake to touch down and shock the home crowd of over 15,000.

Ten minutes later, Will Pryce shrugged off Bradford defenders to break away. The fullback kicked ahead and the ball sat up perfectly for Joe Batchelor to level the game at 6-all. It wasn't level for long as a clever Bulls short side raid allowed Blake to continue his great first half, offloading to Connor Wynne to score in the corner.

Hull answered back quickly as Pryce also shone his name up in lights once more. A delightful and direct cutout pass hit Harvey Bannon on the chest to score out wide to give Hull FC a 12-10 lead. With ten to go before the break, Davy Litten got the ball from a flat position, stood up a poor bit of defence from Ed Chamberlain to score and give FC an 18-10 lead at half-time.

Bradford went back to their left edge to open the second half scoring after just five and a half minutes. A quick shift saw Blake stand up the poor edge defence and link up with Wynne once more to grab himself a double and reduce the gap to two points. Milnes added a penalty goal to tie the game up at 18-all.

More poor Hull FC discipline gave Bradford a chance to regain the lead and Milnes made no mistakes in doing so for a 20-18 advantage. After blowing a golden chance, Bradford were pinned for offside on their try-line, allowing Pryce to knock over a penalty goal to tie the match once more.

Pryce added a go-ahead field goal to give his side a one-point advantage with three and a half minutes to play. With the clock ticking down, Liam Knight continued his strong showing with a determined run before unloading to Cade Cust to put the game beyond doubt for Hull FC to claim opening points to start season 2026.

Hull FC 27 Bradford Bulls 20
Venue: MKM Stadium, Hull
Date: Sat, 14th February. Kickoff: 5:30 PM. Halftime: Hull FC 18-10. Penalties: Hull FC 9-7. Referee: Marcus Griffiths. Crowd: 16,653.

Hull FC (27)
Tries: Joe Batchelor, Cade Cust, Davy Litten, Harvey Barron
Goals: Will Pryce 5/5
Field Goals: Will Pryce

Bradford Bulls (20)
Tries: Connor Wynne 2, Waqa Blake
Goals: Rowan Milnes 4/5

Hull FC: Pryce, Barron, Hardaker, Litten, Martin; Kemp, Sezer (C); Knight, Bourouh, Hill, Batchelor, Romano, Aydin. Int: Cust, Lisone, Sao, Fash.
Bradford: Aekins, Okunbor, Marsters, Blake, Wynne; Keyes, Milnes; Lewis, Ackers, Sutton, Russell, Fulton, Mellor (C). Int: Souter, Doro, Scurr, Chamberlain.

Returning Toulouse hold out Wakefield

Toulouse have continued a round of unpredictability in Super League, claiming a season opening win over semi-finalists Wakefield by two points.

On return to Super League, the second French side showed what they were capable of from a simple scrum move in the first quarter of the match. Olly Ashall-Bolt was a standout in that 2022 season and again proved his worth with a great try from the set piece.

Wakefield took 26 minutes to get their first try of the season through Josh Rourke. There was a bit of initial doubt from referee James Vella, who sent it up as no try citing obstruction. But, after replays, it was judged to be play on and the set move was rewarded with a 6-4 lead. Toulouse hit back before the break when Paul Ulberg wrestled his way to the line for an 8-6 halftime lead.

Wakefield answered to start the second half with several near try scoring chances, but Toulouse would seem to have an answer for every attacking raid Wakefield seemed to offer. But pressure took it's toll just after the hour mark after another long range play, shifting from sideline to sideline before Cam Scott touched down in the right corner.

Olympique had a chance but Ben Laguerre was bundled over the sideline. They did manage a penalty goal to level the scores at 10-all and took the next two tries to open up a two possession lead.

Romeo Tropis charged over to regain the lead before Ashall-Bolt sealed his double with a solo try. Wakefield had a last ditch try to Will Tate but their final attack came unstuck as Toulouse hung on for an upset victory in Round 1.

Wakefield Trinity 16 Toulouse Olympique 18
Venue: DIY Kitchens Stadium, Wakefield
Date: Sat, 14th February. Kickoff: 8:00 PM. Halftime: Toulouse 8-6. Penalties: Toulouse 8-4. Referee: James Vella. Crowd: 8,555.

Wakefield Trinity (16)
Tries: Cameron Scott, William Tate, Josh Rourke
Goals: Max Jowitt 2/3

Toulouse Olympique (18)
Tries: Olly Ashall-Bott 2, Paul Ulberg, Roméo Tropis
Goals: César Rougé 1/5

Wakefield: Jowitt, Rourke, Scott, Hall, Tate; Trueman, Lino; McMeeken (C), Smoothy, Uele, Nikotemo, Storton, Pitts. Int: Tevaga, Smith, Vagana, Williams.
Toulouse: Ashall-Bott, Laguerre, Tropis, Rennie, Ulberg; Lacans, Rougé; Belmas, Hands, Dupree, O'Kane, Jussaume, Marion (C). Int: Cator, Butler, Bretherton, Garrigues.

Wigan shake off opening half rust to account for Cas

The Wigan Warriors have started 2026 with a point to prove despite a rough first half in their 26-16 win over a revamped Castleford Tigers.

It was the home side with all of the early running and shocked the grand finalists early. After sustained pressure, Sam Hood took matters into his own hands, ducking over from dummy half to give the Castleford a shock early lead. Wigan were showing signs in attack, but Ryan Carr's men repelled them throughout the opening 20 minutes.

That resistance finally broke after 32 minutes when a well worked set move caught them unstuck. A delightful ball from Jai Field landed on the chest of Liam Marshall to score out wide. Wigan would take the lead going into the sheds when Bevan French sent Zach Eckersley into space before the Aussie pivot backed up in support to give the visitors a 10-6 lead at the break.

The visitors resumed normal transmission after the break when Field broke away off the kick-off. Moments later, the Warriors shifted right and it was French to Eckersley again to send the flying winger over for a try.

Wigan practically sealed the match on the hour mark after some nice second phase play off a Junior Nsemba offload, play again went right and Eckersley rounded out a double. Jake Wardle completed the Wigan scoring a few moments later to make it a 20 point gap for the home side to try and chase down.

Castleford did manage two consolation tries to make their opening day loss a little more respectable. Mikaele Ravalawa crossed out wide off a delightful offload from Darnell McIntosh. Adam Keighran might be in some trouble with the RFL Disciplinary Panel after being sin-binned for a late hit. George Lawler added further consolation with a try under the posts to cut the gap to 26-16 where the result stayed.

Castleford Tigers 16 Wigan Warriors 26
Venue: OneBore Stadium, Castleford
Date: Sun, 15th February. Kickoff: 3:00 PM. Halftime: Wigan 10-6. Penalties: Castleford 10-8. Referee: Jack Smith. Crowd: 8,259.

Castleford Tigers (16)
Tries: Liam Hood, George Lawler, Mikaele Ravalawa
Goals: Thomas Weaver 2/3

Wigan Warriors (26)
Tries: Zach Eckersley 2, Jacob Wardle, Bevan French, Liam Marshall
Goals: Adam Keighran 3/5
Sin Bin: Adam Keighran

Castleford: Taaffe, Ravalawa, McIntosh, Mapapalangi, Qareqare; Asi, Weaver; Atoni, Hood, Lawler, Lane, Mellor (C), Stimson. Int: Westerman, Atkin, Singleton, Hall.
Wigan: Field, Eckersley, Keighran, Wardle, Marshall; French, Smith; Walters, O'Neill, Thompson, Nsemba, Farrell (C), Ellis. Int: Havard, Mago, Partington, Farrimond.

Disciplinary charges

Owen Trout (Leigh Leopards) - Opposition: Leeds Rhinos - Grade A Head contact - Penalty Points: 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 2.25 - Not applicable

Luke Thompson (Wigan Warriors) - Opposition: Castleford Tigers - Grade A Dangerous Throw/Lift - Penalty Points: 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 2.75 - Not applicable

Adam Keighran (Wigan Warriors) - Opposition: Castleford Tigers - Grade B Head Contact - Penalty Points: 3 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 4 - Fine

Oliver Partington (Wigan Warriors) - Opposition: Castleford Tigers - Grade A Late contact on passer - Penalty Points: 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 2 - No further action

Liam Hood (Castleford Tigers) - Opposition: Wigan Warriors - Grade A Late contact on passer - Penalty Points: 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 1 - No further action

Peta Hiku (Hull KR) - Opposition: York Knights - Grade A Late contact on kicker - Penalty Points 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months 1.25 No further action

Elliott Minchella (Hull KR) - Opposition: York Knights - Grade B Head contact - Penalty Points: 3 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 3.25 Fine

Jai Whitbread (Hull KR) - Opposition: York Knights - Grade A Late contact on passer Penalty Points 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 1 - No further action

Mikey Lewis (Hull KR) - Opposition: York Knights - Grade C Trip - Penalty Points: 5 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 5 - Fine

Jackson Hastings (St Helens) - Opposition: Warrington Wolves - Grade C Late contact on passer - Penalty Points: 5 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 5 - Fine

Ben Garcia (Catalans Dragons) - Opposition: Huddersfield Giants - Grade A Late contact on passer - Penalty Points: 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 9.5 - One match suspension and fine

Josh Allen (Catalans Dragons) - Opposition: Huddersfield Giants - Grade A Late contact on passer - Penalty Points: 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 1 - No further action

Ryan Sutton (Bradford Bulls) - Opposition: Hull FC - Grade A late contact on passer - Penalty Points: 1 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 1 - No further action

Ligi Sao (Hull FC) - Opposition: Bradford Bulls - Grade D Dangerous contact - Penalty Points: 15 - Total Penalty Points in previous 12 months: 15 - Two match suspension and a fine

Round 1 table

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