A busy weekend of action saw two rounds take place across the bank holiday weekend in the Betfred Super League. Round 25 got underway on Wednesday evening, meanwhile we saw the completion of Round 26 on Monday evening. Here is a look at which England stars shined over the weekend.
Leeds Rhinos faced Huddersfield Giants in the opening fixture. They met at Headingley Stadium on Wednesday evening, as the Rhinos looked to take a step closer to a place in the Betfred Super League play-offs.
Kruise Leeming played an important role for Rohan Smith’s side. The hooker assisted one of Leeds’ three tries.
Prop, Mikolaj Oledzki made 90 metres from 12 carries, along with 30 tackles made.
Rohan Smith named a strong side as the Rhinos looked to secure the final play-off spot in France on Monday night.
Despite suffering a defeat, Leeming was once again a key asset in the Leeds attack. Leeming assisted two tries. Meanwhile, Oledzki made 122 metres from 15 carries.
On Thursday, four more fixtures took place in the Betfred Super League, including Wakefield’s meeting with Hull KR.
Trinity came out on top, which secured their Super League status for 2022.
Lewis Murphy was recently announced as a member of the England Knights squad. Murphy impressed during both fixtures over the weekend. During the victory over Hull KR, Murphy scored an acrobatic effort and also got an assist. Meanwhile in the following fixture at St Helens, the winger crossed for four tries and got another assist.
In opposition, Ryan Hall faced off against Murphy. Hall made 113 metres on Thursday and then got himself a try and two try assists during Rovers’ victory over Wigan Warriors on Monday.
Salford Red Devils had an impressive weekend. Paul Rowley’s side won both of their fixtures, which secured them a place in the play-offs.
Kallum Watkins had a big say in both fixtures. Against Hull FC, Watkins was on the scoresheet and made 172 metres from just 16 carries. Then in front of the Sky cameras on Monday, Watkins scored another try, he also assisted two further tries and made 138 metres from 13 carries.
After successive defeats over the weekend, Daryl Powell’s Warrington have been compounded to 11th spot in the table. On Thursday, George Williams produced a try assist, meanwhile Stefan Ratchford crossed for a try and three goals. Jake Wardle and Ben Currie also featured during the loss.
On Monday, Currie was absent, however the other three all featured. Williams impressed the most with a try and four try assists. Meanwhile, Wardle contributed with a try and a try assist.
For Castleford, Paul McShane featured in both fixtures. The hooker made 43 tackles against Warrington on Thursday. The Tigers were unable to defeat Salford which means their hopes of making the play-offs will result in a decider against Leeds on Saturday.
Catalans took on Toulouse in a French derby in front of the Sky cameras on Thursday. Full-back Sam Tomkins was able to make a try assists during the Dragons win. Tom Davies made 122 metres from 14 carries as Toulouse’s relegation to the Betfred Championship was confirmed.
Davies contributed with more impressive metres when Leeds made the trip to the South of France. 165 metres was made from 18 carries by the winger, who also assisted a try.
Tomkins missed out, however, Michael McIlorum returned to the side as he did not feature against Toulouse. McIlorum created two tries during Catalan’s 32-18 win over Leeds.
The final match of Round 25 saw St Helens travel to Wigan, with the Saints knowing a win would secure the League Leaders Shield.
The Warriors would temporarily halt the St Helens party, however due to results on Monday St Helens would still win the League Leaders Shield.
Liam Marshall scored in the victory over the Saints. Marshall picked up the loose ball, before racing to the corner, where he was briefly halted before getting up to dive over for the score.
Liam Farrell was also crossed for a try. Farrell spotted a gap before racing underneath the sticks.
Fellow second rower, John Bateman made 41 tackles and 124 metres from 14 carries during his time on the field.
Prop, Mike Cooper also defensively contributed to Matt Peet’s side.
Wigan named a very changed side, in which all four players were rested when the Warriors made the trip over to East Hull.
St Helens as mentioned, failed to secure the top spot on Friday, however due to Wigan’s defeat on Monday, they were unable to be passed at the top of the Betfred Super League table.
The Saints were only able to score two tries at the DW, however one of them came through Joe Batchelor. Batchelor also made 95 metres from 10 carries.
In the forward pack, Matty Lees and Alex Walmsley both featured in their regular spots.
Jack Welsby contributed with 126 metres during the visit to Wigan.
Just like Wigan, all the England stars for St Helens who featured against Wigan did not play against Wakefield.
However, Tommy Makinson returned to the side. Makinson converted all three goals during the 34-18 home defeat to Wakefield.
