It was yet another weekend of Superleague XVIII surprises as three teams upset loftier opposition and snatched the all-important two points.

Hull KR shocked the pundits by overcoming a St. Helens side who must be alarming coach Brown with their inconsistency. Hull FC put Catalans Dragons to the sword with a big win at the KC Stadium, and the Leeds Rhinos repeated their Grand Final success with a victory over the Warrington Wolves.

We look back at the weekend’s action.


With no game on Friday night after the busy Easter period, we were treated to two Saturday afternoon games, hosted at Castleford and London, this week plying their trade at Adams Park in High Wycombe.

[PIC1]London Broncos took on the high-flying Bradford Bulls and found themselves with a surprise 20-12 half time lead thanks to a Kieran Dixon ten minute hat-trick and a Witt try and two goals. Dixon now leads the 2013 Superleague try scoring list with fourteen to his name.

The Bulls shook off their long journey in the second half and kept their hosts scoreless as they ran in six tries including an inpressive four for Jarrod Sammut who lifted himself into second spot in the try-scorers table, just behind Dixon. Elliott Whitehead also picked up a couple and Sammut finished the afternoon with seven goals for a personal haul of thirty points in a 46-20 Bulls win.

[PIC2]SKY had picked the game between the Castleford Tigers and the Huddersfield Giants with most people tuning in expecting a procession of tries from the claret and golds. The Tigers caused an early upset with an Oliver Holmes try. Huddersfield, through Lunt, Wardle, and Murphy had already opened up a 16-6 lead before Tigers talisman Rangi Chase was sent to the sin-bin by referee Bentham for dissent.

By half-time the Giants were 28-6 ahead and the game was over. Huddersfield stretched their lead to 40-6 with three minutes left on the clock before three tries in three minutes from Milner, Clark and Walker demonstrated what can happen when you ease off in the closing stages. They added some credibility to the scoreline at 24-40 but the Giants were back in top spot, for twenty-four hours.

It was a packed programme on Sunday with five matches.

Two of the three o’clock kick-offs were in Hull, and both sides of the city would be celebrating great wins at the sound of the final hooter.

[PIC3]It was a tight first half at the KC Stadium with a try from Crooks being cancelled out by two Barthau penalties and the sides entered the shedds at 4-4. It must have been some half-time talk from Peter Gentle as his side cut loose in the second half with four tries; Briscoe, Lineham (2) and Crooks with his own second, answered only by a single Escare effort for a final score of 28-8.

Across the other side of the city a Hull KR side humiliated by Wigan last weekend must have feared for their chances against Nathan Browns’ St. Helens.
Both Hodgsons chimed in early for the home side and a Hall conversion saw the Robins to a 10-0 lead. Home supporters must have feared the worst when two tries and a conversion from Percival levelled the scores by the half-time hooter.

A Paterson try nosed KR in front on fifty for 16-10 but Saints were just two points behind after an unconverted Swift try on the hour mark. Alex Brown sealed the points on seventy and a Hall penalty on the final hooter signalled a famous 22-14 win and an East Yorkshire double.

The toughest game of the weekend for the pundits to predict was Widnes Vikings against the Salford Reds. Both sides are languishing at the wrong end of the table and struggling for credibility, both would have picked this as a two pointer.

Tries from Hanbury, Phelps and Clarke saw the home side to a 16-0 lead after twenty minutes against a woeful Salford. The Reds managed two tries in the first half through Fages and Jewitt but responses from Hanbury and Phelps, the second in the game for both, gave Widnes a 28-12 half-time lead and the writing was on the wall for Koukash’s side. Widnes kicked on in the second half and tries from Hanbury (his third), Mellor, Phleps (third), Winterstein and Brown saw the Vikings home with a comfortable 58-24 win which must herald the departure of interim Salford boss Alan Hunte and the arrival of a new permanent boss.

Wigan were without Skipper Sean O'Loughlin (back) and Winger Josh Charnley (ankle) who both failed fitness tests on Friday. Pat Richards also missed out after a delayed return following his Brother's wedding in Australia. But it didn’t halt the Cherry and Whites’ rush to the top of the table.

Wigan were 10-0 up through tries from Thornley and Gelling before Wakefield Wildcats had Justin Poore red-carded for throwing a punch in a mid-field melee. Down to twelve men it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Agars men and despite tries from Mellars and Mathers the visitors were still behind by 30-12 at half-time.

Wigan eased off in the second half but still scored three tries (Gelling and Sam Tomkins (2)), to Wakefields two (Lee Smith and Paul Aiton) for a 44-24 final score. Wigan are now a point clear of Huddersfield at the top of the pile.

[PIC4]The final game of the weekend was a 6:45 kick-off at Headingley in front of the SKY cameras for a Grand Final re-match between the Champions and the Warrington Wolves. Both sides had key players missing but delivered a thriller full of spectacular tries and aggressive defence.

The Rhinos were 20-12 ahead at half-time thanks to tries from McGuire, Hall, Watkins and McShane answered by Joel Monaghan and Myler. Another try by Hall in the second half, along with a Sinfield conversion and penalty sealed the points. Joel Monaghan and Ryan Atkins both grabbed second half tries for Warrington to win the second half, but lose the match by 28-22, seeing the Rhinos up to fifth in the table.