Super League XXVII, known as the 2022 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the Super League and 128th season of rugby league in Great Britain.
The season commenced on 10 February 2022 and ended with the Grand Final on 24 September 2022.
St Helens were the reigning champions going into Super League XXVII, after successfully retaining their title, beating Catalans Dragons in the 2021 Grand Final.
For the first time in Super League, there were two French teams in the competition, as Toulouse Olympique were promoted from the Championship, by beating Featherstone Rovers in the 2021 Million Pound Game.
Toulouse were immediately relegated back to the Championship, following a 14–24 defeat at home to Catalans Dragons on 25 August, having only won 5 games from 25 they were rooted to the bottom of the table and with only 2 games of the regular season remaining and 4 points to play for, they could not catch Wakefield in 11th place.
On 15 July 2022, Bevan French broke the record for most tries scored in a Super League game, during Wigan Warriors 60–0 win over Hull FC, scoring seven tries. The previous record for most tries scored in a Super League game was held by Lesley Vainikolo, who scored six tries for Bradford Bulls - also against Hull - in 2005.
Teams
Legend CReigning Champions LPrevious season League Leaders PPromoted Team2021 positionStadiumCapacityCity/Town Castleford Tigers(2022 season) 7th Wheldon Road12,000 Castleford, West Yorkshire L Catalans Dragons(2022 season) 1st (play-off runners-up) Stade Gilbert Brutus13,000 Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France Huddersfield Giants(2022 season) 9th John Smith's Stadium24,121 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Hull FC(2022 season) 8th MKM Stadium25,400 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire Hull Kingston Rovers(2022 season) 6th Craven Park12,225 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire Leeds Rhinos(2022 season) 5th Headingley Stadium21,062 Leeds, West Yorkshire Salford Red Devils(2022 season) 11th AJ Bell Stadium12,000 Salford, Greater Manchester C St Helens(2022 season) 2nd (champions) Totally Wicked Stadium18,000 St Helens, Merseyside P Toulouse Olympique(2022 season) Championship Winners and League Leaders Stade Ernest-Wallon19,500 Toulouse, Occitanie, France Wakefield Trinity(2022 season) 10th Belle Vue9,333 Wakefield, West Yorkshire Warrington Wolves(2022 season) 3rd Halliwell Jones Stadium15,200 Warrington, Cheshire Wigan Warriors(2022 season) 4th DW Stadium25,133 Wigan, Greater Manchester
Fixtures and results
Golden point extra time If a match ends in a draw after 80 minutes, then a further 10 minutes of golden point extra time is played, to determine a winner (5 minutes each way). The first team to score either a try, penalty goal or drop goal during this period, will win the match. However, if there are no further scores during the additional 10 minutes period, then the match will end in a draw.
Game 1 (Leeds Rhinos v Huddersfield Giants) The round 8 game between Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants on 14 April 2022, finished 20-all after 80 minutes. The game then went to extra time, which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. Neither teams were able to score any points during the extra 10 minutes, which meant the match ended as a draw for the first time this season.
Game 2 (Wakefield Trinity v Hull FC) The round 14 game between Wakefield Trinity and Hull FC on 5 June 2022, finished 18-all after 80 minutes. The game then went to extra time, which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. Wakefield eventually won the match 19–18, with a drop goal from Jacob Miller.
Game 3 (Castleford Tigers v Catalans Dragons) The round 16 game between Castleford Tigers and Catalans Dragons on 26 June 2022, finished 16-all after 80 minutes. The game then went to extra time, which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. Castleford won the match 17–16, with a drop goal from Danny Richardson.
Game 4 (Wakefield Trinity v St Helens) The round 20 game between Wakefield Trinity v St Helens on 24 July 2022, finished 12-all after 80 minutes. The game then went to extra time, which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. St Helens won the match 13–12, with a drop goal from Jack Welsby.
Game 5 (Catalans Dragons v Leeds Rhinos) The round 21 game between Catalans Dragons and Leeds Rhinos on 30 July 2022, finished 32-all after 80 minutes, despite Leeds trailing 6-30, and with only 12 men, the game then went to extra time, which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. Leeds won the match 36–32, with a try from Aiden Sezer.
Game 6 (Huddersfield Giants v Wakefield Trinity) The round 27 game between Huddersfield Giants and Wakefield Trinity on 2 September 2022, finished 14-all after 80 minutes, which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. This was the third time that Wakefield had been taken to extra time, whilst this was Huddersfield's second. Huddersfield eventually won the match 16–14, with a penalty goal from Will Pryce.
Table
Play-offs
The top two teams in the regular season table (St Helens and Wigan Warriors) received byes to the semi-finals. The four teams who finish third to sixth contested the two elimination finals, with the winners of those two games moving on to the semi-finals.
Team bracket
Summary HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and Time (Local)VenueRefereeAttendance Eliminators Catalans Dragons 10–20 Leeds Rhinos9 September 2022, 20:00Stade Gilbert BrutusJames Child9,514 Huddersfield Giants0–28 Salford Red Devils10 September 2022, 13:00John Smith's StadiumRobert Hicks6,327 Semi-finals Wigan Warriors8–20 Leeds Rhinos 16 September 2022, 20:00DW StadiumLiam Moore 12,777 St Helens19–12 Salford Red Devils17 September 2022, 13:00Totally Wicked StadiumChris Kendall12,357 Grand Final St Helens24–12 Leeds Rhinos24 September 2022, 18:00Old TraffordLiam Moore60,783
Player statistics
Top 10 try scorers RankPlayerClubTries1 Bevan French Wigan Warriors312 Ken Sio Salford Red Devils263= Tommy Makinson St Helens22 Liam Marshall Wigan Warriors5= Fouad Yaha Catalans Dragons20 Jai Field Wigan Warriors7 Derrell Olpherts Castleford Tigers188= Ash Handley Leeds Rhinos17 Lewis Murphy Wakefield Trinity9= Chris McQueen Huddersfield Giants15 Joe Burgess Salford Red Devils
Top 10 try assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Jake Connor Hull FC332 Tui Lolohea Huddersfield Giants293= Brodie Croft Salford Red Devils25 Jack Welsby St Helens5 Jai Field Wigan Warriors226= Ryan Brierley Salford Red Devils21 Jacob Miller Wakefield Trinity8 George Williams Warrington Wolves209 Harry Smith Wigan Warriors1910 Jonny Lomax St Helens18
Top 10 goal scorers RankPlayerClubGoalsMissed GoalsDrop GoalsGoal Percentage1 Marc Sneyd Salford Red Devils9730276%2 Harry Smith Wigan Warriors902081%3 Rhyse Martin Leeds Rhinos78079%4= Tommy Makinson St Helens663465% Stefan Ratchford Warrington Wolves641184%6 Chris Hankinson Toulouse Olympique611382%7 Sam Tomkins Catalans Dragons4617375%8 Mason Lino Wakefield Trinity4515178%9= Gareth O'Brien Castleford Tigers4216072% Will Pryce Huddersfield Giants 70%
Top 10 points scorers RankPlayerClub Points1= Marc Sneyd Salford Red Devils216 Tommy Makinson St Helens3 Harry Smith Wigan Warriors2064 Rhyse Martin Leeds Rhinos1945 Chris Hankinson Toulouse Olympique1426 Stefan Ratchford Warrington Wolves 1387 Bevan French Wigan Warriors1248 Sam Tomkins Catalans Dragons1059 Ken Sio Salford Red Devils10410 Gareth O'Brien Castleford Tigers97
Updated to games played on 2 September 2022 (Round 27)
Discipline
Red Cards RankPlayerClub Red Cards1 Cheyse Blair Castleford Tigers1 Brad Martin Joe Chan Catalans Dragons Jordan Dezaria Gil Dudson Dylan Napa Will Pryce Huddersfield Giants Jake Connor Hull FC Luke Gale Ligi Sao James Bentley Leeds Rhinos Matt Prior Zane Tetevano Sione Matautia St Helens John Bateman Wigan Warriors Kaide Ellis Brad Singleton
Yellow Cards RankPlayerClub Yellow Cards1 Mitchell Pearce Catalans Dragons42 Liam Watts Castleford Tigers3 Connor Wynne Hull FC James Bentley Leeds Rhinos Jack Welsby St Helens5 Bureta Faraimo Castleford Tigers2 Mahe Fonua George Lawler Jack Cogger Huddersfield Giants Matt Prior Leeds Rhinos Bodene Thompson Ryan Lannon Salford Red Devils Morgan Knowles St Helens Curtis Sironen David Fifita Wakefield Trinity Joe Bullock Warrington Wolves Peter Mata'utia
Updated to matches played on 14 August 2022 (Round 23)
Attendances
Club attendances
ClubHome GamesTotalAverageHighestLowest Castleford Tigers 13 98,058 7,542 10,500 5,672 Catalans Dragons 13 104,894 8,068 10,260 6,487 13 66,884 5,144 6,712 3,845 Hull FC 13 140,023 10,771 16,999 8,785 Hull KR 13 101,253 7,788 10,300 7,023 Leeds Rhinos 13 168,232 12,940 15,418 10,655 13 58,888 4,529 6,041 2,607 St Helens 13 154,123 11,701 17,980 8,222 13 64,579 4,967 9,165 3,326 Wakefield Trinity 13 59,991 4,614 7,046 3,186 13 115,083 8,852 10,476 8,102 Wigan Warriors 13 159,623 12,280 19,210 9,581
Updated to matches played on 3 September 2022 (Round 27)
Top 10 attendances
Rank Home team Away team Stadium Attendance 1 Grand FinalOld Trafford 60,783 2 Magic Weekend: Day 1 St James' Park 36,821 3 Magic Weekend: Day 2 25,333 4 Wigan Warriors St Helens DW Stadium 19,210 5 St Helens Wigan Warriors Totally Wicked Stadium 17,980 6 Hull FC Hull KR MKM Stadium 16,9997 St Helens Warrington Wolves Totally Wicked Stadium 16,1188 Leeds Rhinos Castleford Tigers Headingley 15,418 9 Leeds Rhinos Salford Red Devils 14,668 10 Wigan Warriors Toulouse Olympique DW Stadium 14,493
Rule changes The Rugby Football League (RFL) approved three rules changes for 2022. On 20 January 2022, The RFL confirmed that scrums will return to all competitions, including the Championship and League 1, having been suspended as part of the game's COVID-19 response in 2020 and 2021. Scrums are only being reintroduced for errors (knock-on, forward pass or accidental offside) in the first four tackles of a set. Other cases, where previously a scrum would have been awarded, for example - ball into touch on the full, ball kicked or passed into touch, incorrect play the ball; will result in a handover.
The ball steal law will revert to the 2020 rule where the ball can only be stolen in a one-on-one tackle and not during a multi-person tackle where the additional tacklers have peeled off the tackle before the steal. Finally, injured players will be required to leave the pitch for treatment, if possible, following complaints that stoppages for injury spoil the speed and flow of the game. On 28 January, the RFL introduced new laws for the 2022 season, including the "green card", whereas if play is stopped due to a player needing attention, they must then either be substituted, leave the field for a concussion test, or wait on the sideline for 2 minutes before returning.
The green card is only shown to a player, if the team doctor enters the field of play, without being invited by the match official.
End-of-season awards
The end of season awards took place on Tuesday 20 September, having originally being scheduled for the previous day but were moved as a mark of respect for the Queen's Funeral, which took place on Monday 19 September.
Broadcasting In the first season of a new UK TV rights deal, Sky Sports remained the principal live broadcaster but for a reduced fee and now on a non-exclusive basis; Channel 4 picked up the rights to show eight regular-season and two play-off matches (not the Grand Final) in a deal confirmed in November 2021. This is the first live rights deal signed between Super League and a British free-to-air network. BBC Sport retain highlights rights.
The match on Saturday 12 February 2022 between Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves became the first Super League game to be shown live on British terrestrial television.