Super League

Current season, competition or edition: Super League XXVIII
Sport	Rugby League
Founded	1996; 28 years ago (1996)
Most recent champion(s)	St Helens (10th title)
Most titles	St. Helens (10 titles)
Relegation to	Championship
Domestic cup(s)	Challenge Cup
International cup(s)	World Club Challenge

The Super League is the top tier rugby league competition for teams in Great Britain. It was formed in 1996 replacing the Rugby Football League First Division which was the top tier in Britain from 1895 to 1996.

Since 1998, the winner of the Super League has been determined by a play-off series at the end of each season, culminating in a Grand Final at the Old Trafford. Four teams have won the Grand Final during the history of the Super League, with St Helens being the current holders. St Helens are the most successful team in the Super League era, with ten titles. In the first two seasons of Super League, the champion was determined by league position at the end of the season.

The participants of the play-off series are determined by the league position of teams at the end of the regular season. The team at the top the Super League table at the end of the regular season are awarded with the League Leaders Shield. St Helens are the current holders of the League Leaders Shield, and hold the record for most Shields with nine. The League Leaders have been recognised with their own trophy since 2003.

Seasons

Team Performances

Season Overview

Year	Champions	League Leaders	Relegated	Promoted
1996	St. Helens[a] (1)		Workington	Salford
1997	Bradford[a] (1)		Oldham Paris St Germain[b]	Hull F.C. Huddersfield
1998	Wigan (1)	Wigan (1)	None	Gateshead[b] Wakefield
1999	St. Helens (2)	Bradford (1)		None
2000	St. Helens (3)	Wigan (2)
2001	Bradford (2)	Bradford (2)	Huddersfield	Widnes
2002	St. Helens (4)	St. Helens (1)	Salford	Huddersfield
2003	Bradford (3)	Bradford (3)	Halifax	Salford
2004	Leeds (1)	Leeds (1)	Castleford	Leigh
2005	Bradford (4)	St. Helens (2)	Leigh Widnes	Castleford Catalans
2006	St. Helens (5)	St. Helens (3)	Castleford	Hull Kingston Rovers
2007	Leeds (2)	St. Helens (4)	Salford	Castleford
2008	Leeds (3)	St. Helens (5)	None	Salford Crusaders[b]
2009	Leeds (4)	Leeds (2)		None
2010	Wigan (2)	Wigan (3)
2011	Leeds (5)	Warrington (1)	Crusaders[b]	Widnes[b]
2012	Leeds (6)	Wigan (4)	None	None
2013	Wigan (3)	Huddersfield (1)
2014	St. Helens (6)	St. Helens (6)	London Bradford
2015	Leeds (7)	Leeds (3)	None
2016	Wigan (4)	Warrington (2)	Hull Kingston Rovers	Leigh
2017	Leeds (8)	Castleford (1)	Leigh	Hull Kingston Rovers
2018	Wigan (5)	St. Helens (7)	Widnes	London
2019	St. Helens (7)	St. Helens (8)	London	Toronto Wolfpack
2020	St. Helens (8)	Wigan (5)	Toronto Wolfpack[b]

• ^a: Champions decided by league table
• ^b: Elected in/out of league without promotion/relegation via league performance

Grand Finals

Year	Champions	Score	Runner Up	Venue	Attendance
1998	Wigan	10–4	Leeds	Old Trafford	43,533
1999	St. Helens	8–6	Bradford		50,717
2000	St. Helens	29–16	Wigan		58,132
2001	Bradford	37–6	Wigan		60,164
2002	St. Helens	19–18	Bradford		61,138
2003	Bradford	25–12	Wigan		65,537
2004	Leeds	16–8	Bradford		65,547
2005	Bradford	15–6	Leeds		65,728
2006	St. Helens	26–4	Hull F.C.		72,575
2007	Leeds	33–6	St. Helens		71,352
2008	Leeds	24–16	St. Helens		68,810
2009	Leeds	18–10	St. Helens		63,259
2010	Wigan	22–10	St. Helens		71,526
2011	Leeds	32–16	St. Helens		69,107
2012	Leeds	26–18	Warrington		70,676
2013	Wigan	30–16	Warrington		66,281
2014	St. Helens	14–6	Wigan		70,102
2015	Leeds	22-20	Wigan		73,512
2016	Wigan	12-6	Warrington		70,202
2017	Leeds	24-6	Castleford		72,827
2018	Wigan	12-4	Warrington		64,892
2019	St. Helens	23-6	Salford		64,102
2020	St. Helens	8-4	Wigan	KCOM	0[a]

^a: No crowd due to COVID-19 restrictions

Individual Performances

Top Scorers

Year	Tries			Points
	Player	Club	Tries	Player	Club	Points
1996	Paul Newlove	St. Helens	28	Bobbie Goulding	St. Helens	257
1997	Nigel Vagana	Warrington	17	Andrew Farrell	Wigan	243
1998	Anthony Sullivan	St. Helens	20	Iestyn Harris	Leeds	255
1999	Toa Kohe-Love	Warrington	25	Iestyn Harris	Leeds	325
2000	Sean Long Tommy Martyn	St. Helens St. Helens	22	Sean Long	St. Helens	352
2001	Kris Radlinski	Wigan	27	Andrew Farrell	Wigan	388
2002	Dennis Moran	London	22	Paul Deacon	Bradford	301
2003	Dennis Moran	London	24	Paul Deacon	Bradford	286
2004	Lesley Vainikolo	Bradford	36	Kevin Sinfield	Leeds	277
2005	Mark Calderwood	Leeds	27	Paul Deacon	Bradford	322
2006	Justin Murphy	Catalans	25	Jamie Lyon	St. Helens	316
2007	Henry Fa'afili	Warrington	21	Pat Richards	Wigan	248
2008	Ade Gardner	St. Helens	26	Pat Richards	Wigan	269
2009	Ryan Hall	Leeds	29	Pat Richards	Wigan	252
2010	Pat Richards	Wigan	29	Pat Richards	Wigan	388
2011	Ryan Hall	Leeds	28	Jamie Foster	St. Helens	330
2012	Josh Charnley	Wigan	31	Scott Dureau	Catalans	281
2013	Josh Charnley	Wigan	33	Danny Brough	Huddersfield	281
2014	Joel Monaghan	Warrington	28	Marc Sneyd	Castleford	224
2015	Jermaine McGillvary	Huddersfield	27	Luke Gale	Castleford	247
2016	Denny Solomona	Castleford	40	Luke Gale	Castleford	262
2017	Greg Eden	Castleford	38	Luke Gale	Castleford	317
2018	Ben Barba	St. Helens	28	Danny Richardson	St. Helens	296
2019	Tommy Makinson	St. Helens	23	Lachlan Coote	St. Helens	247
2020	Ash Handley	Leeds	15	Lachlan Coote	St. Helens	152

Man of Steel

The Man of Steel Award is given to the Super League Player of the Season. Various methods of determining the seasons best player have been employed throughout the awards history. The current method involves points being designated to players by a select panel following each fixture. The award is also known as the Steve Prescott Man of Steel, posthumously named after the former St Helens player who established the Steve Prescott Foundation to raise money for cancer research whilst fighting his own battle with cancer, which he tragically lost in 2013.

Year	Nat	Player	Club
1996		Andy Farrell	Wigan
1997		James Lowes	Bradford
1998		Iestyn Harris	Leeds
1999		Adrian Vowles	Castleford
2000		Sean Long	St. Helens
2001		Paul Sculthorpe	St. Helens
2002		Paul Sculthorpe	St. Helens
2003		Jamie Peacock	Bradford
2004		Andy Farrell	Wigan
2005		Jamie Lyon	St. Helens
2006		Paul Wellens	St. Helens
2007		James Roby	St. Helens
2008		James Graham	St. Helens
2009		Brett Hodgson	Huddersfield
2010		Pat Richards	Wigan
2011		Rangi Chase	Castleford
2012		Sam Tomkins	Wigan
2013		Danny Brough	Huddersfield
2014		Daryl Clark	Castleford
2015		Zak Hardaker	Leeds
2016		Danny Houghton	Hull
2017		Luke Gale	Castleford
2018		Ben Barba	St. Helens
2019		Jackson Hastings	Salford
2020		Paul McShane	Castleford

Harry Sunderland Trophy Winner

The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded to the Man of the Match of the Super League Grand Final. The award predates Super League and was previously awarded to the Man of the Match of the Rugby League Premiership Final.

Year	Nat	Player	Club
1996		Andrew Farrell[a]	Wigan
1997		Andrew Farrell[a]	Wigan
1998		Jason Robinson	Wigan
1999		Henry Paul†	Bradford
2000		Chris Joynt	St. Helens
2001		Michael Withers	Bradford
2002		Paul Deacon†	Bradford
2003		Stuart Reardon	Bradford
2004		Matt Diskin	Leeds
2005		Leon Pryce	Bradford
2006		Paul Wellens	St. Helens
2007		Rob Burrow	Leeds
2008		Lee Smith	Leeds
2009		Kevin Sinfield	Leeds
2010		Thomas Leuluai	Wigan
2011		Rob Burrow	Leeds
2012		Kevin Sinfield	Leeds
2013		Blake Green	Wigan
2014		James Roby	St. Helens
2015		Danny McGuire	Leeds
2016		Liam Farrell	Wigan
2017		Danny McGuire	Leeds
2018		Stefan Ratchford†	Warrington
2019		Luke Thompson	St. Helens
2020		James Roby	St. Helens

† = denotes a player who won the trophy but played on the losing team in the final.

^a: Award won in Premiership Final inside Super League Era.

League Structure

Throughout the history of Super League, the competition has been structured in various formats effecting awarding of championships, participation in play-off series, and inclusion in the league itself.

• ^a: Catalans Dragons exempt for relegation for first two seasons in Super League.
• ^b : Teams reduced to 11 following exit of Toronto Wolfpack midseason. Toronto were later prevented from readmission with relegation cancelled for 2020.
• ^c: Play-off structure amended to mitigate against COVID-19 implications.