Five major talking points from this weekend’s Super League action

This weekend, 12 games were played between Thursday and Monday, including a Rivals Round which saw two of the biggest derbies in the sport take centre stage.

There were some huge games at both ends of the table as the race for play-offs starts to unfold, but what were the major talking points from this weekend’s Super League action?

Hull derby was a great advert for rugby league
There was no happier group of fans on Good Friday than Hull KR supporters. A sell-out crowd at Craven Park watched a brilliant second half from Rovers see off Hull FC. The entire game had a constantly brilliant atmosphere which turned into a party after it became clear the home side had done enough to get the victory. The intensity on the pitch and input from both sets of fans meant anyone seeing this as one of their first rugby league games would surely have been impressed by the event.

Wigan’s season to be rocked by a suspension
Sam Powell is facing a suspension of up to eight games for his tackle on Jon Bennison. The 29-year-old hooker is key to Wigan, and his absence will rock his side’s season massively, particularly with huge games coming up. With Powell almost certain to miss league games against Warrington and Huddersfield in the next three weeks as well as the semi-final of the Challenge cup against St Helens, Wigan will have to adjust to playing without him.

Terrible Easter weekend for Wakefield
Wakefield looked to be finding some form going into Easter having won three league games on the bounce, however that momentum was shattered by thrashings at the hands of Wigan and Castleford. Losing to a struggling Castleford side would have been disappointing, especially given the fact they’re a close rival. However, to concede nine tries to Wigan is a huge blow and will affect the confidence within the camp ahead of some difficult fixtures.

St Helens’ defence is far too good
Despite also being the top points scorers in the league, it’s the defence of the league leaders’ that makes them look so strong. They have conceded just 66 points in nine games so far this year, and this weekend put on some huge defensive displays. Despite playing teams in 2^nd and 4^th place, Saints conceded just 16 points across the two fixtures. If they continue to limit teams to so few points then it’s very hard to imagine how anyone is going to challenge them even without a natural number seven following the season ending injury to Lewis Dodd.

Leeds throwing away huge opportunities to win
For Leeds, getting a victory has proven far more difficult than usual this year, and at one point on Easter Monday they were bottom of the league on the live table. On Thursday, Leeds had a ten-point lead against Huddersfield with three minutes to go, but after conceding two late tries they had to share the points with the visitors. Monday was a slightly different story, and it was Castleford who provided Leeds with plenty of chances to win the game by making countless errors. However, Leeds failed to capitalise on the errors and went winless yet again. If Leeds are to drag themselves up the table, then they will need to take opportunities when they get them.