Super League Magic Weekend 2026 was a major success with the move to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium very well received, and whilst the on-field action is over, there’s still a matter of the disciplinary verdict to deal with.
The Match Review Panel will meet on Monday to assess the disciplinary misdemeanours across the weekend, of which there were plenty, with several Super League players surely fearing bans.
Saturday started off with York Knights beating Huddersfield 36-24, as two late consolation tries made the score look more favourable to the defeated Giants. The same could be said of the Hull derby as KR beat FC 26-12 to record an eighth straight win in the fixture.
Leigh beat Warrington 24-6 to round off Saturday’s action at the Hill Dickinson Stadium before Toulouse humiliated Catalans and won 60-18 to all but end the Dragons’ play-off hopes.
Sunday got underway with Wakefield cruising past Castleford by 48-6 before Leeds did a similar number on Bradford, winning 50-16. It was all set up for a nail-biting finale between Wigan and St Helens, and that’s what we got as Wigan claimed a thrilling 16-14 victory in a game that went down to the final kick of the game.
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Super League disciplinary sweats
York will be seeking a third straight win when they play Hull in round 18, but they could be without two key players as Cody Hunter and Xavier Va’a could be facing disciplinary action.
Hunter committed a hip drop-style tackle that injured Asher O’Donnell, which allowed the Giants to use their 18th man because the injury was a result of foul play, whereas Va’a is the latest player to make contact with an injured player.
The York man carried strong with his bumpers up, and Chris Patolo was immediately knocked out. In his concern, Va’a reached down to touch Patolo, something that has resulted in bans this year. He and his coach Mark Applegarth will be hoping that common sense is applied, as was the case with Jackson Hastings last week.
Cade Cust is another who may be concerned after his involvement in a tip tackle, but the biggest worry from Saturday is Sam Powell after he committed a clear hip drop tackle, something that Jon Wilkin argued is worthy of an eight-match ban.
It’s highly unlikely any punishment will be that severe, but he’ll almost certainly be banned with his tackle causing injury to Tesi Niu. Powell was also on the receiving end of a late shot from Matt Davis, something that could be charged.
Sunday’s first two games were far quieter in terms of disciplinary matters, with only game one seeing Liam Hood put himself at risk by committing a tip tackle on Lachlan Walmsley. The West Yorkshire clash between Bradford and Leeds passed by without anything obvious of note.
That brings us to the Wigan-Saints game, in which there were plenty of incidents for the MRP to review, and the first one came after just five seconds.
David Klemmer made unnecessary contact with Brad O’Neill as he was running to defend the kick-off, something that sparked the first of many coming-togethers between the two sides. Later in the first half, Oliver Partington made contact with the head of Owen Dagnall, forcing the winger to go off for a HIA.
Junior Nsemba had two incidents, hitting Jackson Hastings off the ball before a tip tackle on Daniel Suluka-Fifita. Saints’ George Delaney also had two, both for high contact, with Jai Field and Shea O’Connor on the receiving end.
Lastly, Lukas Mason was put on report for a high shot on Daryl Clark. Despite it being put on report though, there was no penalty awarded to Saints, something that left boss Paul Rowley questioning post-match.
