The stats behind the Captain’s Challenge as St Helens and Bradford Bulls among Super League teams with lowest success rate

The Captain’s Challenge. A rule that has brought plenty of controversy to the Super League season, with plenty questioning it’s place in the game.

Introduced in 2025, the northern hemisphere competition followed in its southern hemisphere counterpart’s footsteps by introducing a rule allowing a team to ask the video ref for a review if they disagree with a referee’s call to see whether the on-field official got it right or wrong.

Not only does it extend games, making for an even later finish than they already are, but they often kill momentum in matches, with the majority of teams using them solely to have a rest.

But, on some occasions, they can be pivotal, and a successful challenge could be the difference between a victory and a defeat.

Here, we take a look at which sides are the most effective at using their challenges, and who need to work on when and how to use them.

But, before we get into how the teams rank, here are some more general stats about challenges.

After 15 rounds, there have been 207 challenges overall, with 91 of those being successful, 90 unsuccessful and 26 inconclusive.

Young referee Liam Rush has had the most challenges against his decisions with 30, which is understandable given he is still learning his way as a top-flight match official. Liam Moore has had 14 of 23 calls overturned, whilst Jack Smith has seen 13 of his 20 challenges upheld.

50 of the 207 have come in the final 10 minutes of matches, which is only four fewer than challenges in the opening 30 minutes of games. That suggests teams are waiting to use their challenge at a key part of the game, and if that doesn’t occur, they use it for a rest period as they look to see out the game.

Ranking Super League sides by successful captain’s challenge decisions

14th: Toulouse Olympique – 20% successful

Winning just two of their 10 total challenges, it’s easy to imagine why Toulouse are the worst in the league at using the rule, given that they are the competition’s new boys and haven’t had an extra year of it as 11 other clubs did.

13th: Bradford Bulls – 23.08% successful

Winning three out of 13 challenges, the Bulls are next up, and similar to Toulouse, they are understandably down at the bottom end of the success rate. Interestingly, Bradford joint top of sides that have used the most Captain’s Challenges inside the opening 10 minutes of a game.

12th: St Helens – 25% successful

Paul Rowley’s men are unexpectedly low down in the success rate, winning just four of their 16 challenges. Just under a third of their challenges have come in the final 10 minutes of a game, highlighting they like to keep their challenge and save it for a perhaps more crucial part of the game.

11th: Castleford Tigers – 35.29% successful

Successful in six of 17, Ryan Carr’s side like to use their challenges early, and have opted to challenge a decision in the opening 20 minutes six times, more than anyone else in the competition.

10th: Hull KR – 42.86% successful

The Robins are one of three sides to not have an ‘inconclusive’ challenge this year, and have had six go their way and eight rejected.

9th: Wigan Warriors – 45.45% successful

The first to sit above the average success rate, the Warriors and Toulouse join KR in not having an ‘inconclusive’ challenge, with Matt Peet’s men winning five of their 11 challenges this year.

8th: York Knights – 46.67% successful

Unlike their newly-promoted counterparts, York are a lot better at knowing when to use their challenges, and have won seven of their 15 so far.

=5th: Catalans Dragons, Leigh Leopards and Warrington Wolves – 50% successful

Three teams sit with a success rate of half after 15 rounds, though Catalans have had a lot more challenges than the other two.

The French side have won 10 out of 20 – the most in the competition, whilst Leigh have won five from 10 and Wire six from 12.

4th: Hull FC – 52.63% successful

Joining Catalans with 10 successful challenges this season, the Black and Whites have also had three ‘inconclusives’ and six unsuccessful appeals.

=2nd: Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants- 52.94% successful

Coming in slightly higher than FC, both Leeds and Huddersfield have won nine of their 17 challenges this season.

Leeds have had two inconclusive and six unsuccessful, with the Giants have had four of each. Interestingly, seven of the Rhinos’ 17 challenges have come in the final 10 minutes of the game.

1st: Wakefield Trinity – 56.25% successful

Topping the success rate is Daryl Powell’s Trinity, who ironically launched a scathing review of the captain’s challenge earlier in the month.

His side have won nine of their 16 challenges, with three being called inconclusive and four being rejected.