One of the biggest upsets of the rugby league season has landed with the Championship’s bottom side Dewsbury Rams ending the play-off hopes of Sheffield Eagles.
On the final day of the Rugby League Championship’s regular season, everything was still up for grabs for several teams, however, Dewsbury was not one of them.
The Rams had known about their relegation for weeks after winning just one of their first 25 games, conceding over 900 points across the campaign following their promotion from League One. Despite being confirmed to finish bottom the table, the Rams put in an incredible performance in front of their home fans to knock local rivals Sheffield Eagles out of the top six.
Priced at 33/1 to win, it will go down as one of the biggest betting upsets ever in Rugby League, particularly in a league campaign, considering that London Broncos’ improbable win over Catalans Dragons earlier this year was only priced at 12/1.
Whilst it’s an incredible feat for the Rams, it’s a devastating end of the season for Sheffield who had been among the top contenders early on in the year. They’ve now ended the season in seventh place, missing out on the play-offs on points difference after losing nine of their last twelve games, including seven of their final eight.
Even more devastating for the Eagles is that they’re actually only 22 points shy on points difference of sixth-place Featherstone Rovers.
The Eagles campaign seemed to derail when head coach Mark Aston was stood down after an Rugby Football League investigation that has excluded him from all club activities, even the attending of the club’s end-of-season awards.
Championship Rugby League play-offs confirmed
Elsewhere in the Championship, already-relegated Whitehaven put on a show for their loyal home support in their final game in the competition as they beat Halifax Panthers 23-20. Kyle Amor’s side will be back in League One alongside Dewsbury for the 2025 season.
Swinton Lions could be in League One as well next year after they finished 12th following their 50-0 loss to third-place Bradford. The Lions will play the winner of the League One play-off final to determine their fate.
Toulouse Olympique had already wrapped up second when they beat Batley Bulldogs 64-16 yesterday, whilst there was another large score as Wakefield Trinity capped off an incredible campaign with a 72-6 win over Doncaster.
Into the play-off teams and Featherstone scraped into sixth despite losing to York Knights, courtesy of their 22 point advantage over Sheffield. Rovers lost 16-6 as Mark Applegarth’s Knights finished fourth after going on an incredible run of form to turn their season around.
York’s play-off opponents will be Widnes Vikings who beat Barrow Raiders 26-24 to secure fifth place.
The Championship play-offs will start next week and details of the fixtures can be seen below.
Bradford Bulls vs Featherstone Rovers
York Knights vs Widnes Vikings
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