Round Ten is in the books and it certainly didn’t disappoint with Saturday’s action boasting two of the best games of the season, but was that reflected in the Super League Attendance figures?
Round Nine saw a disappointing figure of just over 40,000 with Hull KR’s home sell-out against Wigan unreported, however, it likely still meant a Super League attendance of less than 50,000 fans combined.
It marked the first week all season that not one game had registered 10,000 fans or more, a major blow for the competition.
This week has hit back though with superb action capped off by Saturday’s dramatic results that marked the true start of warm-weather rugby and that has seen a boost in Super League attendance figures.
Saturday’s action saw Hull KR confirm their status as challengers with a 40-20 win over St Helens with Willie Peters’ side playing some electric rugby on the dry track at Craven Park.
The same could be said for both Leigh and Castleford who scored some brilliant tries in an all-action 28-28 draw at the Leigh Sports Village. As entertaining as the on-field action was, the pre-match speech by Derek Beaumont addressing those in the Hospitality Suite caught the attention of plenty too as he labelled Hull FC “desperate” over their conduct in signing John Asiata.
Hull had played the night prior with off-field action again consuming the headlines as new Director of Rugby Richie Myler clashed with Sam Burgess in the tunnel following Wire’s 24-6 win.
Other results that night saw Leeds Rhinos put London Broncos to the sword 46-8 and Salford held off a late Huddersfield comeback to cling on 18-16.
The week had started with Wigan hosting Catalans in a repeat of the Grand Final with Wigan taking the spoils, scoring 30 unanswered points to win 30-8.
With such brilliant rugby on show, the question is how many watched the games live? The confirmed Super League attendance figures are below.
Super League Attendance: Bank Holiday Weekend sees 10k boost from Round Nine
Credit: Imago Images
With the Grand Final rematch kicking the week off, the Super League attendance numbers peaked but that huge crowd of 14,481 at the DW Stadium set the tone for a well-attended weekend.
The one game that didn’t perform too well was arguably Friday’s best game as Huddersfield and Salford brought in just 4,483 at the John Smiths Stadium.
Meanwhile, the attendance at Headingley and the Halliwell Jones Stadium combined for more than 22,000.
It was a rarity but Hull KR’s attendance as actually confirmed for once with Sky Sports reporting the game as a genuine sell-out with 10,500 packed into Craven Park. The Robins have had multiple home sell-outs this season but the Red Vee faithful travelled in numbers to ensure that there was also an away sell-out too.
The game of the weekend got to be played in front of a strong crowd too as over 8,000 turned up at the Leigh Sports Village for the 28-28 epic, meaning a combined attendance figure of 59,618 across all six games.
A full list of the Super League attendance figures for Round Ten can be seen below.
Wigan Warriors 30-8 Catalans Dragons (DW Stadium) – 14,481
Huddersfield Giants 16-18 Salford Red Devils (John Smiths Stadium) – 4,483
Warrington Wolves 24-6 Hull FC (Halliwell Jones Stadium) – 8,860
Leeds Rhinos 46-8 London Broncos (Headingley) – 13,259
Hull KR 40-20 St Helens (Craven Park) – 10,500
Leigh Leopards 28-28 Castleford Tigers (Leigh Sports Village) – 8,035
