Super League 2024 - That Fixtures Article

It’s less than seven weeks since Sam Tomkins sliced through Saints’ over-pursuing defence to end the Drive For Five in the dying moments of the Super League semi-final.  Yet thoughts can now turn to what is to unfold in 2024 with the release of the Super League fixtures.

Saints won’t have to face Tomkins again.  The former Wigan man retired following the Dragons’ Grand Final loss to his old club.  If you listen to many rugby league afficionados the Warriors are set for a spell atop the Super League perch.  Having wrestled the title from Saints last term they have made some ambitious moves in the transfer market, not least in the pack where former Saint Luke Thompson will be joined by ex-Leeds duo Sam Walters and Kruise Leeming as well as Sam Eseh, the Wakefield man who Saints’ ITK (in the know) brigade assured us would be moving to this side of Billinge lump.  

Yet we don’t have to worry about Matty Peet’s side until we host them in the Good Friday derby on March 29.  That is round six.  Before then we open with a visit from already doomed London Broncos on February 16 before another early season visit to Huddersfield in round 2.  In case you haven’t heard, that’s not me writing off the Broncos’ hopes of competing on the field.  We all saw what Leigh Leopards achieved last year having won promotion from the Championship.  No, that’s me pointing out that even if the London side can compete they will still be bounced back to the Championship for 2025 thanks to our new overlords at IMG not liking the cut of their collective jib.  Only the cool kids get to be in Super League in 2025.  Good results, even trophies, are no longer legal tender. 

Leigh come to Saints to renew a burgeoning rivalry in round 3 on March 1 and they are followed a week later by Salford Red Devils.  Saints then go to Leeds in round 5 on March 15 before the traditional Easter derby.

If that fixture seems tricky then consider that April starts with a trip to Perpignan, scene of our semi-final defeat, to take on the Dragons once more.  The last 16 of the Challenge Cup follows that before a more gentle looking fortnight with home games against perennial disappointments Hull FC and the Giants.  A trip to the other side of Hull to face Challenge Cup finalists and playoff semi-finalists Hull KR ushers in May which also includes a trip to Castleford and home games against the Dragons and Rhinos.

There are no home Super League games pencilled in for June, so book  your holidays now would be my sage advice.  Instead the month opens with another cup round before Saints visit the Broncos on June 16 and Salford on June 23.  The visit of Castleford opens July on the 5^th and then hostilities with Wigan are renewed at the DW Stadium (Latics permitting) on July 12.  Warrington are in town on July 19 before a testing month ends with a little jaunt out to Leigh on July 26.

It's back to Hull to begin August with FC on the agenda on August 3.  The Red Devils are Saints’ hosts on August 10 and then – guess who? – yes it’s our old friends Wigan, only this time on the neutral and universally disapproved of territory of Leeds United’s Elland Road during the Magic Weekend.  Rumours that the decision to move the event there in a bid to finally show its remaining supporters what an abject waste of time it all is are as yet unconfirmed.  Now that every game of every round is going to be televised I’m even more convinced that it should be hoofed into the long grass like a dubiously awarded penalty for an incorrect play-the-ball.

What is positive about Magic this year is that coming as it does just six games from the end of the regular season there is every chance that it will throw up some unexpectedly crucial fixtures.  Yes there is a chance that it may also turn some promising looking clashes into dead rubbers depending on how the season has been panning out until then but I like the gamble that has been taken on that one.  I’m less enamoured with the lack of imagination that has seen us paired with our local rivals once more. 

Aside from the competitive disadvantage both clubs suffer from having to face each other while someone else gets to play a London side well and truly on autopilot by then, there is just the suggestion that another derby is overkill.  If we were to meet in the cup and the playoffs we could cross paths up to five times.  Considering that an entire season, including the maximum number of Challenge Cup and playoff rounds is only 34 games I’d tentatively suggest that having five of those against the same opposition is beyond the pale.

August ends back home against Hull KR on the 23^rd before a second visit to Huddersfield on September 1.  Another routine win at Warrington follows on September 6 while it would be even more surprising than losing to Warrington if Saints were to fail to beat Castleford at home seven days later.  The regular season ends at the Leigh Sports Village on September 20. 

After that it is the playoffs, where Saints have been ever-present since they were reintroduced in 1998.  Will Wigan fulfil the prophecies and defend their title?  Will Warrington ever be champions again?  Do Leeds even want to make the playoffs?  Are Hull FC just so bad that even a serial winner like Tony Smith can’t get a tune out of them?  And will Rovers’ recent ascendency continue under Willie Peters?  Can he take them back towards their early 80s pomp?  Will anyone else contend for playoff spots or even a place in the Grand Final?

We can’t really know.  But what we do know is that London Broncos will get relegated.  Knowing that fully 85 days before we welcome them to our humble abode is more OMG than IMG.