Both the Catalans Dragons and Hull Kingston Rovers could finish round eight at the top of the league as they met in the south of France for arguably the tie of the round, the Dragons needing just a win to go two points clear at the top, KR needing to win by a forty-point margin to jump four places.

The bookies favoured a home win, handicapping the Dragons by six points on the coupon, but the Robins are it making up the numbers in 2024 and were looking to take the two points to lift themselves level on league points with the four sides ahead of them.

The atmosphere was electric as the two sides took to the field.

In a repeat of the 2023 Challenge Cup Final, Hull Kingston Rovers were looking for revenge against a Leigh Leopards side who were hungry for a return trip to Wembley to relive the glories of last season.

Hull KR favourites, based on their great start to the Super League season, and they were handicapped by eight points on the coupon, but this was the cup and in the cup it is possible for anything to happen.

It was a full-blooded opening eight minutes with both sides setting out their intentions early in proceedings, Leigh having the better of the but it was the Robins who opened the scoring with Joe Burgess breaking the Leigh line on his own twenty and sprinting down the centre of the field to sidestep the full back and go in under the sticks.

Mikey Lewis was unable to add the conversion.

The atmosphere and expectations were much different from when Hull KR and Hull FC met in the opening fixture of the season, when the sides were on parity with high hopes and dreams for the season ahead.

The Good Friday derby game saw a Hull KR side who were doing well in mid-table and who knew that a win would put them level on points with the current top of the table while FC came into the game third bottom with the hopes that a win would lift them above Leigh into ninth spot.

KR humiliated the Airlie Birds on that occasion with a big twenty-two point victory, keeping their old enemy pointless and sending the home crowd home with desperation on their faces.

The bookies expected that it would the Robins who would take the win and the points with a massive twenty-two-point handicap on the coupon, no-one gave the visitors a chance.

Warrington Wolves travelled east to take on Hull KR as two of the sides who hope to be in contention for the top six at the end of the season met with a chance to go to the top of the table, at least for twenty-four hours.

Nial Evalds replaced Joe Burgess for the Robins while Sam Burgess’s side saw the returns of George Williams, Connor Wrench and Jordy Crowther.

Hull KR were favourites for the win with the Wolves being given a four-point start on the handicap with both sides knowing that a win would send them second, a big win for either side sending them above St Helens into top spot, but most pundits thought it would be a close game.

Hull Kingston Rovers had their eyes on the top of the table as they travelled to a soggy Greater Manchester to take on a Salford Red Devils side who were looking to spoil the visitors one hundred percent start to the season, and go back above the Leeds Rhinos into the top half of the table.

A win of any description would lift KR into second, a big points win would see them finish the round in top spot and they were favourites with the bookies to take the points off Salford, the home side getting eight points start on the coupon.

Salford lost Ryan Brierley prior to kick off with a hamstring issue, Chris Atkin stepping into his shoes at full back for the hosts.

After a perfect start to the season, humiliating their arch enemies from across the city, Hull Kingston Rovers welcomed the Leeds Rhinos to Craven Park for the opening match of round two of Super League XXIX, hoping for another clean sheet but happy to settle for a win and the important two points.

The only change to the starting thirteen for the home side was the promotion of George King and the selection of Corey Hall to the bench in place of Matt Parcell (suspended) while Leeds had Justin Sangare in for Oledzki (shoulder), Bentley stepping off the bench into the starting line-up in place of Donaldson and Alfie Edgell for Lachlan Miller who was taken ill on the coach.

The home side were the favourites for the win, the Rhinos given a six-point start on the handicap coupon as the bookies believed that Mikey Lewis would again turn on the style and the Rhinos would struggle on the road.

After a Titanic battle in the south of France, the Catalans Dragons eliminated the reigning Champions St Helens with a last-minute Sam Tomkins Try which saw the French side into their second Grand Final in three years while ending the four-year domination of the most successful side of the modern era.

The second play-off promised to be equally as dramatic as the Wigan Warriors, sought a return to Old Trafford for the first time since 2020 as they came up against a Hull KR side intent on reaching their first ever Grand Final.

This was the fifth meeting of the season between the two sides with honours shared at two wins each despite Wigan having a massive points aggregate advantage thanks to their 64-6 triumph in the most recent meeting in August and which made them strong favourites with the bookies for the win at the DW Stadium and progress to Old Trafford.

Super League entered the knock-out stages with a play-off encounter between two sides who have had sensational seasons and exceeded all expectations as Hull KR played hosts to the cup winning Leigh Leopards at Craven Park with the winners going through to a game against one of the top two next weekend.

It was KR who finished the regular season in fourth spot, and they were handicapped by six points on the coupon against the side who felt hard done by when they narrowly lost to the Wigan Warriors last weekend to drop from fourth a swap places with their hosts on points difference.

The season would end for one of these two after what promised to be an intense eighty minutes as the two sides played out a re-run the Challenge Cup final.

A play-off place was at stake at Craven Park as Hull KR took on the Salford Red Devils in a Saturday evening fixture, the ultimate game of the penultimate round of Super League in 2023 with both sides desperate for the crucial two points which would make their chances of a play-off berth a lot more likely.

A win for Hull KR would guarantee that they couldn’t finish the season any lower than fifth place, but a win for the Red Devils would see them move two points ahead of seventh placed Warrington Wolves and in full control of their own destiny when they face the Catalans Dragons in the final game of the season next Friday.

A loss for Salford would mean that they are in all sorts of trouble, especially as their challengers for sixth spot, Warrington, play Huddersfield Giants next week.

Once place remained at Wembley on the 12th August, a three o’clock appointment to face the Leigh Leopards in the Challenge Cup final and it would be either the cup kings Wigan Warriors, or underdogs Hull KR who would be taking it.

Wigan are currently third in the table after losing just one game in their last seven, while Hull KR are sixth on the back of just three wins in their last seven.

The bookies fancied that it would be the Wigan Warriors travelling to Wembley to face near neighbours Leigh and the bookies agreed as they gave the Robins an eight-point start on the coupon.

We were set for the best game of the weekend.

It was a ten-point victory for the Salford Red Devils when the two sides met at the Magic Weekend in Newcastle a fortnight ago, but Hull KR would be hoping to put that defeat behind them and make progress into the semi-finals of the 2023 Betfred Challenge Cup as the two sides met at Craven Park in the opening game of an action packed weekend of quarter finals games.

For most people it was too close to call, the bookies giving the visitors a slight edge and awarding Hull KR a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

Hull KR came into the game with enforced changes including the absence of injured Lachlan Coote who was replaced by debutant Tanguy Zenon, but Salford named the same eighteen that emerged victorious from the game in Newcastle.

One of the games of the weekend was first up on the Saturday of Newcastle Magic Weekends as sixth placed Salford Red Devils faced a Hull KR side confounding the critics and residing in fourth spot with no indication that they intend to give up on a play-off place or even chasing the title.

The sides went into the game on level league points, KR with a far superior points difference but while a win by more than sixteen points would lift the Robins up into second place, at least temporarily, a victory for the Red Devils would see them go above their opponents and into fourth spot in the table.

The bookies were struggling to pick a favourite, giving Salford a small start on the coupon.

The tie of the round saw two sides with terrific Challenge Cup wins last weekend opened round thirteen of Super League with a Thursday evening clash as third placed Hull Kingston Rovers welcomed second place Wigan Warriors to Craven Park for a top of the table clash with second place up for grabs for the winners.

All that separated the two sides is a difference of eight points in the points difference column with KR having scored three points more than Wigan while they had conceded eleven more.

It was almost impossible to make a call between the two sides and the bookies had made KR slight favourites with their home advantage.

The two sides met om the opening weekend of the season when KR set out their stall for the season with a 27-18 win.

Fourth took on seventh as two sides tied on six points in the fledgling table met at Craven Park in the televised Friday night game with the home side installed as slight favourites with the bookies and giving the Rhinos a two point start on the handicap coupon.

With St Helens taking on bottom side Wakefield the likelihood was that either of these two sides would need a big winning margin to end the night in fourth on points difference, but both would probably settle for the top half of the table after round seven.

KR welcomed back Jordan Abdull to their line up but were without Shaun Kenny-Dowall, while the Rhinos were without Richie Myler and Nene MacDonald while they gave a debut to Luke Hooley at full back and welcomed Mikael Oledzki back into the side.

Hull KR had this week’s trip to France to take on a high-flying Catalans Dragons who were seeking a win by twenty-three or more points to go above the Warrington Wolves to the top of the table and to maintain their one-hundred-percent start to the season.

The Robins and their fans made the journey knowing that if they could enter the cauldron of the Stade Gilbert Brutus and emerge with the precious points then they would be up to fourth place in the table after the opening five rounds of the competition.

The Dragons were made the bookies favourites with home advantage but with KR having just a twelve point start on the handicap coupon there was some certainty that this would be a competitive game with the visitors having a chance of springing a surprise.

Two sides with opening round wins came together for the Thursday night televised game on Sky as the Salford Red Devils welcomed Hull KR to the AJ Bell for their first home game of the season.

The Red Devils had Burgess back in the side after he missed last week´s game against Leigh, while the visitors were without first choice goal kicker Lachlan Coote and veteran winger Ryan Hall but could call on the services of Shaun Kenny-Dowall who scored a hat-trick last time out against Wigan.

Salford were odds on for the win with the bookies, KR being given a ten point start on the handicap coupon.

The winners would spend the evening at the top of the table.

With the whole nation still buzzing from the morning´s brilliant Saints victory over the Penrith Panthers in the World Club Challenge, Hull KR and Wigan Warriors went into battle in round one of the Super League as they got their 2023 campaigns underway in Channel 4´s first televised Super League game of the year.

It was new coach Willie Peters first game in charge of the Robins, their supporters full of hope that this would be a new dawn as they took up the quest for silverware.

With one successful season under his belt, including the Challenge Cup win, Matt Peet knows that 2023 is the year he will be judged on how well he challenges the St Helens monopoly.

It was a big Craven Park turnout and a great atmosphere.

Toulouse made the trip to East Yorkshire to take on Danny McGuire´s Hull KR side knowing that a win by four points or more would lift them off the bottom of the table, and throw the challenge back to Wakefield Trinity as the battle to avoid relegation continues.

But Hull KR also had their own points agenda.

A thirty-point win would see them up to seventh in the table, putting pressure on their Black and White neighbours, but a loss would likely see them drift further from the play off places come the end of the weekend.

KR were given an eight-point handicap on the coupon, the bookies expecting them to condemn Toulouse Olympique XIII to their seventeenth loss of the season.

Hull KR faced a daunting trip to Wigan to take on a Warriors side who are still in second place despite being taken apart by the Leeds Rhinos last Thursday.

KR picked up a win over a struggling Warrington Wolves side last time out which was a big confidence boost for the side under the temporary stewardship of Danny McGuire.

The bookies couldn´t see beyond a bounce back win for the Warriors and they game the Robins a twenty-four-point start in the handicap coupon, but as we push towards settling the end of season play-off places there have been some strange results across the Super League.

Would this be one of the strange ones, the usual hordes making the journey from Hull hoped so.

The final game of the Magic Weekend was the Hull derby as two sides struggling for form did battle with the Robins taking on the Airlie Birds for local bragging rights.

A KR win by more than twenty-seven points would lift them above FC and into sixth place, a win of any description would see then seventh.

If FC could get the points, then they would be up to fifth, providing that the win was by four or more points.

Both sides were in dour form, struggling for points, and many supporters were arriving wondering whether it was possible for both sides to lose.

The last time that either side won was over a month ago, it didn´t bode well for the game that was bringing down the curtain on an excellent weekend.

The bookies were struggling to distinguish between the two sides, giving FC a two-point start on the coupon and showing KR as slight favourites despite them sacking their coach after last weekend´s loss to Toulouse and lots of changes to both sides.