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.

On paper an intriguing tussle between fourth placed Huddersfield Giants and a Hull KR side in seventh spot, was one of three rare Sunday afternoon fixtures in Super League as the home side looked for a spot in the top half of the table and the visitors had their eye on the top three, should the Dragons slip up at Castleford.

The Robins named Elliot Minchella in the starting thirteen and Greg Richards on the bench in the only two changes to the side which lost narrowly to Saints a fortnight ago, while Innes Senior and Matty Russell were both back in the starting line-up for the Giants The Giants were slight favourites with the bookies but there was very little to choose between the sides, the big betting money was going in the Giants favour but the punters seemed to have more faith in Huddersfield than the pundits.

Following the shock announcement that Tony Smith would be leaving Hull KR at the end of the season, the Robins came into a rare Saturday afternoon game with their eyes on a potential fourth place in Super League, but they would need to defeat a Wakefield Trinity side who desperately needed a win after a couple of recent heavy defeats, to Wigan and Castleford.

The visitors had their free scoring talisman Tom Johnstone back in the side along with full back Max Jowitt and half back Jordan Abdull to give them a far more robust look.

KR had escaped with the points from a close game with Toulouse on Bank Holiday Monday and they welcomed back Lachlan Coote and utility back Sam Wood who were both absent in France.

The bookies had KR as the favourites and had given the visitors a ten-point start on the handicap coupon.

Castleford Tigers, who recorded a confident victory away at the Leeds Rhinos in their round six game, headed to Hull KR for a quarter final against a Robins side who had a close call against the Leigh Centurions before making progress themselves.

The sides currently reside in eighth and tenth places in the Super League table with the bookies slightly favouring the home side as they gave the Tigers a two-point start on the handicap coupon, but with the odds so close there really was little to choose between the sides coached by Tony Smith and Lee Radford.

In the last couple of matchups, the Tigers knocked the Robins out of the cup last season but the red and whites won the round three game in 2022 Super League.

 

What would have been a play off for the play-offs between the Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR had turned into a fight for the fifth and sixth spots and a shoot out as to who will play the Warrington Wolves, and who will face the Wigan Warriors, next weekend.

The maths was simple, a Hull KR win, or a draw after Golden Point would see the Robins face the Warriors and the Rhinos at the Wolves while a Leeds win would see a reverse of that permutation.

Both sides named their strongest available seventeens as they both looked to gain some form of momentum to take into what will be a challenging potential road to Old Trafford.