| Super League XVII | |
|---|---|
| League | Super League |
| Duration | 27 Rounds |
| Teams | 14 |
| Highest attendance | 21,522 Wigan Warriors vsSt Helens (7 September) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,517 London Broncos vsSalford City Reds(4 August)[citation needed] |
| Average attendance | 10,151[citation needed] |
| Broadcast partners | Sky Sports BBC Sport Eurosport beIN Sports Fox Soccer Plus Sport Klub |
| 2012 season | |
| Champions | Leeds Rhinos 6thSuper League title 9thBritish title |
| League Leaders | Wigan Warriors |
| Runners-up | Warrington Wolves |
| Man of Steel |  Sam Tomkins |
| Top point-scorer |  Scott Dureau (281)[citation needed] |
| Top try-scorer | Josh Charnley (31)[1] |
TheStobart Super League XVII was the official name of the 2012 Super League season.[2] Fourteen teams competed over 27 rounds, after which the 8 highest finishing teams entered the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win the championship and the Super League Trophy.
The season kicked off on 3 February with two Round 1 fixtures being played: theWidnes Vikings, in their first Super League match since 2005, lost to theWakefield Trinity Wildcats, while defending champions theLeeds Rhinos defeated theHull Kingston Rovers and ended on 6 October withLeeds Rhinos beatingWarrington Wolves 26-18 in the2012 Super League Grand Final.[3]
Super League XVII was the first year of thesecond round of Super League licences. Under this system, promotion and relegation between Super League andChampionship was abolished, and 14 teams were granted licences subject to certain criteria. All existing Super League teams exceptCrusaders (who pulled out of the application process) earned a place in the 2012 season, Championship teamWidnes Vikings were given a licence after their application was deemed better thanHalifax andBarrow Raiders.
Geographically, the vast majority of teams in Super League are based in the north of England, five teams –Warrington,St. Helens,Salford,Wigan andWidnes – to the west ofthe Pennines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and seven teams to the east in Yorkshire –Huddersfield,Bradford,Wakefield Trinity,Leeds,Castleford,Hull F.C. andHull Kingston Rovers.Catalans Dragons are the only team based in France and are outside of the UK andLondon Broncos are the only team to be based in a capital city (London).
The maps below indicate the locations of teams that competed in Super League XVII.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| ReigningSuper League champions | |
| DefendingChallenge Cup Champions | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Wigan Warriors(L) | 27 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 994 | 449 | +545 | 42 | Play-offs |
| 2 |  Warrington Wolves | 27 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 909 | 539 | +370 | 41 | |
| 3 |  St Helens | 27 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 795 | 480 | +315 | 36 | |
| 4 |  Catalans Dragons | 27 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 812 | 611 | +201 | 36 | |
| 5 |  Leeds Rhinos(C) | 27 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 823 | 662 | +161 | 32 | |
| 6 |  Hull F.C. | 27 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 696 | 621 | +75 | 32 | |
| 7 |  Huddersfield Giants | 27 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 699 | 664 | +35 | 28 | |
| 8 |  Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 27 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 633 | 764 | −131 | 26 | |
| 9 |  Bradford Bulls | 27 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 633 | 756 | −123 | 23[a] | |
| 10 |  Hull Kingston Rovers | 27 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 753 | 729 | +24 | 21 | |
| 11 |  Salford City Reds | 27 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 618 | 844 | −226 | 17 | |
| 12 |  London Broncos | 27 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 588 | 890 | −302 | 14 | |
| 13 |  Castleford Tigers | 27 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 554 | 948 | −394 | 12 | |
| 14 |  Widnes Vikings | 27 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 532 | 1082 | −550 | 12 |
The play-offs commenced following the conclusion of the 27-round regular season. To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, Super League uses its uniqueplay-off system. The finals concluded with the2012 Super League Grand Final.[5]
| # | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referee | Attendance | ||||||
| QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINALS | |||||||||
| Q1 | Wigan Warriors | 46–6 | Catalans Dragons | 14 September 2012, 20:00BST | DW Stadium | Richard Silverwood | 7,232 | ||
| Q2 | Warrington Wolves | 6–28 | St. Helens | 15 September 2012, 18:00 BST | Halliwell Jones Stadium | Ben Thaler | 10,190 | ||
| E1 | Leeds Rhinos | 42–20 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 15 September 2012, 20:00 BST | Headingley Carnegie Stadium | Steve Ganson | 9,044 | ||
| E2 | Hull F.C. | 46–10 | Huddersfield Giants | 16 September 2012, 18:00 BST | KC Stadium | James Child | 8,662 | ||
| PRELIMINARY SEMI-FINALS | |||||||||
| P1 | Catalans Dragons | 20–27 | Leeds Rhinos | 21 September 2012, 20:45CEST | Stade Gilbert Brutus | Ben Thaler | 11,523 | ||
| P2 | Warrington Wolves | 24–12 | Hull F.C. | 22 September 2012, 18:45 BST | Halliwell Jones Stadium | Richard Silverwood | 7,323 | ||
| SEMI-FINALS | |||||||||
| SF1 | Wigan Warriors | 12–13 | Leeds Rhinos | 28 September 2012, 20:00 BST | DW Stadium | Richard Silverwood | 8,235 | ||
| SF2 | St. Helens | 18–36 | Warrington Wolves | 29 September 2012, 18:15 BST | Langtree Park | Ben Thaler | 12,715 | ||
| GRAND FINAL | |||||||||
| F | Leeds Rhinos | 26–18 | Warrington Wolves | 6 October 2012, 18:00BST | Old Trafford,Manchester | Richard Silverwood | 70,676 | ||
| 2012 Super League play-offs bracket | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Week 1. Qualifying/Elimination play-offs: Fixtures decided by regular reason finishing positions. Higher ranked teams play lower ranked teams. Higher ranked teams receive home ground advantage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top try-scorers[edit]
| Top try assists[edit]
|
Top goalscorers[edit]
| Top points scorers[edit]
|
| Rank | Player | Club |  [7] |  [7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael McIlorum | Wigan Warriors | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Luke O'Donnell | Huddersfield Giants | 1 | 1 |
| 3= | Bryn Hargreaves | Bradford Bulls | 0 | 1 |
| Gareth Hock | Wigan Warriors | |||
| Shaun Magennis | St Helens RLFC | |||
 Sam Moa | Hull FC | |||
 Tony Puletua | St Helens RLFC | |||
| Chris Tuson | Wigan Warriors | |||
| 9= |  Jason Baitieri | Catalans Dragons | 2 | 0 |
| Ben Cross | Widnes Vikings | |||
| Michael Dobson | Hull Kingston Rovers | |||
| Olivier Elima | Bradford Bulls | |||
| 12= | Vinnie Anderson | Salford City Reds | 1 | 0 |
| Jason Chan | Huddersfield Giants | |||
| Jon Clarke | Widnes Vikings | |||
| Tony Clubb | London Broncos | |||
| Leroy Cudjoe | Huddersfield Giants | |||
 Gil Dudson | Wigan Warriors | |||
| Jacob Emmitt | Castleford Tigers | |||
| Brett Ferres | Castleford Tigers | |||
| Paddy Flynn | Widnes Vikings | |||
| Jamie Foster | St Helens RLFC | |||
| Luke Gale | Bradford Bulls | |||
 Gareth Haggerty | Widnes Vikings | |||
| Ian Henderson | Catalans Dragons | |||
| Chris Hill | Warrington Wolves | |||
| Daniel Holdsworth | Salford City Reds | |||
| Ben Jeffries | Bradford Bulls | |||
| Heath L'Estrange | Bradford Bulls | |||
| Willie Manu | Hull FC | |||
| Stephen Nash | Castleford Tigers | |||
| Mark O'Meley | Hull FC | |||
| Richard Owen | Castleford Tigers | |||
| Luke Patten | Salford City Reds | |||
| Steve Pickersgill | Widnes Vikings | |||
| Karl Pryce | Bradford Bulls | |||
| Michael Robertson | London Broncos | |||
| Michael Shenton | St Helens RLFC | |||
| Kevin Sinfield | Leeds Rhinos | |||
| Scott Taylor | Hull Kingston Rovers | |||
| Anthony Watts | Widnes Vikings | |||
| Paul Wood | Warrington Wolves |
Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:[8]
2012 is the first year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season.[10] The deal which runs until 2016 is worth £90million.
Sky Sports coverage in the UK see two live matches broadcast each week – one on Friday night, which kicks-off at 8:00 pm and another usually on Saturday evenings at 5:45 pm,[11] although for 2012, some matches between May and August will be scheduled for Monday nights[12] at 8:00 pm, filling the gap vacated by the summer break ofPremier League football. Regular commentators wereEddie Hemmings andMike Stephenson with summarisers includingPhil Clarke,Shaun McRae,Brian Carney,Barrie McDermott andTerry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights this season in a new show on Sunday Nights calledSuper League - Full Time, usually airing at 10pm.
BBC Sport broadcast a highlights programme called theSuper League Show, presented byTanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme. The first is only to the BBCNorth West,Yorkshire & North Midlands,North East & Cumbria, andEast Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35pm onBBC One,[13] while a repeat showing is shown onBBC Two in the early hours of Tuesday morning. TheSuper League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via theBBC iPlayer in the UK only.[14] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package.
Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed onShowtime Sports (Middle East),Māori Television (New Zealand),TV 2 Sport (Norway),NTV+ (Russia),Fox Soccer Plus (United States),Eurosport (Australia) orSportsNet World (Canada).
BBC Coverage:
Commercial Radio Coverage:
All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.
ESPN3 has worldwide broadband rights.
Starting from Thursday 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports will also be available live online viaLivestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand.List of Super League games available on Livestation.com
