Top 5 Super League teams of all-time

Rugby League fans are in for a treat this year as the new Super League season is fast approaching, with every game televised for the first time in the competition’s history.

All eyes will be able to be on the Super League this season, but before the competition officially kicks off, we’re taking a look back at some of the competition’s greatest champions, whether it be League Leaders or Grand Final victors.

We give you the low-down on some of the best teams the competition has seen below.  

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Castleford Tigers, 2017

The Castleford Tigers side of 2017 are a memorable team not only for the Wheldon Road faithful, but for Super League fans and lovers of rugby league across the country. Marshalled by Daryl Powell, the Tigers had one of the greatest seasons in their history as they romped to the 2017 League Leaders’ Shield.

This was the Tigers’ first and only League Leaders’ Shield but it was no fluke as they racked up 50 points across the season, and they remain only one of three sides to have ever achieved this feat.

The 2017 side embodied ‘Classy Cas’ as they are known, with Powell constructing a plethora of swift attacking moves, the most effective of which saw full-back Zak Hardaker looping round between centre and winger to touch down, scoring 13 tries in the league that season. Other key players included Luke Gale, the driving force and mastermind in the side, as well as classy second-rower Mike McMeeken, 38-try scoring winger Greg Eden and a host of others.

It was however not to be for Cas in the Grand Final as the absence of key man Zak Hardaker saw them fall to a 24-6 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Leeds Rhinos, whom they had beaten in all four of their meetings previously that season.

St Helens, 2019

The most recent side on our list is the St Helens team of 2019. This Saints team are the only team to better Castleford’s 50-point total as they racked up 52 on their way to the League Leaders Shield, losing just three league games that season, with two of those defeats astonishingly coming at the hands of London Broncos, who would go on to be relegated.

Justin Holbrook’s side was a star-studded one, boasting names such as James Roby, Jonny Lomax, Alex Walmsley and Tommy Makinson – the latter of which led the try-scoring chart in 2019, notching up 23.

The Saints did fall to a defeat in the Challenge Cup final, but they bounced back in style to win the League Leaders and Grand Final double, securing a convincing 23-6 win over Old Trafford debutants Salford.

Bradford Bulls, 2003

Those with only recent memories of rugby league may not know Bradford Bulls as one of Super League’s greatest teams, but they have put together some of the competition’s, and the sport as a whole’s, greatest sides of all time.

The 2003 team put together a plethora of rugby league legends including Stuart Fielden, Jamie Peacock and Robbie Hunter-Paul just to name a few.

The Bulls notched up 44 points in the league, alongside a successful Challenge Cup campaign in the final, in which they defeated Leeds Rhinos 22-20 in a hotly contested match. This was to be the first trophy in their treble-winning season.

They went on to bag the League Leaders’ Shield along with a Grand Final victory over Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford, completing the Treble. They then went on to become the second team in history to complete the coveted quadruple, defeated Brisbane Broncos 20–14 in the World Club Challenge.

Leeds Rhinos, 2015

Many may argue that the 2015 Leeds Rhinos are the greatest team that Super League has ever seen and the mere fact that they were unable to secure the quadruple is really the only thing stopping them from topping our list.

The 2015 Rhinos, led by legendary head coach Brian McDermott, were an unstoppable force as they combined flourishing talent with some of Super League’s greatest names, securing the League Leaders Shield with a total of 41 points.

Zak Hardaker starred yet again, as he did for the Tigers two seasons later, alongside some of the greatest players the game has ever seen with Danny McGuire, Kevin Sinfield, Ryan Hall and Rob Burrow at the epicentre.

The Rhinos secured the Challenge Cup in emphatic fashion with a 50-0 thrashing of Hull KR in the final, whilst the Grand Final was a closer contest which saw Kevin Sinfield kick the decisive points in a 22-20 victory of Wigan, securing the Treble.

St Helens, 2006

Topping the list is another St Helens side, this time from 2006. This Saints side are the third and most recent side to have won the quadruple and also boast the fourth highest points total ever in a Super League season.

48 points was more than enough to see Saints lift the League Leaders’ Shield, an impressive tally given their run in Challenge Cup which saw them run out one of the most dominant winners in the history of the competition, culminating in a 42-12 victory over Huddersfield at Twickenham.

Their Grand Final victory was equally as emphatic as they brushed Hull FC aside by a 26-4 scoreline. The likes of Jon Wilkin, Leon Pryce, James Graham and Paul Wellens all played their part in a wholly dominant season for Daniel Anderson’s Saints side.

They capped of a successful 2006 by becoming only the second rugby league team in history to win the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award, following that up by beating Brisbane 18–14 to win the World Club Challenge, securing the quadruple and cementing them as one of, if not the greatest, Super League side of all-time.