Plot twist: Super League 2025 is actually... really good?

If you’ve listened to the latest episode of the Real Class podcast, you’ll have heard me more than once implore you to basically ignore everything we say: we don’t know what we’re on about. It’s a valuable life lesson in the year 2025, when basically everyone has to have their own podcast to prove they exist. As Jon Wilkin (who, unlike most Leeds fans, I think can actually be an insightful broadcaster) will attest, if you have to say things into a microphone for longer than is healthy, you’re eventually going to talk shite.

I’m sitting down to write this the morning after Hull FC won 26-12 at Leigh. None of us on the pod tipped that result — Rhys did pick Hull to win by 1-12 points, but don’t let him fool you on the next episode, he only did that ‘cos he went last and felt the need to be different. Leigh are third in the league, while a run of one win in their last six games had seen Hull drop out of the play-off positions. Hull lost to Huddersfield for crying out loud! They’re playing Zak Hardaker and Ed Chamberlain in the second row! This wasn’t meant to happen!

But it did happen, thanks to an emphatic first-half performance in which Hull blitzed the hosts, scoring 26 unanswered points. The eternal enigma Aidan Sezer continues to play some of the most consistent rugby of his career. Will Pryce has injected some much-needed pace into their spine. Prop Herman Ese’Ese is basically impossible to stop close to the tryline and is more prolific this season than the second-top tryscorer in Super League history. Liam Knight looks like Action Man.

When the time comes to predict next weekend’s results, I might as well flip a coin to decide every game apart from those involving Huddersfield and Salford, who are quite comfortably the two worst teams in the competition. I’m not really sure what has happened to Huddersfield — other than the fact they keep signing full-backs for no reason and couldn’t find a head coach so let Luke Robinson have a go despite all previous evidence suggesting that might not be the best idea — but Salford at least have an excuse. Their botched takeover has been The Story in Super League this season, paving the way for a leadership coup at the RFL and desperate pleas for the NRL to give us a load of money even though nobody seems to have any coherent thoughts on what that money should be spent on to improve things. (Huddersfield owner Ken Davy would probably just give Robinson a new contract and bring Richie Mathers out of retirement to play, I dunno, loose-forward?)

But as usual, the focus on the crisis at Salford and whatever the hell is happening at the RFL have detracted from what is happening on the pitch. And I’m starting to think this Super League season might actually be... good? Exciting even? Or at the very least competitive? Am I allowed to say that these days?

Take a glance at the Super League table and it’s hard to work out what it all means. The top and bottom definitely make sense. Like Salford and Huddersfield at the bottom, Hull KR and Wigan at the top are definitely the two best teams. But the eight teams between them — no idea. Sure, Castleford’s position as the third worst is correct, but after entering the season with a bafflingly underpowered squad are slowly getting their act together aided by the shrewd appointment of Chris Chester as director of rugby and could still bloody enough noses for Danny McGuire to keep his job as head coach for another year.

In third, Leigh can be gritty enough to win 1-0 at reigning champions Wigan or loose enough to ship forty against Wakefield. After winning five on the bounce, defeat against Hull was their third in a row. For the first time in years, I’m pretty confident this is a good Leeds Rhinos team, mainly due to Brad Arthur’s coaching, yet they’re only two points ahead of St Helens, whose fans are convinced their boss Paul Wellens needs to be replaced.

After losing to Saints last weekend, Catalans owner Bernard Guasch strung Steve McNamara up in his meat factory and left Sam Tomkins to tell Sky they need a new coach (they still haven't officially announced McNamara's departure). If they get that appointment right, the Dragons should have enough star power in their squad to make the play-offs, but that’s certainly no certainty when Daryl Powell is bringing some of the most exciting rugby in the league out of a Wakefield squad that should, on paper, be closer to the bottom four rather than two points off the top four.

In their last game, Shaky Wakey battered an incredibly flakey Warrington, who responded by sacking forward Zane Musgrove for an alleged punch-up with a teammate amid offers from their fans to pay for full-back Matt Dufty and coach Sam Burgess’ plane tickets back to Australia — a week after both were instrumental in leading the Wolves to the Challenge Cup final.

Are you keeping up at the back? No? Fair enough. It’s all very confusing. I’m not even sure whether being unable to tell whether so many teams are any good or not is A Good Thing, but a quick glance Down Under suggests it’s much the same in the NRL, so if the big plan for Super League is to be more like the NRL then that seems like a decent start. At the time of writing, Canterbury are top but have just been stuffed 44-8 at home by the 12th-placed Dolphins. New Zealand Warriors are second with a +5 points difference. Melbourne are third with a 60% win record and the benefit of two byes. Canberra are good when they’re not blowing 20-0 half-time leads. Below them – again, who the hell knows? At least in the Gold Coast Titans and Newcastle Knights, Australia has their answer to Salford and Huddersfield. Weirdly, neither are bottom of the league, because Parramatta are a one-man team and that one man is scrum-half Mitchell Moses, who’s usually either injured or playing for New South Wales.

I’d love to make it make sense, but as I warned you at the top: we don’t know what we’re on about at Real Class. And as I’ve learned over the years, I’ve enjoyed plenty of things I don’t really understand. So maybe it's for the best that I don't bother trying to work it all out and instead just see you all in October, when Leeds have finished fifth and won the Grand Final again. ⬧