Castleford breathed a collective sigh of relief last night as relegation rivals Wakefield Trinity’s winning run came to an end at the hands of fellow West Yorkshire side, the Huddersfield Giants leaving the door open for them to increase the points gap to four if they could travel to west Hull and take the points off a Black and Whites side who themselves needed the points to keep alive their faint hopes of the play-offs.

FC have emerged victorious from both encounters so far this season and they got a confidence boosting win over their arch enemy from across the city in the derby last Sunday, and the bookies made them big favourites to pile more misery on the Tigers in the Saturday afternoon kick off.

Warrington Wolves hadn’t beaten the Wigan Warriors in their last four meetings coming into tonight’s crucial round nineteen encounter at the DW Stadium with both sides tied together on twenty-two points and needing the win to join Leigh Leopards in joint second place.

Wigan won the last encounter, the 14-12 win the Challenge Cup quarter final a month ago and all indications were that tonight’s game could be as close, but Warrington are currently in free fall having lost their last three outings, Wigan looking to bounce back after last weekend’s golden point loss to Wakefield Trinity.

Wigan were the bookies favourites having been handicapped by eight points on the coupon.

The league leaders, the Catalans Dragons, travelled to St Helens for a top of the table clash with the Champions in the back of shock defeat at home to the Huddersfield Giants last weekend.

A win for the Saints would lift them within two points of the top of the table and open the door for the Leigh Leopards to take top spot should they beat Salford on Sunday afternoon but a win for the Dragons would lift them four points clear and guarantee that they go into the last quarter of the regular season on top spot with their destiny in their own hands.

It was a mouthwatering prospect for the Saints crowd and those tuning in on SKY and the bookies gave the home side the edge, handicapping them by eight points on the coupon.

As Queensland Maroons had already won the 2023 State of Origin series, the only thing left to play for in the third and final game of the series was pride.

Pride for Queensland in securing the first whitewash since 2010, and pride for the New South Wales Blues to deny them and avoid a three-game series defeat.

While Queensland made just two changes to their line up with Horsburgh and Dearden replacing Walsh and Flegler, there were wholesale changes for the Blues with Brad Fittler bringing in eight new faces in the form of; Best, Gutherson, Walker, Saifiti, Jake Trbojevic, Kolomatangi, Campbell-Gillard and Drinkwater.

The bookies were erring on the side of a Queensland whitewash, New South Wales with a two-point start on the coupon as the Accor Stadium in Sydney held its breath.

While neither side could improve their league position as a result of the final round eighteen championship match as fifth placed Bradford Bulls travelled over the Pennines on a Monday evening to take on a Widnes Vikings side currently in eighth place and needing the win to remain in contention for a play-off place.

It was a close game when the two sides met back in February, the Bulls victorious on that occasion by just two points with a scoreline of 14-12.

A Bulls win would get them within a league point of the two sides above them while a win for Widnes would keep their hopes alive and put them two points behind London Broncos.

The Bulls were string favourites with the bookies, Widnes with a fourteen-point start on the coupon.

Every major golf competition has its ‘moving day’, the third round of a four round competition when those players on the fringes of the leader board know that they need to push into the top echelons or drop out of contention as the top players pull away into their own little competitive group for the final round.

With eighteen rounds of a twenty-seven round Super League 2023 now almost complete (barring the postponed game between St Helens and the Huddersfield Giants) we are two games away from entering the final quarter of the regular season, a crucial time when clubs need to start making their move if they are to peak at the end of the year.

Cast an eye over the fixture calendar for the coming round and it is clear that it could have a significant influence over the final league table, our very own Super League ‘moving day’.

The Salford Red Devils were looking to rejoin the three sides in third place on twenty-two league points but standing in their way was a round eighteen game against Super League’s least predictable team, the Leeds Rhinos who themselves were eyeing up seventh spot.

Salford were the victors by ten points when the sides last met in early May, but it was the visitors who were slight favourites with the bookies this time out, Salford being given a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

This was a crucial game for both sides in their push for the play-offs, a win for the Red Devils would consolidate their place in the top six, while victory for their opponents would open the door for a charge into the six from the sides immediately outside the zone, including the Leeds Rhinos.

A Hull derby is always eagerly anticipated and when FC have the opportunity of travelling across the city to dent their arch-rival’s chances of a play-off place, while keeping alive their own, then there is some added spice to the occasion.

Seventh placed KR had the opportunity to lift themselves into the top six, even if only for a few hours, while a win for FC, coupled with victory for the Leeds Rhinos over the Salford Red Devils later in the afternoon, would drop KR down into eighth spot just two league points ahead of their nearest and dearest.

The Robins had been installed as slight favourites with the bookies, the Airlie Birds given a two-point start on the coupon, but it was way too close to call, and it was unlikely to go the way of the 40-0 win for KR in April.

There is still a long way to go in Super League 2023 with most teams still having nine games to play while Huddersfield Giants still have eleven matches left including this evening’s visit to play the Catalans Dragons in the south of France.

But last nights golden point drop goal from Will Dagger threw a massive lifeline to Wakefield Trinity as they recorded their third win of the season, and their third win in their last four games as they show a massive turnaround in fortune.

With the Castleford Tigers losing to the Leigh Leopards last night the difference between the sides is now just two league points and it makes the game between the bottom two sides on the 20^th August looks like the most crucial game of the season.

As St Helens climb the Super League table after a poor start to the season, the Warrington Wolves are tumbling in the opposite direction on the back of five losses in their least six outings, most recently against struggling sides from over the Pennines in the Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos.

A place in the top three was up for grabs for the winners, Saints with a chance to jump ahead of the Wolves, the Wolves seeking to get closer to the Catalans Dragons ahead of their game tomorrow against Huddersfield.

Recent poor form from the hosts meant that the bookies had installed the visitors as favourites, handicapping their eight points on the coupon.

A round seventeen Championship Yorkshire derby saw the sixth placed Bradford Bulls looking to cement their place in the top six with a win over tenth a Keighley Cougars in tenth spot who knew that a win could lift them to eighth should other results go their way.

It was honours shared in the first two meetings between the two sides so far in the season with Keighley winning their home game in March by 34-6 while Bradford won the Summer Bash game in York at the end of May by 42-18.

Bradford were firm favourites for the win as the Cougars are struggling for form with the bookies giving the visitors a twenty-point start on the coupon.

Keighley did pick up a win last time out against Whitehaven, but it was their first since the 7th May.

After thrashing the Champions St Helens last time out, Hull FC had another home match against one of the top teams in the competition as they took on the league leaders, the Catalans Dragons, in a rare Saturday afternoon kick off.

A win for the Airlie Birds would see them level on points with the Leeds Rhinos in eighth spot but likely trailing them due to an horrendous negative points difference, while the Dragons knew that a win would see them four points clear at the top in their quest for the minor premiership.

The Dragons were slight favourites for the win with FC given a four-point start on the coupon, perhaps a reflection of the 38-6 scoreline in favour of the French side when the two sides met in the south of France in round three.

It was fourth against seventh on a night which could see a big shuffling of positions at the top end of the table and depending on results elsewhere could have seen the home side Leigh into second spot, or the visitors from Hull KR into third.

Leigh were favourites with the bookies, Hull KR having been given a six-point start on the coupon, but it was Hull KR who came into the fixture on the back of a two-game winning run while the Leopards lost a close match in the south of France against the Catalans Dragons last weekend.

It promised to be a close encounter between two sides with big play-off hopes.

Fresh from hammering the Huddersfield Giants six days ago, the Leeds Rhinos made the trip to the Halliwell-Jones to face a Warrington Wolves side who fell to a surprise defeat at the hands of the Castleford Tigers on their last outing.

A win for the home side would put them back level on points with the league leaders, but unless it was by a margin of seventy points or more, they would still be second on points difference, while the Rhinos knew that they couldn’t improve their league position, but could get closer to seventh placed Hull KR.

The Wolves were the slight favourites with the bookies but with the Rhinos only having been given a two-point start on the coupon they really had a dilemma over who would win the game and take the two points.

While the game of round sixteen was undoubtedly the trip of the Leigh Leopards to the Catalans Dragons last night, the Sunday afternoon fixture between the Salford Red Devils and Wigan Warriors ran it a close second on paper as the sixth placed side looked to overtake their hosts while the home side had one eye on the second spot which a big win would deliver.

Wigan were the slight favourites with the bookies with the Red Devils having been given a four-point start on the coupon, the margin of Warriors victory when the two sides met at the DW Stadium in March.

Both sides came into the game hungry for the points to assist in their quests for top six finishes.

If the rumours are to be believed, both coaches in tonight’s round sixteen Super League fixture at Emerald Headingley were both sipping from a drink already served in the last chance saloon as ninth took on tenth in an uninspiring fixture with both sides starting to drift too far from the play-off spots to make their end of season inclusion a likelihood.

The Rhinos were slight favourites with the bookies, the Giants having been given a four-point start on the coupon but with losses to the bottom two sides in their last two outings it would be a brave man who put his fifty pence on a home victory.

The Rhinos have lost their last four on the bounce while the Giants have lost their last two.

A win for the Rhinos would put them back in the eighth place that they lost the previous night to Hull FC, a win by twenty-two or more would lift the Giants above the Rhinos and into ninth.

Just five days after the two sides met in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup, Hull FC and St Helens were thrown together again by the vagaries of the fixture computer for a round sixteen Super League match with the Black & Whites looking for revenge and hoping to keep thirteen players on the field beyond half time.

The home side were obviously without the services of Griffin after he received a seven-game suspension for what he said to the referee after the half time hooter last weekend, but coach Tony Smith made several other changes to his side as they looked for a reversal.

Saints were without the services of injured Percival and Makinson who were replace by Hopoate and Bennison.

FC came into the game on the back of a sixteen-game losing streak against the Saints, their last win coming back in August 2017, and the bookies had the visitors down as favourites to take the points and lift themselves up into third spot, just two behind the joint league leaders.

With Queensland one game up in the three-game series, round two headed for the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane as the excitement reached fever pitch for the second game of the 2023 State of Origin series.

The coaches each made four changes to their line-ups with Maroons Billy Slater adding AJ Brimson, Jeremiah Nanai, Moeaki Fotuaika and Xavier Coates to his side, Brad Fittler drafting in Damien Cook, Mitchell Moses, Reece Robson and Stefano Utoikamanu into his seventeen.

But it was the absentees this time which were of most note with Arrow, Cobbo and Dearden missing out for Queensland while Cleary, Hynes, Koroisau and Pangai Junior were all out for the Blues.

Queensland were narrow favourites with the bookies to get the series win, with a four-point handicap on the coupon, but most neutrals were hoping for a Blues win to take the series into an exciting third game.

Venues and broadcast details for the semi-finals of both the Men’s and Women’s Betfred Challenge Cups can now be confirmed, with double-headers at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday 22 July and Headingley Stadium, Leeds, on Sunday 23.

On Saturday 22 both Saints teams will be in action at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, following their respective semi-final victories at the weekend.

St Helens Women play York Valkyrie (KO 11-45am), while the Men face Leigh Leopards (KO 2-30pm).

And both Wigan Warriors sides are involved in the following day’s (Sunday 23 July) Betfred Challenge Cup double-header at Headingley Stadium, where Warriors Women take on Leeds Rhinos (KO 2-15pm) and the Men play Hull KR (KO 5pm).

Few people gave Championship side York RLFC Knights any chance of making progress in the Challenge Cup as they welcomed high flying Super League side Leigh Leopards to the LNER Community Stadium.

York coach Andrew Henderson had a long injury list which left him without the services of half a dozen first team choices, while Leigh’s Adrian Lam could pick an almost unchanged side, although he was without the injured Edwin Ipape and Ricky Leutele.

The last time these two sides met was in the Championship play-offs at the end of last season when York were massacred by Leigh, the suspicion was that it would be a similar outcome in the last quarter final with a game against St Helens the prize for the winners.