RFL Wheelchair Super League

The RFL Wheelchair Super League is the highest level of wheelchair rugby league in England and Wales.

The Wheelchair Super League was founded in 2019, whilst the wheelchair competition was played in Great Britain prior to this, 2019 was the first official Super League season.

The league operates a promotion and relegation system with the second tier RFL Wheelchair Championship.

Staring in 2023, the previous year's league champions play the previous year's French Elite 1 champions in the European Club Challenge.

Background

Plans were unveiled in 2011 for a Wheelchair Super League and Championship. The competition would feature Wigan, Halifax, Mersey Vikings, Bury Jigsaw and Wolverhampton Rhinos in the Super League, and Bradford Bulls, Mersey Vikings A, Wakefield, and Medway Dragons in the Championship. Small festival tournaments would also take place for clubs not yet ready to join the top divisions. The competition ran from April to September when the Grand Final was held. In 2012, the leagues were restructured with the Super League and Championship being replaced with a Premier League, Division One and Entry Division. The lower tiers were later renamed as the "Championship" and "Championship 1" and the top tier became the Super League at the start of the 2019 season.

Format

Like the men's and women's running competition, the league operates a round robin system to determine the League Leaders' Shield before a playoff series leading to a grand final.

Teams

The 2024 Super League teams are:

• Halifax Panthers (2019–2024)
• Hull FC (2020–2024)
• Leeds Rhinos (2019–2024)
• London Roosters (2022–2024)
• Wigan Warriors (2022–2024)

Teams to have previously played in Super League are:

• Argonauts (2019–2021)
• Hereford Harriers (2019)
• Leyland Warriors (2020–2021)
• North Wales Crusaders (2019–2022)
• St Helens (2019)
• Warrington Wolves (2022–2023)

Results

The following is a summary of Wheelchair Super League seasons:

Key

  Qualified for playoffs

Pre Super League seasons

In the 2011 season, when the competition was also known as the "Super League", it was won by Bury Jigsaw who defeated Halifax in the Grand Final. In 2013, the National Championship was decided using a three team round-robin format in which Bury Jigsaw defeated Halifax and Mersey Storm to win the title. The same format was used for the finals day in 2014 when Leyland Warriors won the competition. Halifax won the Premier League title in 2015 and retained it in 2016 when they beat Leeds Rhinos 68 points to 54 in the Grand Final. Halifax won the title again in 2017, also by defeating Leeds in the final. The 2018 Grand Final saw Leeds Rhinos beat Halifax 54 points to 44.

2019 season

The first Super League season saw six teams compete: Argonauts, Halifax, Hereford Harriers, Leeds Rhinos, North Wales Crusaders, and St Helens.

• Grand Final

Leeds Rhinos 42–50 Halifax

(19 September 2019; 19:00; Medway Park Sports Centre, Gillingham)

2020 season

The 2020 season saw Leyland Warriors and Hull F.C. promoted to Super League, whilst Hereford Harriers and St Helens were relegated. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 season

With the 2020 season being cancelled due to the pandemic, no new teams were included in the 2021 Super League.

Playoffs

• Semi Finals

Leeds Rhinos 66–63 Halifax Panthers

Leyland Warriors 76–38 Argonauts

• Grand Final

Leeds Rhinos 52–36 Leyland Warriors

(19 September 2021; 3:15pm; Medway Park Sports Centre, Gillingham; Sky Sports Arena)

2022 season

2023 season

2024 season

Titles

Champions

League Leaders' Shield

Notes

References

External links

• Super League