The shocking stats which prove Super League games are taking too long

There is a growing trend among Super League coaches for calls to try and clean up the sport on multiple fronts: but with one area a particular focus.

More and more coaches are now questioning why lengthy delays are becoming common in the sport, leading to games taking far too long to finish.

Of course, there has to be a minimum of 95 minutes – the 80 itself and a 15-minute half-time break – for a game to run from start to finish. Slight delays are always an inevitability too.

But just how much is there in the way of delays? Love Rugby League kept track of all six games at Magic Weekend – and as you’d fear, there are some real delays and some real drawn-out matches..

Leigh v Catalans: 1:52

The first three games of Magic all took exactly the same amount of time: eight minutes shy of two hours.

That trend started with Leigh’s dramatic victory over Catalans Dragons, which kicked off at 3:01pm and finished by 4:53pm.

3:01pm – 4:53pm

Hull KR v Salford: 1:52

22 minutes later, Hull KR kicked off their match against Salford Red Devils, which they won comfortably.

It finished at 7:07pm: a run-time of 1 hour and 52 minutes.

St Helens v Leeds: 1:52

That’s the exact same run-time that Leeds’ win over St Helens had. They kicked off at 7:31pm and were finished by 9:23pm.

Huddersfield v Hull: 1:56

But Sunday’s matches ran even longer than the three on Saturday. None reached two hours in length – but they weren’t far off.

Huddersfield and Hull had a lot of stoppages during the final minutes of the first half, with a number of disciplinary incidents. That meant they played from first whistle to last for 1 hour and 56 minutes.

Wigan v Warrington: 1:55

Wigan and Warrington’s clash in game two on Sunday wasn’t much different: just a minute shorter. They started at 3:16pm and were finished at 5:11pm.

Wakefield v Castleford: 1:59

But it was the final match of the weekend that lasted the longest! Wakefield and Castleford were just one minute short of a two-hour contest. The first half in particular had some lengthy video referee decisions, and some big stoppages.

They started at 5:30pm, and finished at 7:29pm.

How long is too long?

That is the golden question in this particular regard. More and more coaches have spoken about lengthy stoppages, and the amount of time Super League fixtures are taking to complete.

Matt Peet hinted at it on Sunday, suggesting that players wouldn’t be tired after their win over Warrington due to how punctured the game is becoming.

For matches to take almost two hours though means there are a lot of delays, and a lot of stoppages. With an 80-minute match and a 15-minute half-time interval, a game that lasts two hours from start to finish would therefore have 25 minutes of delays.

It is understandable that there will always be stoppages – that is the nature of the sport with injuries and video refereeing decisions.

But the more they are – and the longer decisions take to be made – the more they add up.

Clearly it is something Super League has to look at in order to make the product as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

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