Predicting where Super League’s three promoted teams will finish in 2026

For the first time since 2014, Super League will be made up of 14 clubs in 2026: but how will newcomers Bradford, Toulouse and York fare?

The Bulls, Olympique and the Knights have all joined the party in Super League ahead of the new campaign, with only the now-defunct Salford Red Devils dropping out from last year’s 12-club make-up amid their financial woes.

Bradford took the Red Devils’ place in the top tier via the IMG gradings system.

Championship winners Toulouse and beaten Grand Finalists York, who had won the 1895 Cup and League Leaders’ Shield, meanwhile followed suit soon after: chosen by an independent panel for promotion.

But just where will the promoted trio finish come the end of the season? Well, here’s our take…

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York – 13th

York‘s achievement of getting into Super League for the first time is one which should be celebrated, but we regrettably have them down to finish the lowest on the ladder of the three sides promoted.

The Knights are a well-run club, and their aim will be to try and consolidate themselves as a top-flight outfit, but the step up into Super League from the Championship is a big one and we struggle to see the squad they’ve pieced together having enough to worry a lot of teams.

We don’t quite think they’ll finish bottom of the pile, and we’d argue a 13th-place finish might not mean a dire season for those of a Knights persuasion at all.

Bradford Bulls – 11th

Bradford are a strange case. It’s great to have a club of their stature back in Super League with such pedigree having won no fewer than four titles in the summer era: but the truth is that counts for very little.

It’s now been more than 20 years since the Bulls last won a Super League title and over a decade since they’ve even featured at this level.

With a new head coach in Kurt Haggerty, their squad on the whole feels very much full of journeymen. There’s enough in there to win games and pick up points along the way, but they’ll be some way off troubling the play-off picture, in our opinion.

Toulouse Olympique – 9th

This is the prediction we’re most confident in. Toulouse were unlucky to be relegated back in 2022, and ever since they’ve been working towards this Super League return.

Sylvain Houles hasn’t made radical changes to his squad, which we mustn’t forget actually went and won the Championship last term despite going through a pretty sticky patch mid-season.

We won’t be surprised if Olympique pick up a glut of shock wins on home soil, and if they can do that combined with claiming a handful of scalps on their travels, it’s the perfect recipe for a pretty comfortable campaign all things considered.

Again, we won’t go as far as saying they’ll be in the play-off mix, but in years to come, who knows?!