Super League coach slams ‘bonkers’ scheduling as Danny McGuire sympathy offered

Huddersfield coach Luke Robinson says the randomness of Super League’s scheduling is ‘bonkers’ and has joined the calls for a change to the structure.

The Giants face Wigan for the third time this season on Friday, and the second time in three weeks – having not even played other sides once in Super League so far in 2025.

There are growing calls for the loop fixtures to be removed, which would be achieved by Super League going to 14 teams in 2026.

And Robinson admits he struggles with the logic behind a lop-sided and imbalanced fixture calendar.

“It’s crazy, the schedule,” he said. “Rugby league is nuts. You play some teams three times, some teams twice.. you play some teams three times before you’ve played another team once.

“I can’t make head nor tail of it. We only played Wigan three weeks ago.”

Robinson then admitted a return to playing everyone twice with a Magic Weekend added in represents ‘common sense’.

He said: “I’ve got friends and my wife has got loads of friends that are Mancunians and they don’t watch rugby league, they’re football fans.

“When I explain to them that the league is determined on at the end of the year that you’ve played some teams three times and others twice, they can’t fathom it or get their head around it.

“They think it’s bonkers and let’s be honest, it is, isn’t it. You play certain teams more than others and others twice within a three-week period.. it just does not make sense.

“If there’s a fairer competition where you play teams twice and potentially a Magic Weekend, which I love, to make it more even and get the scheduling right, that’s just common sense.”

The Giants are looking for back-to-back wins at Wigan this Friday following their win at Castleford last Thursday. That game proved to be Danny McGuire’s final contest in charge of the Tigers and Robinson admitted he had huge sympathy for McGuire.

“Very much so,” he admitted. “He’s been a phenomenal player and he’s a really good bloke. He’s only in the infancy of his coaching career.

“We’re very quick within sport (to sack someone).. results obviously play a part and sometimes it can happen very fast.

“I feel for Danny and it’s not nice when someone you admire and someone you’re friends with loses his job. At some point you’ve got to give someone a chance.

“A lot of people raised eyebrows when Matt Peet got the job at Wigan and look at what a fantastic coach he’s proven to be. Someone who’s English, someone who’s young and we don’t seem to do that in our sport very often.”

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