Super League Play-off Stats: 16 teams in 17 years
Widnes will become the 16th team to feature in the Super League play-offs, having confirmed their top eight place with a win over Bradford at the weekend.
The number of teams in the end of season play-offs will halve to its lowest ever number of four next year, as part of the game’s re-structure.
Prior to this season, the Vikings were the only one of the current 14 top flight teams never to have had a taste of the play-offs – Halifax and Crusaders the two teams not currently in Super League to have also made it.
Of those teams, only Halifax, London, Salford and Crusaders haven’t tasted a win in the play-offs.
Hull took the longest to register a first play-off victory, winning at the fifth attempt.
Only six of the 15 teams to have featured to date have won their first ever play-off games – Wigan, Leeds, St Helens, Castleford, Wakefield and Catalan.
Leeds and St Helens have featured in every single Super League play-off campaign. Bradford featured in every one until 2009, while Wigan have only missed out twice – in 2005 and 2006. Leeds have the best win percentage in play-off games, with 64%, and also hold the record for most consecutive play-off game wins, with eight.
Despite 15 teams having made the play-offs, only six have made it to the Grand Final – Wigan, Leeds, Bradford, St Helens, Hull and Warrington.
Leeds have won the most Grand Finals with six (from eight attempts), while St Helens have also reached eight finals, winning the first four, but losing on their most recent four visits to Old Trafford.
Below is a table showing number of play-off series, number of wins and Grand Final appearances.
Leeds 16 (98,99,00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,10,11,12,13) / W23 L13 (64%) / 8 finals / 6 wins
St Helens 16 (98,99,00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,10,11,12,13) / W25 L15 (63%) / 8 finals / 4 wins
Wigan 14 (98,99,00,01,02,03,04,07,08,09,10,11,12,13) / W23 L15 (61%) / 6 finals / 3 wins
Bradford 11 (98,99,00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08) / W14 L9 (61%) / 6 finals / 3 wins
Hull 10 (01,02,04,05,06,07,10,11,12,13) / W5 L12 (29%) / 1 final
Warrington 8 (03,05,06,08,10,11,12,13) / W6 L8 (43%) / 2 finals
Huddersfield 6 (07,09,10,11,12,13) / W3 L9 (25%)
Catalan 5 (08,09,11,12,13) / W3 L6 (33%)
Castleford 4 (99,00,02,09) / W2 L4 (33%)
Hull KR 4 (09,10,11,13) / W1 L5 (17%)
Wakefield 3 (04,09,12) / W1 L3 (26%)
London 2 (03,05) / L2
Halifax 1 (98) / L2
Salford 1 (06) / L1
Crusaders 1 (10) / L1
The make-up of this season’s play-offs is yet to be decided. Only Leeds know for definite what their final position will be (6th).
St Helens are guaranteed a top two finish, while Catalan and Widnes can only finish 7th or 8th. Castleford, Wigan, Warrington and Huddersfield could all finish anywhere between 2nd and 5th.
The format is as follows
Week 1
Qualifying Play-Offs
These matches involve the teams who finish in the Top 4. The matches will be:
- 1st v 4th
- 2nd v 3rd
The winners of these two games progress directly to Week 3 with the highest ranked club having Clubcall. The losers from the two matches will have another chance in Week 2, when they will be at home to the winners of the Week 1 Elimination Play-Offs.
Elimination Play-Offs
These matches involve the teams who finish fifth to eighth in the table. The matches will be:
- 5th v 8th
- 6th v 7th
The winners of both these matches will progress to Week 2. The losers are eliminated.
Week 2
Preliminary Semi Final 1
Highest Ranked Qualifying Play-off Loser v Lowest Ranked Elimination Play-off Winner
Preliminary Semi Final 2
Lowest Ranked Qualifying Play-off Loser v Highest Ranked Elimination Play-off Winner
Week 3
Qualifying Semi Final 1
Highest Ranked Qualifying Play-off Winner v ClubCall selected team
Qualifying Semi Final 2
Second Ranked Qualifying Play-off Winner v Non Clubcall selected team
Week 4
Super League Grand Final (October 11th)