Super League Round 23 attendances as Saturday fixtures enjoy highest crowds

Josh McAllister 28 Aug 2023 11:59 AM

Both Saturday Super League fixtures enjoyed crowds of more than 10,000 during the latest round of action, including more than 1,000 travelling Wigan fans.

The lowest attendance came on Friday night at the Salford Stadium as Paul Rowley’s side strengthened their play-off position with a 20-0 home win over relegation-threatened Wakefield.

Hull FC recorded the highest crowd of the round as 11,624 saw Warrington claim a 18-4 win at the MKM Stadium.

The hosts were hit by a devastating blow as half-back Jake Trueman was taken to hospital after suffering another ruptured Achilles.

Trueman, 24, only marked his return from an ACL injury sustained with Castleford in May and has made 15 appearance since, scoring four tries.

Hull dropped to 10th on the Super League table with a top six finish looking unlikely in Tony Smith’s debut season in charge.

Elsewhere in Super League

On Saturday evening, a packed Stade Gilbert Brutus recorded a crowd of 10,614 as Wigan closed the gap at the top of the Super League table with an impressive 34-0 win in France.

More than a thousand away fans travelled and enjoyed the triumph, which included a hat-trick from in-form winger Abbas Miski. Toby King, Bevan French and Jake Wardle also crossing against Steve McNamara’s Catalans Dragons.

Salford full-back Ryan Brierley opened and closed the scoring against Wakefield, with Andy Ackers scoring on the 49th minute. 3,836 in attendance.

It was a game short on quality, with Wakefield boss Mark Applegarth revealing his side made 18 errors with pressure mounting to save their Super League status.

Elsewhere on Friday, 6,868 witnessed four-peat champions St Helens claim their sixth consecutive win with a 34-4 score over Castleford.

With a try and five conversions, Mark Percival surpassed 1,000 points for Saints, while team-mate Tommy Makinson moved ahead of Luke Dorn into stand-alone ninth place in the list of Super League’s all-time scorers.

Finally on Sunday, Huddersfield kept their slim play-off hopes alive with a 21-12 win over fellow top six chasing Leeds Rhinos at the John Smith’s Stadium.

6,621 saw tries from Sam Halsall, Kevin Naiqama and Tui Lolohea from the hosts, while Rohan Smith questioned the decision to award Jake Connor his drop goal in the 77th minute.