A place in Super League awaited the winners of the Million Pound Game as Toulouse Olympique XIII looked to become the second French side in the elite competition while Featherstone Rovers looked to return to the top flight for the first time since the advent of Super League in 1996.

Toulouse have gone the entire season without losing a game and have scored almost six points for every one conceded while Featherstone won all but one game in the regular season with an even more impressive scoring record than the French side averaging just under forty-five points scored per game.

With home advantage, Toulouse were the big favourites for the game, and promotion, with Featherstone having been given a twelve-point start on the handicap coupon.

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St Helens had one eye on the treble as they came into the Grand Final to take on a Leeds Rhinos side who had home advantage and were defending champions after beating the Castleford Tigers in the last Grand Final in 2019.

Saints were big favourites after a season which has seen them go unbeaten through the play-offs and score one hundred and fifty-eight points while conceding only six and lifting the League Leaders Trophy.

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A place in the Betfred Championship awaited the winners of the League One play-off game between Workington Town and Doncaster as the two sides battled it out to join the Barrow Raiders in promotion after reaching the end of season crunch match.

Doncaster won both encounters between the two sides in 2021 including a 26-24 win the last time that they visited Derwent Park at the end of May.

Workington Town, who finished the regular season as runners up to their near neighbours, were slight (-2) favourites with the bookies they entered the arena for this ‘all or nothing’ encounter after both clubs had scares in their semi-finals.

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It was the twenty-fourth Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford as the minor premiers, Catalans Dragons, took on the defending champions St Helens with eighty minutes separating both teams from glory.

It was the final that it should have been, the top two sides in the league facing off against one another but most neutrals would be ‘Dragons for a Day’ in the hope that there would be a new name on the trophy in 2021.

The Dragons won two out of the three games that the sides have played, including that memorable last second win at the Magic Weekend, but the bookies had made the Saints the favourites for the win as they expected Grand Final experience to count.

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The Betfred Championship will have a new home from 2022, as the RFL today confirms an extensive and exciting two-year broadcast partnership with Premier Sports.

Under the partnership, Premier Sports will provide live and exclusive coverage from the start of the season in early 2022 to the Play-Offs in the autumn culminating in the Million Pound Game – and including every match of the Summer Bash featuring all 14 clubs in a single venue on the same weekend.

Subscription currently costs £12.99 a month and Premier Sports is available across a range of platforms, including online.

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History was made as the beaten 2020 finalists Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs lined up to contest the first ever NRL Grand Final to be held in Brisbane’s  Suncorp Stadium.

This was the finale of an Australian rugby league season which had moved lock, stock and barrel to Queensland as part of strict Covid protocols, although Minor Premiers Melbourne Storm were notable by their absence from the match between the teams who finished second and third on the competition ladder after 24 regular rounds.

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A place in the Million Pound Game against Toulouse Olympique XIII in the south of France, awaited the winners of the second semi-final between Featherstone Rovers and the Halifax Panthers as the West Yorkshire sides came together with one eye on a place in Super League for 2022.

Featherstone were massive favourites with the bookies, who had given the Panthers a twenty-six point start on the handicap coupon. Rovers took the spoils on both occasions that the two sides met this season, including a 54-22 win at the start of September, and came into the game undefeated in the last seven outings.

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Toulouse Olympic XII and Batley Bulldogs faced up in the weekend’s first Championship lay-off semi-final for a berth in the grand final or “Million Pound Game” – and a possible place in Super League for 2022.

The hosts were making a welcome return to their home ground at Stade Ernest Wallon after 18 months of Covid lockdowns and restrictions.

They also came into the game off the back of impressive wins in their last six games, including an 82-12 thrashing of Newcastle Thunder, where they collected the League Leaders Trophy after going through the season unbeaten.

Underdogs Batley on the other hand, had lost two of their previous six, to Dewsbury and Whitehaven and finished the regular season in fourth – though having played seven more league games than their opponents, given the pandemic disruption.

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A place at Old Trafford, to take on minor premiers the Catalans Dragons, was on offer for the winners of tonight’s games between the defending Champions St Helens and the Leeds Rhinos.

Saints ended the regular season in second spot and were strong favourites to beat a Leeds side who had spent the season chasing a play-off place and who only qualified in sixth spot after a good run at the end of the season.

Few thought the Rhinos could hold back the Saints tide.

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After Hull KR's sensational win over the Warrington Wolves in last weekend’s elimination play-offs, it would be a foolish Dragons player, coach or supporter who underestimated the task ahead as the minor premiers took on the sixth placed side for a position in the Grand Final next weekend.

The Dragons were without the services of Sam Tomkins but had Arthur Mourgue at full back while Ryan Hall was back in the Robins side, bringing a mountain of play-off experience.

The Dragons were big favourites for the win, after their weekend off and in front of a packed house at the Stade Gilbert Brutus, but you back against the underdogs in 2021 Super League at your own peril.

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The Women’s Super League Final will be contested by the familiar names of Ste Helens and Leeds Rhinos in two weeks’ time after a double header of contrasting semi-finals.

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Saint Helens Ladies marched into the Women’s Super League Grand Final with a totally dominant display in the first match of a televised semi-final double header at their own Totally Wicked Stadium.

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Surprise play-off package Whitehaven came into their game against the heavily fancied Halifax Panthers on the back of some scintillating form. Despite Halifax ending the season in third and Whitehaven in sixth there was very little to choose between the two sides over the duration of the regular season with honours shared in the two regular rounds games, Whitehaven winning the most recent meeting just a fortnight ago.

Halifax were the favourites for the win, and to secure a game against Featherstone Rovers next weekend having been given a six point handicap on the coupon, but Whitehaven knew that they were more than capable of springing a surprise which would see them booking their flights to Toulouse.

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It was the match of the B’s as fourth placed Batley Bulldogs faced a Bradford Bulls who finished the regular season in fifth as they met in the first Championship Play-off Eliminator at the Fox’s Biscuit Stadium at Mount Pleasant with a semi-final place on offer for the winners.

The Bulldogs are many people’s surprise package to be in the play-off but are good value after finishing the regular season in fourth place but the Bulls won the only meeting between the two sides earlier in the season as well as both meetings in the 2019 season.

Neither side came into the game on the back of good form, but the bookies made the Bulls slight favourites to make progress.

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Few gave Hull KR a chance of making the play-offs, and even fewer gave them any hope of springing a surprise on third placed Warrington Wolves as the two sides met at the Halliwell-Jones in the play-off eliminator which would see the winner secure a spot in next weeks semi-final against either the Dragons or the Saints.

The two sides have only met once in 2021, the second fixture falling victim to COVID restrictions, when it was the Wolves who stormed to a 50-26 win in a high scoring encounter at the beginning of May.

The Wolves were massive favourites with the bookies and were giving away sixteen points on the handicap coupon, exactly the underdog conditions that Robins coach Tony Smith thrives on, as he sent his troops into battle with nothing to lose.

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The Leeds Rhinos comfortable win over Hull KR last weekend secured them a play-off trip to the DW Stadium to take on a Wigan Warriors side who are blowing hot and cold as the Super League 2021 season entered its knock-out stage.

The two sides met a month ago when the Rhinos won a 14-0 victory, denying Wigan a point at home for the first time in Super League, while the meeting back in April ended in Wigans favour by a 19-6 score line.

The Warriors were slight favourites with the bookies to make progress, but the Rhinos were only given a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

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With Toulouse Olympique XIII having an away game to complete their season we had a full final round of the Betfred Championship with all fourteen sides in action including that visit of the Minor Premiers to Newcastle to take on the Thunder.

Play off places were up for grabs on Sunday with six three o’clock kick offs which included; Bradford against Whitehaven, Halifax versus Batley and York playing the London Broncos.

Elsewhere Featherstone were expected to beat a struggling Sheffield Eagles side while Widnes should have been too much for Swinton in the same way the Dewsbury should have found it easy going against Oldham.

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The 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League Grand Final saw the Leyland Warriors face the Leeds Rhinos at Medway Park in Gillingham as the Rhinos looked to clinch a famous treble but who had been pushed close by their opponents earlier in the season despite losing all five encounters.

With the support of wheelchair form of the sport gathering momentum based on its speed and intensity, the events showpiece final was broadcast live by SKY for the first time as they bring three Grand Finals to our viewing screens over the coming weeks.

The Rhinos were clear favourites having gone the entire season unbeaten, but the Warriors were confident that they could spring a surprise.

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What would have been a play off for the play-offs between the Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR had turned into a fight for the fifth and sixth spots and a shoot out as to who will play the Warrington Wolves, and who will face the Wigan Warriors, next weekend.

The maths was simple, a Hull KR win, or a draw after Golden Point would see the Robins face the Warriors and the Rhinos at the Wolves while a Leeds win would see a reverse of that permutation.

Both sides named their strongest available seventeens as they both looked to gain some form of momentum to take into what will be a challenging potential road to Old Trafford.

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The Warrington Wolves named a strong squad to take on a Castleford Tigers side who knew that a win would guarantee them play-off rugby next weekend, and for whom a loss would mean an end to the coaching reign of Daryl Powell on a low note as they missed out on the end of season excitement.

With the Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR supporters willing the Warrington side a win, the away supporters knew that the home side would throw everything that they had at them to keep their season alive.

With Warrington having nothing but ‘form’ to play for with third place already secured, the bookies were backing the home side to record a narrow victory as they were giving the Wolves a four point start on the coupon in a game that could well have been a dress rehearsal for next week’s first play-off if it went the home sides’ way.

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