Just like that, we come to the end of another season. It doesn’t feel like it’s been eight months since the season kicked off, it feels more like last week in many ways, so with the dust settled and the champions crowned, it’s just left for me to give the 2024 season a post-mortem. I’ll be going club-by-club, and giving their season’s a grade based on their performance.

Castleford Tigers

2024 League Position: 10th

2023 League Position: 11th

Players In: Nixon Putt, Elie El-Zakhem, Sylvester Namo, Josh Hodson, Josh Simm, Sam Wood, Luke Hooley, Rowan Milnes, Samy Kibula, Daniel Hindmarsh-Takyi, Tex Hoy (transferred mid-season), Innes Senior (loan), Louis Senior (loan, mid-season), Corey Hall (loan, mid-season)

Players Out: Adam Milner, Niall Evalds, Jordan Turner, Nathan Massey, Greg Eden, Suaia Matagi, Alex Sutcliffe, Bailey Dawson, Kieran Hudson, Jacob Hookem, Ilikaya Mafi, Kenny Edwards, Elliot Wallis, Gareth Widdop, Aaron Willis, Jacques O’Neill, Albert Vete (released mid-season), Charbel Tasipale (released mid-season), Jack Broadbent (loan, mid-season), Danny Richardson (loan, mid-season), Samy Kibula (loan, mid-season)

Castleford’s season was one of incremental improvements. Swapping places in the table with fellow strugglers Hull FC, the Tigers still managed to put clear space between themselves and eleventh place, racking up four more wins across the season than both FC and London Broncos below them. It was a season in which they never looked like contenders, but took a step further away from the bottom of the league under the stewardship of new coach Craig Lingard.

The Tigers had to wait until Round 7 for their first win of the season (a 36-24 home victory over Salford), but their best patch of form wouldn’t come until July with three wins on the trot over St Helens, London, and Catalans, which saw them pull well ahead of the bottom two. The victory over eventual play-off contenders St Helens probably served as the highlight of their season, managing to come away with an 8-6 win at the Totally Wicked Stadium. They would only claim one more win before the season’s end, away at Hull FC.

They were also quite convincingly knocked out of the Challenge Cup by eventual cup winners Wigan Warriors in the quarter-finals, suffering a 60-6 loss at home.

Grade: D+

Catalans Dragons

2024 League Position: 7th

2023 League Position: 2nd

Players In: Chris Satae, Theo Fages, Tariq Sims, Jayden Nikorima, Bayley Sironen, Jordan Abdull (loan)

Players Out: Tiaki Chan, Mickael Goudemand, Adam Keighran, Tyrone May, Matt Whitley, Jayden Nikorima (released mid-season), Siua Taukeiaho (released mid-season), Damel Diakhate (released mid-season)

Le Dracs suffered an almighty drop-off from their 2023 Grand Final appearance in 2024, missing out on the play-offs all together, as they sank to a seventh-place finish.

Inconsistency was the keyword for Catalans season, as they struggled to build any lasting momentum as the season wore on, with a run of four consecutive losses in August and September ultimately costing them a place in the final six. After a fast start following wins against Warrington and London in the first two rounds, the Dragons failed to kick on, with a low point in their season coming with a 12-10 loss away to basement dwellers London Broncos. When contrasted against dominant wins against eventual Grand Finalists Hull KR (36-6 at home in April) it’s easy to say why I’ve opted for ‘inconsistency’ as a theme.

There was no cup run to soften the blow of their disappointing season either, as the Dragons fell in the Quarter Finals to Huddersfield Giants by a score of 34-6. The Catalonian fans will be hoping for a major turnaround in 2025 to avoid the club sliding into a lasting decline.

Grade: C-

Huddersfield Giants

2024 League Position: 9th

2023 League Position: 9th

Players In: Jack Murchie, Thomas Deakin, Adam Swift, Andre Savelio, Hugo Salabio, Adam Clune, Adam Milner

Players Out: Will Pryce, Theo Fages, Jack Ashworth, Owen Trout, Jermaine McGillvary, Josh Jones, Chris McQueen, Nathan Peats

It was very much a disappointing case of ‘more of the same’ from the Giants, who blew hot and cold all year, and struggled to find a lasting foothold in the competition. Twelve wins from twenty-seven still saw them put firm daylight between themselves and tenth-placed Castleford, however.

A run of five straight losses in June and July saw Ian Watson lose his job at the John Smith’s Stadium, the teams form nonetheless remained inconsistent under new coach Luke Robinson, who initially took charge on an interim basis before being offered the job permanently towards the end of the season. The highlight of their mediocre season arguably came away at Catalans in the Challenge Cup in April, coming away 34-6 victors in Catalonia, with their 50-8 demolition of fellow strugglers Castleford the high point of their league season. All of this was offset by a 66-0 humbling away at Warrington in the season’s penultimate game.

The Giants did however enjoy a run to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup following the aforementioned victory in Catalans, they would be soundly beaten in their semi-final by Warrington, however, to ensure that there was no fairytale Wembley appearance for one of the sport’s founding members.

Grade: C-

Hull FC

2024 League Position: 11th

2023 League Position: 10th

Players In: Herman Ese’ese, Jayden Okunbor, Franklin Pele, Jack Walker, Liam Tindall, Jack Ashworth, Morgan Smith, Damel Diakhate, Fa’amanu Brown, Tom Briscoe (mid-season)

Players Out: Chris Satae, Jake Clifford, Adam Swift, Andre Savelio, Ben McNamara, Brad Dwyer, Scott Taylor, Jamie Shaul, Tex Hoy (released mid-season), Fa’amanu Brown (released mid-season), Franklin Pele (released mid-season), Jayden Okunbor (released mid-season), Darnell McIntosh (mid-season)

Oh dear, oh dear. I mean anything I say about Hull FC’s dismal season will come across as gloating, so I asked site contributor and Hull FC fan Ian Judson to sum it up instead:

When my great friend Nathan informed me that he was awarding Hull FC an F+ for their season, I was absolutely horrified, even if I could understand the context.

For me, having followed the Airlie Birds for the vast majority of their games this season, I would say that they are easily worth a solid D grade. Hull’s struggles started on the opening night as they were embarrassed at home by Hull KR, but what people need to understand is that this whole club has just done what every team does in pre-season, but actually during the season, with players released, others brought in through a revolving door, sacked an experienced head coach and replaced him with a Championship head coach.

On top of that, various debts have been wiped out, leaving the club in a much healthier financial position and opened a community hub, increasing their community engagement in the long term. Obviously, three victories is nowhere near good enough for a club the size of the Black & Whites, but remind me, who had even heard of the likes of Logan Moy, Lewis Martin, Jack Charles, Harvey Barron, Davy Litten, Will Gardiner, Nick Staveley and various others before this season had started? The squad has been strengthened for next season, with invaluable experience now being put alongside young talent, a bunch of young men who are now established, hardened Super League players.

Grade: It was an F+ originally, as Ian said, but I’ll meet him in the middle and call it an E instead.

Hull KR

2024 League Position: 2nd

2023 League Position: 4th

Players In: Ajahni Wallace, Peta Hiku, Oliver Gildart, Tyrone May, Niall Evalds, Neil Tchamambe, Jai Whitbread, Reiss Butterworth, Kelepi Tanginoa, Joe Burgess, Jack Broadbent (loan, mid-season), Danny Richardson (loan, mid-season), Jack Brown (loan, mid-season), Ben Reynolds (mid-season)

Players Out: Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Brad Schneider, Connor Moore, Jack Walker, Greg Richards, Ethan Ryan, Sam Wood, Rowan Milnes, Jimmy Keinhorst, Kane Linnett, Rhys Kennedy, Luis Johnson, Jordan Abdull (loan), Louis Senior (loan), Yusuf Aydin (loan, mid-season), Ben Reynolds (mid-season), Corey Hall (loan, mid-season), Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e (loan, mid-season)

Hull KR’s improvement under Willie Peters continued into his second season, in a year that saw the Robins reach Old Trafford for the first time. The season’s only disappointment for the high-flying Robins is the frustrating lack of silverware still to come their way.

KR came within a single game of both the League Leaders Shield, and the Super League as a whole, falling short to the Wigan Warriors on each occasion, with their capitulation away at the DW Stadium at the business end of the year arguably being the regular season low-light. They showed imperious form at some points during the season, however, with seperate five-game and seven-game match unbeaten runs seeing them finish just two points below eventual champions Wigan, with away victories at St Helens (42-6) and Warrington (22-4) probably serving as season highlights.

They were denied the chance at another trophy by the seemingly-unbeatable Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup also, being beaten by Matt Peet’s men 38-6 in the semi-final in Doncaster. With their fortunes on the upswing and a raft of strong signings made for 2025, it’ll surely be sooner rather than later when silverware makes its way to East Hull.

Grade: A-

Leeds Rhinos

2024 League Position: 8th

2023 League Position: 8th

Players In: Mickaël Goudemand, Lachie Miller, Matt Frawley, Paul Momirovski, Brodie Croft, Andy Ackers, Kieran Hudson

Players Out: Aiden Sezer, Liam Tindall, Nene Macdonald, Kai Morgan, Richie Myler, Derrell Olpherts

2024 brough another disappointing season for the Leeds Rhinos, finishing in exactly the same position they did last season, once again missing out on the play-offs, an eventuality once thought unthinkable for the eight-time Super League champions. It’s a result that will be all the more disappointing given their spending frenzy in the off-season, breaking transfer records to sign former Man of Steel Brodie Croft, and influential hooker Andy Ackers, both from Salford, only to make little, if any progress on the field.

This lack of progress eventually led to coach Rohan Smith losing his job in June and being replaced by former Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur. Arthur’s arrival saw a slight uptick in form as the Rhinos made a late push for the playoffs, but this slim hope was extinguished by back-to-back losses to top two sides WIgan and Hull KR on the final two matchdays of the season. It’s hard to pick a true highlight for the once-mighty Leeds, but their 68-6 demolition of Hull FC in Sep[tember is about as good as it got, with the nadir being a 38-0 loss to Wigan just the following week.

Their Challenge Cup run was equally as uninspiring, as they crashed out at the first time of asking, in the sixth round, where they were soundly beaten 20-6 by St Helens. With the news of Brad Arthur extending his stay in West Yorkshire into 2025, the RHinos will be hoping for a marked improvement next year after a vastly disappointing few campaigns.

Grade: C-

Leigh Leopards

2024 League Position: 5th

2023 League Position: 5th

Players In: Owen Trout, Dan Norman, Lewis Baxter, Louis Brogan, Ben McNamara, Jack Derbyshire, Kavan Rothwell, Matt Moylan, Darnell McIntosh (mid-season)

Players Out: Oliver Gildart, Joe Wardle, Ben Reynolds

It was another steady season of progress for the Leigh Leopards, as they built on their shockingly good first season back in the Super League by cementing themselves as a play-off side in 2024, managing to reach the semi-final stage for the first time in Super League history.

The Leopards managed to recover from a less-than-stellar start to the season, where they managed to lose all but three of their opening ten league and cup fixtures. Still, they managed to turn things around as the season wore on, embarking on a five-match unbeaten streak down the stretch to sneak their way into playoff contention. Their highlight of the season was probably their playoff win away at Salford, where they overcame the loss of Frankie Halton and Josh Charnley to win 14-6. There weren’t any particularly embarrassing displays on the field, the Round 7 40-12 loss to Wigan probably being the worst, but owner Derek Beaumont’s off-field antics continue to pull focus from their on-field success.

Any hope of replicating their magic 2023 Challenge Cup win in 2024 was quickly snuffed out by the very team they beat at Wembley last year, as Hull KR claimed a 26-14 win at Craven Park in the Quarter Finals. Leythers will be hoping the on-field success can continue despite losing several influential players in 2025, but the club’s record for ambitious recruitment should probably indicate that any major worries are misplaced.

Grade: B

London Broncos

2024 League Position: 12th

2023 League Position: 5th (in the Championship)

Players In: Jack Hughes, James Meadows, Gideon Boafo, Sadiq Adebiyi, Robbie Storey, Rhys Kennedy, Josh Rourke, Hakim Miloudi, Jack Campagnolo, Lee Kershaw

Players Out: Paul Ulberg, Wellington Albert, Corey Norman, Henry Raiwalui, Dean Whare, Max Allen, Samuel Dore, Dalton Grant, Rian Horsman, Jack Howorth, Euan Parke

Oh, London Broncos, poor London Broncos. They won themselves no end of admiration from many neutrals across the 2024 season as they battled uphill, even while knowing before a ball was kicked that they would be relegated next season no matter what because of the integration of the IMG ratings system in 2025. Still, they fought on in 2024 on a part-time budget with a squad made up of mainly home-grown talent, topped up with a few journeymen, and fought admirably in the fight to avoid the wooden spoon. Such is the admiration of many of London’s squad that it has been picked apart by other Super League sides in advance of the 2025 season.

Despite London’s brave fight, they still ended the season with only three victories to their name, but gave more than a few more teams a good scare along the way, forcing Leeds Rhinos to need Golden Point extra time to beat them on two separate occasions. Of their wins, the ones against Hull FC at the Magic Weekend and Catalans at home were arguably the sweetest, whereas their heaviest losses came against Hull KR, who racked up more than 50 points against the beleaguered Broncos on two occasions.

Any hopes of a cup run were quickly extinguished too, as they fell at the first hurdle in a 42-0 loss to Warrington. After a season of fighting bravely against an inevitability, the Broncos will undoubtedly return to the Championship with a depleted squad and bank balance, following the decision of their long-time owner David Hughes to sell up. Without the prospect of Super League, the future looks bleak for the Broncos.

Grade: E+

Salford Red Devils

2024 League Position: 4th

2023 League Position: 7th

Players In: Ethan Ryan, Nene Macdonald, Kai Morgan, Matty Foster, Cade Cust, Joe Shorrocks, Chris Hankinson

Players Out: Matty Costello, Brodie Croft, Andy Ackers, Rhys Williams, Danny Addy, Joe Burgess, James Greenwood, Ken Sio

It’s fair to say that not much was expected of Salford at the start of this season, especially after losing two of their most influential players in Andy Ackers and Brodie Croft. However, Paul Rowley’s side proved to be the league’s surprise package, as they overcame the odds to finish in a very creditable fourth place.

With the strong influence of talismanic half-back Marc Sneyd felt all season, the Red Devils were in the mix for the top six more or less all year, racking up big wins against fellow contenders St Helens, Warrington, and Hull KR as they secured a top-four place. Their highlight and lowlight arguably came within a week of each other, as they followed up a 58-4 thrashing of Hull FC with a hefty 64-0 loss at Wigan, utilising a significantly weakened side with one eye on the play-offs, where they would fall at home to Leigh.

They couldn’t replicate their solid league form in the Challenge Cup, though, as they crashed out in Round 6 after a convincing 40-0 loss away at Hull KR. Paul Rowley’s men will no doubt look back with fondness on a 2024 where they overcame expectations, and will hope that it doesn’t turn out to be a flash in the pan come next season.

Grade: B

St Helens

2024 League Position: 6th

2023 League Position: 3rd

Players In: Daryl Clark, Tee Ritson, Matt Whitley, Waqa Blake

Players Out: James Roby, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wesley Bruines, Will Hopoate, Dan Norman, Lewis Baxter, Jumah Sambou, Taylor Pemberton, Matty Foster, Daniel Moss, Elliot Peposhi, Dan Hill

It goes to show just how successful St Helens have been in the Super League era when a sixth-placed finish is considered to be a bad season. In fact, this season is their worst finish to a season since the birth of Super League, such has been their dominance over the last thirty years.

The season started well enough for the Saints with three wins from their opening three matches. Still, the rest of their campaign was marred by inconsistency, with the worst point being reached during June and July when they lost five matches on the bounce, including a narrow loss to lowly Castleford Tigers. They only just managed to squeeze their way into the top six, despite losing their final two matches, beating Catalans to the final spot on points difference alone. There won’t be many fondly-remembered moments from this season from a Saints perspective, but they did manage to avenge their earlier loss to Castleford in style when the Tigers visited the Totally Wicked stadium, beating the struggling West Yorkshire outfit 40-4.

Their time spent in the cup this year was nothing to write home about either, as they were convincingly turned over by Warrington at home with the score of 31-8 in favour of the Wolves. Saints have stuck by their coach, club legend Paul Wellens, hoping he can lead them more fruitfully in 2025, with a few NRL players recruited, they’ll be hoping this season was but a blip on their path of Super League dominance.

Grade: D+

Warrington Wolves

2024 League Position: 3rd

2023 League Position: 6th

Players In: Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Rodrick Tai, Wesley Bruines, Toby King, Jordan Crowther, Zane Musgrove, Brad Dwyer, Sam Powell, Max Wood

Players Out: Daryl Clark, Peter Mata’utia, Greg Minikin, Thomas Mikaele, Jack Darbyshire, Aiden Doolan, Riley Dean, Sam Kasiano, Brad Dwyer (released mid-season)

Warrington were one of this season’s hot topics of conversation following their appointment of rugby league legend Sam Burgess to the head coach’s position vacated by Daryl Powell following their lacklustre 2023 season. They were rewarded for this appointment with a Challenge Cup final appearance, and a Super League semi-final berth, falling one step short of Old Trafford against the team who just pipped them to second, Hull KR.

Following an opening day blip in the form of an away loss in Catalans, Sam Burgess’ men put together an impressive run of form, winning five on the trot from round two to round six (one of these wins was in the Challenge Cup), and they were in and around the top of the table from there on in. Their 40-4 win away at eventual champions Wigan will be the game to remember from this season, and while many rival fans will continue the ‘always their year’ jibe, it’s hard to deny that it seems Warrington are definitely headed in the right direction.

Their run to the Challenge Cup final saw them brush aside the challenges of London (42-0), St Helens (31-8), and Huddersfield (46-10) as they booked a date at Wembley with the Wigan Warriors. The Warriors were too strong when it counted though, and the Wolves were beaten 18-8 under the famous arch. The Cheshire club will hope that the influence of ‘Big Sam’ will continue to carry them forward over the next season, with their eyes firmly focused on winning silverware.

Grade: B+

Wigan Warriors

2024 League Position: 1st

2023 League Position: 1st

Players In: Sam Walters, Kruise Leeming, Tiaki Chan, Adam Keighran, Luke Thompson, Sam Eseh

Players Out: Kai Pearce-Paul, Toby King, Logan Astley, Cade Cust, Iain Thornley, Kieran Tyrer, Morgan Smithies, Sam Powell, Joe Shorrocks, Ramon Silva

Is there adequate superlatives to describe this Wigan Warriors side? They took their success in 2023, and expanded on it all, breaking records as they went. The first quadruple-winning side of the Super League-era, the first Wigan sides to win back-to-back title in the Super League-era. Their dominance is as impressive as it is daunting.

Starting the year as they meant to go on, Wigan only lost two of their opening ten league games, as well as claiming the World Club Challenge against a Penrith Panthers team that many consider to be amongst the best to play the sport. They would, of course, claim three more trophies over the course of 2023, with victories at Wembley and Old Trafford further adding to the unbeatable aura that exists around this imperious side.

Once again, they were inspired by their talisman Bevan French, who despite missing out on Man of Steel contention through his time spent out through injury, is still many people’s (your author included) pick for the league’s best player. His moments of magic were numerous, creating tries from nothing against Hull KR at home, Leigh in the semi-final, and then Hull KR again at Old Trafford, much to my own dismay.

As we look ahead to 2025, it remains to be seen if any team can knock Wigan of their perch, but I believe that in years to come, we may well look back on this side as being one of the best teams to play rugby league.

Grade: A+

So we say goodbye to the 2024 season, as dominated as it was by Wigan, it remained an interesting time to be a fan, and with imminent upheavals in the game’s structure, that isn’t due to change any time soon. I’ll be previewing the 2025 season in the New Year, but now I’m left with one question: what an Earth am I going to do with myself for the next four months?

I hope you enjoyed this retrospective, and our coverage of rugby league so far, I’m hoping to learn and expand in 2025, and if there are any developments throughout the off-season, you can be sure it’ll be reported on here, as well as sounding off whatever opinion pieces may grow in mine or any of my correspondents minds. Thanks for reading!

Written by Nathan Major-Kershaw (site editor & Hull KR fan), with contributions from Ian Judson (site contributor & Hull FC fan)

I’d like to place on record my special thanks to rugbyleagueproject.org, which was a fantastic resource for researching this piece, please go and check them out!