2021 Super League season

The sport continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first five rounds of matches were all played behind closed doors, and it was only from mid-May that spectators were allowed in the grounds, with attendances limited to 10,000 or 25% of the ground capacity. The Rugby Football League anticipated that COVID-19 would have an effect, and made two important changes to the organisation of the season.

Firstly, the league table would be decided by win percentage rather than competition points.^[5] Secondly, a set of protocols were introduced, allowing for matches to be postponed, if a team had seven or more players from the senior squad unavailable, due to either close contact or a positive COVID-19 test.^[6]

As in 2020, scrums will not be formed and instead, minor ruck infringements by the defending team, will result in a repeat set of six tackles for the attacking team. Dual registration will not be allowed, but loans will be, with the minimum load period reduced to fourteen days.^[7]

Super League Europe announced in February 2021 that the matches in round 2 would be played to support retired player Mose Masoe in his rehabilitation from a serious back injury suffered during a game in 2020.^[19][20]

In the round 3 game on 16 April 2021 between Hull KR and Huddersfield, Ben Crooks of Hull KR, scored a try after only seven seconds, a new record, after Sam Wood missed the ball from the kick off allowing Crooks to score. Hull KR went on to win 25–24. This achievement beat not only beat the previous fastest score in Super League (St Helens' Tim Jonkers scored after 14 seconds against Wakefield Trinity during the 2002 season) but also the fastest try scored in the NRL, which was set in 2017 (Kirisome Auva'a scored after 11 seconds for Parramatta Eels against Brisbane Broncos).^[21]

If a match ends in a draw after 80 minutes, then a further 10 minutes of golden point extra time is played, to determine a winner (5 minutes each way). The first team to score either a try, goal or drop goal during this period, will win the match. However, if there are no further scores during the additional 10 minutes period, then the match will end in a draw.

The first game to go to golden-point, was the round 1 game between Catalans and Hull KR on 27 March 2021. Catalans won the match 29–28, with a drop goal from James Maloney, after the scores were tied at 28-all after 80 minutes.

The round 3 game between Hull FC and Warrington on 18 April 2021, finished 14-all after 80 minutes. The game then went to extra time which saw numerous drop goal attempts by both teams. With neither team able to score any points during the extra 10 minutes, the match ended as a draw for the first time since golden point was introduced into Super League.

The third game to go to golden-point, was the round 6 game between Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity on 14 May 2021. Leeds won the match 15–13, with a penalty goal from Rhyse Martin, after the scores were tied at 13-all after 80 minutes.

The fourth game to go to golden-point, was the round 23 game between St Helens and Catalans Dragons on 4 September 2021, during the 2nd game of the day 1 fixtures, at the Magic Weekend. Catalans won the match 31–30, with a drop goal from James Maloney, after the scores were tied at 30-all after 80 minutes (Catalans scoring three tries in the final 4 minutes of the game to come back from 30-12 down). This was the first time in Super League history that a Magic Weekend game had gone to extra time (previous draws at Magic Weekend coming before the introduction of Golden Point to Super League).

The fifth game to go to golden-point, was the round 23 game between Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC on 4 September 2021, during the 3rd game of the day 1 fixtures, at the Magic Weekend. Leeds won the match 25–24, with a drop goal from Kruise Leeming, after the scores were tied at 24-all after 80 minutes. This was the second time in Super League that a magic weekend game had gone to extra time.

The sixth game to go to golden-point, was the round 24 game between Warrington Wolves and Salford Red Devils on 11 September 2021. Warrington won the match 20–19, with a drop goal from George Williams, after the scores were tied at 19-all after 80 minutes.

In June Castleford Tigers were forced to forfeit their round 12 match against St Helens. With only fourteen senior players available due to injury and COVID-19 precautions Castleford could not raise a team and forfeited the game. The RFL described it as "an unusual range of circumstances" but as less than seven of the absences were due to COVID-19 among the senior squad the match did not meet the criteria for postponement under the RFL's COVID-19 protocols.^[22] For statistical recording and league placing the match was recorded as a 24–0 victory to St Helens.^[23]

Huddersfield became the second Super League team to forfeit a game in 2021 when the round 13 match against Castleford was cancelled on 4 July. Huddersfield announced that they were missing 20+ players due to COVID-19 and injury but as the number unavailable due to COVID-19 was less than the minimum seven absences required for the game to be postponed under the RFL COVID-19 protocols, Huddersfield had to forfeit the match.^[24]

When the season details were announced the original method was for the league to revert to the normal determination, (i.e. league points won). On 7 March 2021, the Rugby Football League (RFL) announced that, league positions would be determined as they were in 2020 with league position decided by win percentage (Win percentage = number of league points ÷ number of games played x 50). If two or more teams have equal win percentages, then position will be determined by points scored percentage (points scored ÷ points conceded x 100).^[25]

To qualify for the play-offs, a team had to complete 70% of their scheduled fixtures (18 matches out of 25) – unless they earned a position, in the top six through league points despite having played fewer than 18 matches.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PP	Pts	PCT	Qualification[a]
1	Catalans Dragons (L)	23	19	0	4	688	398	172.9	38	82.61	Semi-final
2	St. Helens (C)	21	16	0	5	548	229	239.3	32	76.19
3	Warrington Wolves	21	15	1	5	588	354	166.1	31	73.81	Elimination Semi-finals
4	Wigan Warriors	25	15	0	10	387	385	100.5	30	60.00
5	Leeds Rhinos	24	13	0	11	556	440	126.4	26	54.17
6	Hull Kingston Rovers	20	10	0	10	497	458	108.5	20	50.00
7	Castleford Tigers	23	11	0	12	437	552	79.2	22	47.83
8	Hull FC	21	8	1	12	409	476	85.9	17	40.48
9	Huddersfield Giants	24	9	0	15	460	516	89.1	18	37.50
10	Wakefield Trinity	24	9	0	15	482	548	88.0	18	37.50
11	Salford Red Devils	22	7	0	15	402	584	68.8	14	31.82
12	Leigh Centurions (R)	22	2	0	20	356	870	40.9	4	9.09	Relegated to the Championship

The top 2 teams who finished first and second respectively in the regular season table (Catalans Dragons and St Helens respectively, had byes to the semi-finals. The four teams who finish third to sixth contested in two elimination finals, with the winner of those two games moving on to the semi-finals (Hull Kingston Rovers and Leeds Rhinos respectively). Catalans became the first non English team in Super League Era, to reach the Grand Final after they beat Hull Kingston Rovers 28–10 in the first semi-final on 30 September.^[26]

	Eliminators					Semi-finals					Grand Final
						1	Catalans Dragons	28
	3	Warrington Wolves	0			6	Hull Kingston Rovers	10
	6	Hull Kingston Rovers	19								1	Catalans Dragons	10
											2	St Helens	12
						2	St Helens	36
	4	Wigan Warriors	0			5	Leeds Rhinos	8
	5	Leeds Rhinos	8

23 September 2021 19:45 BST (UTC+01)

Wigan Warriors	0–8	Leeds Rhinos
	Report (RFL) Report (Sky Sports)	Tries: Handley 50' Goals: Martin 51', 74' (pen)

DW Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 7,396[27] Referee: Robert Hicks

24 September 2021 19:45 BST (UTC+01)

Warrington Wolves	0–19	Hull Kingston Rovers
	Report (RFL) Report (Sky Sports)	Tries: Abdull 17' Lewis 48' Keinhorst 68' Goals: Abdull 18', 49', 57' (pen) Drop goals: Abdull 73'

Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 6,252 Referee: Liam Moore

30 September 2021 19:45 CEST (UTC+02)

Catalans Dragons	28–10	Hull Kingston Rovers
Tries: Garcia 9' Drinkwater 31' Mourgue 41' Yaha 62' Chan 68' Goals: Maloney 10', 32', 69', 80' (pen)	Report (RFL) Report (Sky Sports)	Tries: Kenny Dowall 35' Hall 75' Goals: Abdull 76'

Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan Attendance: 11,530 Referee: James Child

1 October 2021 19:45 BST (UTC+01)

St Helens	36–8	Leeds Rhinos
Tries: Grace 6' 78' Roby 24' Percival 51', 73' Naiqama 60' Goals: Coote 14' (pen), 22' (pen), 25', 61', 74', 79'	Report (RFL) Report (Sky Sports)	Tries: T. Briscoe   21' Myler 38' L. Briscoe 68'

Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens Attendance: 11,688 Referee: Chris Kendall

9 October 2021 18:00 BST (UTC+01)

Catalans Dragons	10–12	St Helens
Tries: McMeeken   50' Goals: Maloney 9' (pen), 27' (pen), 51'	Report (RFL) Report (Sky Sports)	Tries: Naiqama   13'   66 Makinson   45' Goals: Coote 21' (pen), 67'

Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 45,177 Referee: Liam Moore Harry Sunderland Award: Kevin Naiqama (St Helens)

Red Cards Rank Player Club   Red Cards 1=   Joe Greenwood   Huddersfield Giants 1   Josh Jones   Andre Savelio   Hull FC   Korbin Sims  Hull KR   Pauli Pauli   Salford Red Devils   Jack Ashworth   Leigh Centurions   Bodene Thompson   Leeds Rhinos   Tommy Makinson   St Helens   Mike Cooper   Warrington Wolves   Zak Hardaker   Wigan Warriors   Brad Singleton

Yellow Cards Rank Player Club   Yellow Cards 1   James Bentley   St Helens 4 2   Richie Myler   Leeds Rhinos 3 3=   Jesse Sene-Lefao   Castleford Tigers 2   Peter Mata'utia   James Maloney   Catalans Dragons   Oliver Russell   Huddersfield Giants   Ligi Sao   Hull FC   Carlos Tuimavave   James Bell   Leigh Centurions   Ryan Lannon   Salford Red Devils   James Bentley   St Helens   John Bateman   Wigan Warriors   Willie Isa 14=   George Griffin   Castleford Tigers 1   Danny Richardson   Jason Baitieri   Catalans Dragons   Julian Bousquet   Joe Chan   Josh Drinkwater   Gil Dudson   Sam Kasiano   Michael Mcilorum   Joel Tomkins   Sam Tomkins   Leroy Cudjoe   Huddersfield Giants   Chris McQueen   Kenny Edwards   Jake Connor   Hull FC   Bureta Faraimo   Jordan Johnstone   Josh Reynolds   Chris Satae   Marc Sneyd   Scott Taylor   Luis Johnson   Hull KR   George King   George Lawler   Matt Parcell   Brad Takairangi   Albert Vete   Luke Gale   Leeds Rhinos   Robert Lui   Matt Prior   Liam Sutcliffe   Zane Tetevano   Chris Atkin   Salford Red Devils   Greg Burke   Morgan Escare   Ata Hingano   Sebastine Ikahihifo   Tui Lolohea   Jack Wells   Sione Mata'utia   St Helens   Mark Percival   James Batchelor   Wakefield Trinity   Chris Green   Mason Lino   Jacob Miller   Tom Lineham   Warrington Wolves   Jake Mamo   Gareth Widdop   Liam Byrne   Wigan Warriors   Liam Farrell   Oliver Partington   Kai Pearce-Paul   Morgan Smithies

• Updated to match(es) played on 30 August 2021 (Round 22)

The Super League end of season awards were announced on 4 October. The award winners were:

Rank	Player	Club
1	Sam Tomkins	Catalans Dragons
2	Jordan Abdull	Hull KR
3	Jake Connor	Hull FC
4	Jonny Lomax	St Helens
5	Gareth Widdop	Warrington Wolves
Here are the 5 nominees for the 2021 Steve Prescott Man Of Steel