2019 Super League Round 24 Review.

In attendance as Round 24 began on Thursday night with Wigan Warriors edging a narrow 15-14 win over Hull FC at the KCOM Stadium. FC opened up a 4-0 lead with two penalty goals from Marc Sneyd inside 15 minutes before Wigan were awarded an 8 point try with Liam Marshall tackled in the act of scoring, Zak Hardaker converting twice for and 8-4 lead. Hardaker added a penalty goal for 10-4 before Sneyd replied with a penalty goal on the hooter for 10-6 into the interval.

Wigan regained a two score lead with a second Marshall try just eight minutes after the restart for 14-6 but FC battled back with ex-Warriors forward Scott Taylor crossing for 14-12. A tense final ten minutes saw Sneyd level at 14 all with a fourth successful goal of the evening before Hardaker swept over a drop goal from 40 yards to seal the win for the Warriors at 15-14.

St Helens all but wrapped up the League Leaders Shield in consecutive seasons after a comfortable 26-6 win over Wakefield Trinity on Friday night. The sides exchanged penalty goals early on with Danny Richardson kicking ahead of  Danny Brough for 2-2. Saints regained the lead with three scores in eight minutes as Richardson, Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Tommy Makinson all crossed with Richardson converting the lot for 20-2 at half-time.

The second half saw a near scoreless 40 minutes with a Kevin Naiqama try for the hosts on 72 minutes which Richardson converted while Kelepi Tanginoa crossed for Trinity two minutes from the end for 26-6.

Leeds Rhinos moved away from the bottom with a 44-0 demolition of Huddersfield Giants. The Rhinos raced into a 16-0 lead before the half hour with Adam Cuthbertson, Tom Briscoe and Konrad Hurrell crossing for tries which saw Rhyse Martin convert twice. Brad Dwyer crossed just before half-time with Martin kicking for 22-0 into the interval.

The second half matched the first with a 22 point haul for the visitors as Ash Handley crossed for a brace at either end of the half, sandwiching a second score from Hurrell and an effort from Liam Sutcliffe, Martin converting three times for six successes in the 44-0 win.

Saturday afternoon saw a fiery contest as Catalans Dragons claimed a 30-10 win over Warrington Wolves. The Dragons opened the scoring with a Sam Tomkins penalty goal on 11 minutes for 2-0 before a scuffle saw Michael McIlorum and Chris Hill sent to the sin-bin with Tomkins kicking a penalty for 4-0. Wire levelled with a Jake Mamo try but went into the interval behind after a Fouad Yaha try for the hosts to make it 8-4.

Warrington went ahead three minutes after the restart with Hill touching down and Stefan Ratchford converting for 10-8. The Dragons went back in front on 54 minutes with David Mead's try which saw Tomkins convert before adding two penalty goals either side of the hour for 18-10 with the latter coming after Mamo was sin-binned for the Wolves. Matt Whitley and Tony Gigot wrapped up the win with tries in the final ten minutes which saw Tomkins convert twice for seven successes with the boot. However, a feisty end saw three cards brandished in the final minute with Tomkins, McIlorum and Mamo all sent off.

Sunday saw Hull Kingston Rovers boost their survival hopes with a 27-26 win over Castleford Tigers via Golden Point. The Robins opened the scoring with two scores in a minute as Craig Hall and Adam Quinlan crossed for tries which Ryan Shaw converted for 12-0. The Tigers hit back with a self-converted try from Peter Mata'utia for 12-6 but KR replied with a Shaw penalty goal for 14-6. The sides went into the interval with the Tigers 20-14 ahead after Jordan Rankin and James Clare both crossed with Mata'utia converting twice and adding a penalty goal.

Castleford extended their lead eight minutes after the restart with Greg Minikin crossing and Mata'utia kicking his fifth success of the afternoon for 26-14. Rovers rallied back though with ex-Tiger Ben Crooks scoring twice in the space of three minutes and with Shaw converting both for five successes, the sides were level at 26 all. Neither could break the deadlock as the match went on so Golden Point was required with Danny McGuire sweeping over a drop goal for the Robins to seal a 27-26 win.

The round ended with Salford Red Devils easing to a 58-28 win over London Broncos. Salford opened the scoring with three tries in nine minutes, Krisnan Inu, Mark Flanagan and Josh Jones all crossing with Tui Lolohea converting the lot for 18-0. London replied with a Rhys Williams effort which Kieron Dixon converted for 18-6. Salford regained control with scores from Niall Evalds, Lolohea and a second try from Inu and with Lolohea converting twice and Inu once, the lead was 36-6 at the interval.

London's hopes of a win looked dashed by scores after the restart from Evalds and Kris Welham with Lolohea kicking twice for 48-6. The Broncos stemmed the spree with a Luke Yates score which Dixon improved for 48-12 but Salford replied with a Jackson Hastings score which brought up the half-century at 52-12. London cut the gap again as Matty Fleming and Sadiq Adebiyi, the latter improved by Dixon for 52-22. Evalds completed his hat-trick with Lolohea reaching eight successes with the boot before London had the final say with a Rob Butler try in the final minutes which Dixon converted for a fourth success and 58-28 final score.