Super League clubs must bottle up round one vibrancy to build on promising start

The global sports management giant has been tasked with delivering the mainstream exposure that rugby league craves.

IMG has made positive noises about the future direction of the game without showing all its cards.

Until they discover the grading criteria that will determine which teams will make up a new-look Super League in 2025, all the clubs can do is focus on putting on a spectacle on game day.

Whether it is a directive from above or a case of proving their worth, Super League clubs certainly put on a show in round one.

Simply put, there was a different feel to Super League on its return.

Pre-match entertainment is nothing new but there has been a noticeable shift to popular bands with a reach that extends far beyond rugby league.

The Lathums were first up at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Thursday night, raising the volume inside the ground while Sky Sports engaged the TV audience with an energetic broadcast.

The move away from a cramped studio to the field allowed Brian Carney and the rest of the team to enhance the viewers' experience.

Even something as simple as the players running out rather than walking increased the sense of anticipation.

Leigh – rebranded as Leopards in time for their Super League return – raised the bar with a spectacular show which had a bit of everything.

From dancing leopards to a daring pyrotechnic display and headline act Scouting for Girls, it will go down as one of the sport's most memorable pre-match shows.

Channel 4 took the baton on Saturday and sold the game to a national audience in their own inimitable style after setting up camp at Craven Park.

Even in the second year of the broadcaster's coverage of rugby league, there is a freshness to it which shows the sport in a different light.

Channel 4 brought us St Helens' epic World Club Challenge win over Penrith Panthers in the morning before switching their attention to Hull KR's blockbuster clash with Wigan Warriors.

The Robins have been ahead of the game in recent times with live music and the introduction of popular fan zone Craven Streat.

A crowd of just shy of 10,000 were treated to The K's on Saturday afternoon before Willie Peters' side put on a show of their own to down the highly-fancied Warriors.

An aggregate attendance of almost 49,000 across the five games was an encouraging start.

Hull FC led the way with a bumper crowd of 15,383, the club's highest non-derby attendance since 2017.

The MKM Stadium played host to the most entertaining game of the opening weekend as the Black and Whites held off a spirited fightback by Castleford Tigers to claim a thrilling 32-30 win.

There were attention-grabbing storylines from the moment the revitalised Warrington Wolves put the cleaners through 2022 beaten Grand Finalists Leeds Rhinos.

Tom Johnstone came back to haunt former club Wakefield Trinity with a hat-trick in an impressive win for an understrength Catalans Dragons, while Salford Red Devils shut out the pre-match distractions to spoil Leigh's party before the Hull clubs made early statements of their own.

While the rugby league was unpolished – as is the norm at this time of year – the players provided rich entertainment to hold up their end of the bargain.

The challenge for the clubs is to bottle up the round one vibrancy and sustain it throughout the entire season.

As far as selling the sport goes, winning is right up there alongside entertainment.

Naturally, sports fans gravitate towards winners – and rugby league can boast the dictionary definition in St Helens.

Saints' victory in Australia transcended the sport, although perhaps not to the extent most people involved in rugby league would have liked.

The four-peat Super League champions showed courage, skill and their trademark relentless will to win to sink the NRL's best in their own backyard against the odds, with the drama of golden point an added bonus at the end of a titanic tussle.

To thrive as a competition, Saints' Super League rivals must catch them up.

There was enough evidence in round one to suggest that clubs are attacking the new season with renewed vigour.

Whether that results in St Helens being dethroned remains to be seen – but clubs competing with each other off the field as well as on it can only be healthy for rugby league in this country.

After showing its potential, Super League has the platform to kick off the IMG era in style.