2010 Super League fixtures announced

Wednesday 18th November 2009

Crusaders to face Rhinos in Wrexham

Champions Leeds Rhinos will begin their defence of the engage Super League title in unfamiliar surroundings with a match against Crusaders at The Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on Friday January 29.

Leeds, who completed an unprecedented hat-trick of titles with their 18-10 Grand Final victory over St Helens last October, face the rebranded Crusaders in one of two fixtures played a week before the first full round of engage Super League XV.

The match is a Round Four  fixture which has been rearranged because of the Rhinos' involvement in the World Club Challenge against Melbourne Storm at Elland Road, Leeds, on Sunday February 28.

Melbourne, the NRL champions, will warm up for the world club title decider with a match against Harlequins RL, whose Round 3 home match against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats will be played on Saturday January 30th.

The 2010 engage Super League season starts a week earlier than engage Super League XIV because of England's involvement in the 2010 Gillette Four Nations, which will be played in the southern hemisphere in October and November.

The 14-team engage Super League competition will once again feature 26 regular rounds and a full round of fixtures at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, which hosts the Magic Weekend for the second successive year.

The draw for the seven matches at Murrayfield over the weekend of May 1 and 2 will be made live on Sky Sports News on Wednesday November 18th at 1.30pm.

All seven matches in the Scottish capital will be broadcast live by Sky Sports, who will once again screen live matches every Friday and Saturday throughout the engage Super League season.

The Sky Sports cameras will have covered all 14 clubs by Round 5 next season and will have covered the action at every club for at least two home games by Round 14.

Other highlights for 2010 include the Round 13 clash between St Helens and Leeds at Knowsley Road on Friday April 23, the first time the two sides will have met since this year's Grand Final.

2009 Carnegie Challenge Cup finalists Warrington Wolves and Huddersfield Giants come face to face at Galpharm Stadium on Sunday February 28 while Brian Noble, the former Wigan Warriors coach, returns to his old club for the first time since his appointment as head coach of Crusaders on Friday February 5.

A bumper round of derbies takes place over the Good Friday Bank Holiday weekend, starting with Leeds versus Bradford on Thursday April 1. The following day sees the massive Hull derby between Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers at Craven Park, St Helens versus Wigan and Wakefield versus Castleford Tigers.

Crusaders will play home matches at Rodney Parade in Newport and the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, in 2010 and are still in negotiations with the owners of both stadiums. Fans planning to attend a Crusaders fixture in Wales are advised to wait for the venue to be confirmed before making travel arrangements.

The engage Super League play-offs begin on the weekend of September 11 and 12 and climax with the Grand Final at Old Trafford, Manchester, on Saturday October 2.

Goto our Match Data section to see the 2010 engage Super League fixtures in full. They will also shortly be available in our Fixtures section.

engage Super League 2010 opening fixtures 

JANUARY 

* Friday 29 - Crusaders v Leeds Rhinos 20.00 (at Wrexham FC)

Saturday 30 - Harlequins RL v Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 15.00. 

FEBRUARY

Friday 5 - Wigan Warriors v Crusaders 20.00. 

Friday 5 - Huddersfield Giants v Bradford Bulls 20.00.

Friday 5 - Leeds Rhinos v Castleford Tigers 20.00. 

Saturday 6 - St Helens v Hull FC 18.00.

Sunday 7 - Hull Kingston Rovers v Salford City Reds 15.00.

Sunday 7 - Wakefield Trinity Wildcats v Catalans Dragons 15.30.

Sunday 7 - Warrington Wolves v Harlequins RL 15.00.