Betfred Super League 2022 team-by-team predictions & season guide

Free rugby league team-by-team analysis for the 2022 Betfred Super League season, which starts on Thursday evening.

St Helens made it a hat-trick of Betfred Super League titles with a nail-biting 12-10 victory over Catalans Dragons at Old Trafford last October and they also pouched the Betfred Challenge Cup for good measure, beating Castleford Tigers 26-12 at Wembley in July.

Competition sponsors Betfred go 8-1 about a back-to-back St Helens double and it's 16-1 they land the Grand Final, League Leaders Shield and Challenge Cup treble.

The Saints have strengthened well and will take plenty of stopping but Warrington, Catalans and Wigan will all fancy their chances of challenging the champions, while Leeds Rhinos have invested heavily after losing their tag as Super League's most successful side to St Helens.

Toulouse are welcomed into the top flight for the first time and Channel 4 will broadcast ten live matches over the course of the season, alongside Sky Sports, in an exciting and much-needed boost for the sport's profile.

All 12 teams are capable of serving up a feast of action for viewers new and old and these are our predicted finishing positions at the start of an exciting new era for the game.

1 St Helens

The Super League hat-trick was completed in 2021 and Saints made it a domestic double with victory in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

The reigning champs haven't finished outside the top two since 2017 and the Red Vee have proved unstoppable despite the best efforts of Catalans and Wigan in the past two years.

With a wonderful blend of high-class experience and talented youth, coach Kristian Woolf has a galaxy of stars at his disposal and it is hard not to have faith that Saints can make it four in a row.

Strong in every position, Saints have recruited well, bringing in Will Hopoate, Curtis Sironen and Joey Lussick from abroad, while bulldozing centre Konrad Hurrell joins from Leeds.

It looks like a case of the best just got better and are still the team to beat.

2 Warrington Wolves

Despite years of heavy investment the Wolves have never got over the line at Old Trafford and they may come up short once again in 2022.

New head coach Daryl Powell has been brought in from Castleford to add a greater consistency to the Wolves but a side packed with talent in the backs may pay for a lack of grunt in the forwards.

Warrington finished third last season as the top three eased clear of the chasing pack and they could go one step further this time around.

A squad containing Gareth Widdop, George Williams and Matty Ashton will never be far away from glory and the Wolves can be considered genuine contenders but it will be interesting to see how they bounce back from their humiliation at the hands of Hull KR in last season's playoffs when they were nilled by the Robins on their own patch.

3 Catalans Dragons

The Dragons went agonisingly close to their first Super League title in 2021 and recreating their best season will be the biggest challenge facing the French raiders in 2022.

Not much has changed at the Stade Gilbert Brutus for last season's League Leaders Shield winners, with influential veteran James Maloney replaced by compatriot and NRL superstar Mitchell Pearce.

Maloney, alongside Man of Steel winner Sam Tomkins, was key to Catalans' success last year and more of the same can be expected from Steve McNamara's men, who will be tested right from the off. An opening night trip to St Helens is followed by fixtures against each of the other four teams from last season's top six.

It's a punishing opening schedule and one that could show whether or not the class of '21 were a one-season wonder, but a top-three finish can be expected.

4 Leeds Rhinos

The Headingley giants were usurped as Super League's most successful side by St Helens last season so the Rhinos have splashed the cash in a bid to sustain a title challenge.

David Fusitu’a, Aidan Sezer, Blake Austin and James Bentley have all been recruited by Leeds, who were 80 minutes away from the Grand Final last season.

There is no doubt they have one of the best squads in the competition and the pressure is on head coach Richard Agar to get the best out of an array of new talent.

If they click the eight-time champions could go all the way.

5 Wigan Warriors

Wigan were seconds away from Grand Final glory in 2020 but they regressed alarmingly in 2021 and head coach Adrian Lam said his goodbyes after a miserable campaign in which only relegated Leigh scored fewer points than the Warriors.

Rookie head coach Matt Peet has been brought in to reinvigorate a talented squad who massively underachieved and he will be assisted by club legend Sean O’Loughlin and former Warrington half-back and assistant coach Lee Briers.

Ex-head coach and current England boss Shaun Wane is lurking in the background at the DW Stadium and it is hoped their coaching fab four can get the Warriors back into the winners enclosure.

On the pitch, Kaide Ellis, Patrick Mago and Cade Cust have been recruited to liven things up but Wigan have plenty of ground to make up on last year's top three and may have to settle for a place in the chasing pack once again.

6 Hull KR

The stars of the show in 2021, Hull KR defied all the odds, and lengthy ones at that, to take on the big boys and go within 80 minutes of a stunning Grand Final appearance.

Reaching the playoffs was one thing, but beating Warrington 19-0 on their own patch in the process can be mentioned in the same breath as other such sporting miracles as Liverpool's 2005 Champions League win and Leicester's 5,000-1 Premier League title triumph.

Tony Smith's men, who were more used to battling against relegation, stunned everyone with their swashbuckling style and more of the same can be expected from the Robins in 2022.

It's their way or the highway at Craven Park and although they are less of a surprise package now, a playoff place again looks well within reach.

7 Castleford Tigers

After agonisingly missing out on the playoffs last season, Cas have shown their ambition by spending big in support of new coach Lee Radford.

Radford takes over after a successful period at Hull FC, where he won back-to-back Challenge Cups, and he is tasked with leading the Tigers closer to glory.

Plenty of new faces join Radford at the Jungle, including Jake Mamo, Kenny Edwards, Bureta Faraimo, Mahe Fonua and Joe Westerman, and classy Cas will be hoping to steal some of the limelight in 2022.

However, it may take time for such a recruitment drive to pay off and the Tigers may be licking their wounds again after the climax of the regular season.

8 Huddersfield Giants

Ian Watson has so far struggled to recreate the heroics of his Salford days at Huddersfield but the Giants were walking tall towards the end of the 2021 campaign and will be looking to make even greater strides in 2022.

The ambition is there, as highlighted by the recruitment of Tui Lolohea and Theo Fages, while halfback Will Pryce looks a superstar in the making. But consistency was missing and that is something Watson will need to address, while the departures of Darnell McIntosh and Aidan Sezer are huge.

The Giants finished ninth last season but a big improvement will be expected this time and there is plenty of ground for Huddersfield to make up if they are to make the top six.

9 Hull FC

The Black & Whites had to watch on miserably in 2021 as their city rivals Hull KR set Super League alight with some scintillating performances that took them into the playoffs, and they will be desperate to emulate their old foes in 2022.

FC started well under new coach Brett Hodgson but injuries and Covid cases took their toll and the Airlie Birds won just one of their last ten matches.

Luke Gale has replaced Marc Sneyd as playmaker and will be tasked with getting the best out of a formidable pack containing human wrecking-balls, Chris Satae, Manu Ma'u, Ligi Sao and newly-recruited NRL brute Kane Evans.

Jake Connor on his day is one of the best players in Super League but a broken hand means he joins numerous others already on the sidelines for the start of the season and Hull could be playing catch-up right from the start.

10 Wakefield Trinity

Wakey were in the doldrums in 2021 until Willie Poching replaced Chris Chester and turned things around to leave Trinity heading up instead of down in the Super League standings.

Poching led Wakey to five wins from their final seven matches, and if they can continue that form into the new campaign they could spring a few surprises.

They certainly have the players. Mason Lino and Jacob Miller are a quality halfback pairing, while Tom Johnstone and Bill Tupou can score tries from anywhere on the pitch.

New recruits Lee Gaskell and Tom Lineham add extra quality and a playoff push may not be out of reach if Wakefield can make a fast start.

11 Salford Red Devils

The Red Devils won just seven of their 22 matches last season and were the third-lowest point scorers in the league, ahead of only Wigan and relegated Leigh.

Rookie coach Paul Rowley has been brought in for yet another rebuild at the AJ Bell Stadium but it is hard to see them improving on their 11th-place finish in 2021 despite the big-name signings of Marc Sneyd and Brodie Croft.

The half-back duo will need time to gel and avoiding a relegation scrap with Toulouse may be considered a success for the Red Devils.

12 Toulouse Olympique

The 2021 season was a vintage year for the French. Catalans topped Super League in the regular season and narrowly missed out on glory at Old Traffod, while Toulouse sealed their place in the top flight for the first time after finishing top of the pile in the Championship.

Olympique won all 14 fixtures in the second tier, 13 of which were played away from home due to Covid restrictions, while the other game saw them awarded the points following a London Broncos no-show.

Victory over Featherstone in the Million Pound Game carried them to the Promised Land but Sylvain Houles’ men look set to be brought back down to earth with a huge bump, and things could get messy on their way to the wooden spoon.

The French rookies are still reeling following the departure of star man and skipper Johnathon Ford on the eve of the season. Four of the past five Championship winners have failed to last more than a season in Super League, and it is hard to see Toulouse avoiding being the fifth to go straight back down.

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