1:52 The Betfred Super League play-offs are coming and this is how they will work in 2019.
What about the relegation battle?
Super League has never known a relegation battle like this one, with four teams level on 20 points fighting to avoid finishing bottom of the table and dropping into the Championship for the 2020 season.
Wakefield Trinity, Huddersfield Giants, Hull KR, and London Broncos are the four who must wait until Round 29 is over to see how they stand.
In a further twist, Wakefield and the Broncos face each other at Mobile Rocket Stadium in the final round of the regular season, live on Sky Sports on Friday, and that means a win for either would assure them of a place in Super League for next year.
Trinity have a far superior points difference to the three other teams embroiled in the relegation fight, but defeat for them and avoiding defeat for the Giants and Rovers against Catalans and Salford respectively would see them finish bottom.
Victories for Tony Smith’s side and Simon Woolford’s men would see them stay up. Were they to both lose, it would then come down to tie-breakers with the loser of the match between Wakefield and London – the Broncos being by far the worst off in terms of points difference.
If the Giants lose and the Broncos win, then Huddersfield would become dependent on Rovers losing at Salford to stay up. In the case of Rovers losing and the capital city side winning, the East Hull outfit would need the Giants to lose by a margin of 13 points greater than their loss to the Red Devils to stay up.
Super League’s relegation battle: How it stands
| Team | W | D | L | F | A | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield | 10 | 0 | 18 | 589 | 713 | -124 | 20 |
| Huddersfield | 10 | 0 | 18 | 547 | 754 | -207 | 20 |
| Hull KR | 10 | 0 | 18 | 532 | 751 | -219 | 20 |
| London | 10 | 0 | 18 | 495 | 768 | -273 | 20 |
In the unlikely scenario of a draw after ten minutes of golden-point extra-time at Wakefield, Huddersfield and Hull KR would also face a nervous wait to see which tie-breakers come into effect if they both lose.
It would be the same in the even more unlikely scenario that Wakefield and the Broncos draw, and Hull KR and Huddersfield do likewise in their games.
Whichever team ends up being relegated will go down with a record number of wins and points, emphasising how closely-matched many of the sides in Super League have been this year.
Whatever the outcome, it promises to be a nail-biting evening for all four clubs on Friday as they aim to ensure their destiny remains in their own hands.
Sourse: skysports.com
