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Hull KR joined elite company by winning the treble last year – but they are now at risk of joining a group of teams for all the wrong reasons.
The Robins are in a slump right now and their defeat to Warrington Wolves last weekend saw them move out of the play-offs with a third of the season remaining.
Ahead of the Hull Derby, Willie Peters’ side now are at realistic threat of not making the top six. If that were the case, it would ensure it would go down as one of the worst title defences in Super League history.
The worst Super League title defences
Since Super League’s creation, there have been only three examples of clubs not making the play-offs after winning the Grand Final the year before.
Curiously, all three examples came in three consecutive years, and two of them included Leeds Rhinos.
The first time a team didn’t make the play-offs after winning a Grand Final was in 2016 and that was also a side that won the treble the year before. Brian McDermott’s Rhinos side had a shocking campaign. During the ‘Super 8s’ period, the Rhinos finished ninth after 23 rounds, which meant they had to fight for their Super League status in the Qualifiers.
They ultimately topped the middle 8s, essentially finishing ninth. Incredibly, that wouldn’t be their worst defence of a title.
Wigan Warriors won Super League in 2016 and they missed the play-offs the year after, though they did at least reach the Super 8s. Coached by Shaun Wane, Wigan finished sixth after 30 rounds, but at the time, Super League’s play-off system only featured four teams, and so they missed out.
Leeds won Super League in 2017, defeating Castleford Tigers at Old Trafford. However, they once again crashed the year after, once again finding themselves in the Qualifiers. They didn’t even finish top of that either, finishing second to Salford Red Devils. In essence, that meant they finished tenth, which is officially the worst Grand Final defence in history.
It seems incredibly unlikely Rovers will surpass that. Castleford are currently tenth and they sit eight points behind the Robins, who also have a game in hand.
However, they are at risk of becoming just the fourth team to miss out on the play-offs, company they certainly don’t want to join.
