Super League (rugby league)

Super League (rugby league)

Countries	Floria
Confederation	ARL
Founded	2017 2023 (Revival)
First season	2017
Number of teams	12 (proposed)
Levels on pyramid	1
International cup(s)	Rugby League World Club Challenge
Current champions	Meadowedge Warriors (2019)
Most championships	Northcliff Vikings Northsilver Panthers Meadowedge Warriors (1 Title)
2020 Florian Super League

The Super League, referred to as the Florian Super League to avoid confusion with other similarly named competitions, is the highest level rugby league competition in Floria and is the highest level of professional rugby league in Apollonia. It is run by the Florian Rugby Football League and is contested by 14 teams with the top six teams entering the postseason playoffs. All 12 teams are based within the Confederate States of Floria. Previously, the league has had a team from Freeland. There is the use of promotion and relegation in the league with the bottom team in the league being relegated to Florian Super League 2.

Matches are played from February to September and the season culminates in the leagues' playoff final, the Florian Super League Grand Final. The teams which reach the Grand Final, qualify for the Rugby League World Club Challenge.

History

Expansion

After the formation of the league. The organisers of the competition released a plan to expand the game to new cities domestically and abroad. They planned to expand the league to 20 teams. On November 21st, 2017, the Florian Super League committee openly addressed proposals for two clubs to be entered into the league for the 2019 season. Five franchises applied for Super League status. At the end of the month, the league's current members voted on each application and Birmingham Titans and the Southern Storm (originally to be based in Blyth but now Oldhaven) were accepted after gaining almost unanimous votes. The Wolfpack was also awarded a license but they were denied automatic promotion in a decision made in January 2018. The two other applicants, the Southern Knights and Coldley Panthers were accepted into the Semi-Professional leagues. In a very controversial decision, a last-minute bid for Super League status in 2018 from KR Viten Sharks was accepted after Northcliff Broncos were revoked a license. The Wolfpack was angry about the decision but an appeal was rejected. In the process, KR Viten Sharks became the first foreign team to play in the Florian Super League. However, the Sharks would leave to join the Micras Balkan Super League. Due to the failure of the Fastbet Cup and Fastbet Premiership, the league took control of the second tier and the new Super League 2 was launched and will kick off in 2019. The new competition allowed more new franchises into the Super League organisation. From 2021, the league will be expanded to 24 teams featuring teams from all states and territories of the Florian Republic. The expanded league will also split into two conferences of 12 teams.

Florian rugby league civil war

In late March 2018, Some Florian clubs were angry with the administration of rugby league in the country and these clubs formed the Florian National Rugby League, a breakaway organisation that was deemed illegal by the Florian government. The organisation was later shut down. The conflict had a huge effect on all aspects of the Florian game, with many previously aligned Florian National Rugby League switching to Rugby Union and lack of money invested into grassroots rugby league. The effects of the breakaway would greatly damage the professional game resulting in the league dropping in popularity and being left behind by rival competitions such as the FFL and SLF.

Teams

Super League consists of 14 teams with teams based in heartland towns and cities such as Northcliff, Blackoak, Stonehall and Havenbarrow. Other teams are from Birmingham, Meadowedge, Newhedge, Newmarsh, Northsilver, Oldhaven and Westlake. The league operates a promotion and relegation system with its secondary league, Florian Super League 2. In its inaugural season in 2017, only 12 teams competed in the league. After the 2017 season, it was announced that the league would be expanding to 16 teams and therefore the four highest-placed teams in the Florian Championship were promoted. KR Viten Sharks from Freeland joined the league in 2017 effectively creating a continental competition. KR Viten Sharks however would leave after one season to join the new Micras Balkans Super League.Northcliff Broncos in 2018 alongside the Birmingham Titans, Oldhaven Wolfpack and Southern Storm were promoted to the league. In 2021 the league proposed expansion to Longsight and other new major cities in Floria but plans were suspended after a rapid drop in popularity in the sport.

Current Clubs

Super League clubs
Colours	Club	Established	Location	Stadium	Capacity*
	Birmingham Titans	2017	Birmingham	Eastpak Stadium	34,000
	Blackoak Giants	2017	Blackoak	City of Blackoak Stadium	55,097
	Dragonmoor Devils	2017	Dragonmoor	Dragonmoor City Stadium	12,000
	Dragonmoor Dragons	2017	Dragonmoor	Dragonmoor City Stadium	12,000
	Havenbarrow Wolves	2017	Havenbarrow	Wolves Park	15,200
	Meadowedge Warriors	2017	Meadowedge	Meadowedge Stadium	45,500
	Newmarsh Saints	2017	Newmarsh	Saints Road	23,000
	Northsilver Panthers	2017	Northsilver	Panthers Arena	25,586
	Oldhaven Wolfpack	2017	Oldhaven	The Den	9,000
	Northcliff Tigers	2017	Northcliff	Northcliff Sports Complex	20,000
	Northcliff Roosters	2017	Northcliff	Various
	Stonehall Rhinos	2017	Stonehall	Emerald Stadium	21,500
	Southern Storm	2017	Oldhaven	Thunder Park	74,000
	Westlake Wildcats	2017	Westlake	Westlake Stadium	60,292

Current Champions

Season Structure

Pre season

Preseason begins in January and ends in early February. In this time clubs play friendlies against other teams in Floria. 1===Regular Season=== Rugby League is a summer sport in Floria and the regular season starts late March following a brief series of friendlies. 14 teams currently compete in the competition. A round of regular season matches is played every weekend for 28 weeks, usually until the end of September. Matches are played on Thursday and Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Teams receive two competition points for a win. Teams on the table are ranked by competition points, then match points differential (for and against) and points percentage are used to separate teams with equal competition points. At the end of the regular season, the highest-ranked club after 28 rounds wins the Minor Premiership. The six highest-ranked clubs at the end of the regular season advance to the postseason playoffs.

The league adopts the golden point rule during the regular season. Therefore, matches ending in draws after regulation time advance to extra time until a winner is decided by scoring a point.

Playoffs

The six highest placed teams at the end of the regular season compete in the Playoffs series. The system consists of a number of games between the top six teams over four weeks in September, until only two teams remain. These two teams then contest the Grand Final, which is usually played on the first Sunday of October.

Super League Grand Final

The Florian Super League Grand Final determines the season's overall champions and is one of the most popular sporting events in Floria. The Grand Final is always played on a Sunday and is televised on TV networks such as Red Sports, RLM24 and other TV channels. The game has an opening ceremony featuring entertainment and the singing of the national anthem as well as an invitational nines game. At the conclusion of the Grand Final, there is a presentation ceremony where the winning team are awarded champion medals and then the man of the match is given the Edwin Farrar Medal.

League Champions

Season	Grand Finals			Minor Premiership Finished first in Regular Season
	Champions	Score	Runners-up
2017	Northcliff Roosters	34–18	Northsilver Panthers	Northcliff Roosters
2018	Northsilver Panthers	10–8	Stonehall Rhinos	Northsilver Panthers
2019	Meadowedge Warriors	24–18	Northcliff Roosters	Meadowedge Warriors
2023

Media Coverage

Country	TV Broadcasters	Radio Broadcasters
Craitland	VVision	none
Floria  Etourney	FBC Sport Red Sports	FBC Sports Radio
Senya	Senya TV Sport	none
Mercury	RLM24	none
Worldwide	Florian Super League Live Pass*

• Only available to countries which do not have a broadcasting deal for the Florian Super League. Coverage will be provided by FBC Sports.

In the Confederate States of Floria , the Super League (rugby league) has deals with two networks, Red Sports and FBC Sport. Collectively, these contracts cover every regular season and postseason game. The Florian Super League is available to the rest of Micras via an official Livestream channel. Matches are also broadcasted in Mercury, Craitland and Senya.

Detailed Florian coverage

• Thursday Night Football starts at 7:30 pm and matches are shown on the free to view on FBC Sport.
• Friday Night Football starts at 5:45 pm with the first match shown on Red Sports. A second match, 7:55 pm is broadcast by both Sports Hub and Red Sports.