Super League (rugby league)

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Super League (rugby league)
Countries Florian Republic Florian Republic
Freeland Freeland
Founded 2017
First season 2017
Number of teams 16 (18 from 2019)
Levels on pyramid 1
Relegation to Florian Super League 2
International cup(s) FMRL World Club Championships
Apollonian Challenge Cup
Current champions Northcliff Vikings colours.png Northcliff Vikings
(2017)
Most championships Northcliff Vikings colours.png Northcliff Vikings (1 Title)
Website Official website
2018 Super League

The Super League, referred to as the Super League (rugby league) to avoid confusion with other similarly named competitions, is the highest and only fully professional rugby league competition in Apollonia.It is run by the Florian Rugby Football League. It is known as the Fastbet Super League due to sponsorship reasons and is contested by 16 teams and the top eight teams enter the postseason playoffs. 16 teams are based in the Florian Republic and one team is based in Freeland.They have also been interests of teams from Etourney entering the league. There is a use of promotion or relegation in the league with the two bottom teams of the league being relegated. It is the most viewed and attended rugby league club competition in Micras after the league broke attendance and viewing records in its second season.

Matches are played from February to September and the season culminates in the leagues' playoff final, the Florian Super League Grand Final. The most popular sporting event in the Florian Republic. The teams which reach the Grand Final, qualify for the FMRL World Club Championships.

History

Establishment

Expanision

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 plan 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 teams 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. Due to the failure of the Fastbet Cup and Fastbet Premiership, the league created a second tier of the division.

Teams

The Super League (rugby league) consists of 16 teams: Three based in Northcliff, two in Blackoak, Dragonmoor and Havenbarrow. Other teams are from Meadowedge, Newhedge, Newmarsh, Northsilver, Stonehall and Westlake. The league operates on a single group system, with no divisions or conferences and no relegation and promotion from other leagues. 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. After having their license revoked, on the 14th December 2017 the Northcliff Broncos were expelled from the league and were replaced by KR Viten Sharks from Freeland, effectively creating an continental competition.

Current Clubs

Super League clubs
Colours Club Established Location Stadium Capacity*
Blackoak Bulls colours.png Blackoak Bulls 2017 Blackoak Blackoak metropolitan Stadium 10,300
Blackoak Giants colours.png Blackoak Giants 2017 Blackoak Stone Brewery Stadium 55,097
Dragonmoor Devils colours.png Dragonmoor Devils 2017 Dragonmoor Dragonmoor City Stadium 12,000
Dragonmoor Dragons colours.png Dragonmoor Dragons 2017 Dragonmoor Thomas Lémery Stadium 55,000
Havenbarrow Rovers colours.png Havenbarrow Rovers 2017 Havenbarrow Post Office Way 6,750
Havenbarrow Wolves colours.png Havenbarrow Wolves 2017 Havenbarrow Wolves Park 15,200
Meadowedge Warriors colours.png Meadowedge Warriors 2017 Meadowedge Warriors Sport Arena 45,500
Newhedge Centurions colours.png Newhedge Centurions 2017 Newhedge Newhedge Sports Village 12,000
Newmarsh Saints colours.png Newmarsh Saints 2017 Newmarsh Saints Road 23,000
Northsilver Panthers colours.png Northsilver Panthers 2017 Northsilver Panthers Arena 25,586
KR Viten Sharks colours.png KR Viten Sharks 2017 Viten,Freeland Viten Arena 30,000
Northcliff Eagles colours.png Northcliff Eagles 2017 Northcliff The Beehive 6,418
Northcliff Tigers colours.png Northcliff Tigers 2017 Northcliff Northcliff Sports Complex 20,000
Northcliff Vikings colours.png Northcliff Vikings 2017 Northcliff Northcliff Arena 75,000
Stonehall Bears colours.png Stonehall Rhinos 2017 Stonehall The Jungle 26,500
Westlake Wildcats colours.png Westlake Wildcats 2017 Westlake 'Wild' Park 5,333
Current Champions

Future Clubs

Two brand new teams will enter the league in 2019.

Club Established City Stadium Capacity
Birmingham Titans 2017 Birmingham Eastpak Stadium 34,000
Southern Storm 2017 Oldhaven Thunder Park (Under construction) 74,000

Famous Super League Rivalries

The Super League (rugby league) is well known for the many rivalries it has in its leagues. The most famous are shown below:

Northcliff Tigers vs Northcliff Vikings

The rivalry of these two Northcliff clubs has been described as the biggest and most violent rugby league derby on Micras. Both clubs are two of the biggest clubs in the country and both are currently dominant in the league. Northcliff Vikings are the better out of two due to them winning more titles than Northcliff Tigers. The rivalry is nicknamed the Immortal derby.

Northcliff Eagles vs Northcliff Vikings

Havenbarrow Rovers vs Havenbarrow Wolves

Blackoak Bulls vs Blackoak Giants

Dragonmoor Devils vs Dragonmoor Dragons

Season Structure

Pre season

Preseason begins in January and ends in early February. In this time clubs play friendlies against other teams in the Florian Republic, however, some teams may play teams from other countries in the FMRL World Club Championships.

Regular Season

Rugby League is a summer sport in the Florian Republic and Freeland and the regular season starts early March following a brief series of friendlies. A round of regular season matches is played every weekend for 30 weeks, usually until the end of September. All matches are played on Saturday evening. Teams receive two competition points for a win and one point for a draw. Teams on the table are ranked by Teams on the ladder 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 wins the league leaders Trophy. From the 2018 season onwards after round 15 of the regular season. Teams have three byes a season to accommodate the Florian State of Origin.

Magic Weekend

In an attempt to expand the sport of rugby league, and market the Florin game to a global audience, the Super League (rugby league) has staged games in large stadia abroad in countries which traditionally don't play rugby league. The "Magic Weekend" concept, which involves staging an entire round of Super League in such a stadium, was first staged in Viten in 2017.

Playoffs

Logo for the playoffs in 2018

The eight 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 eight 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 the most popular sporting event in the Florian Republic. Since inception, it has been played at Northcliff Arena, the largest stadium in the republic. 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 League Leaders Trophy
Finished first in Regular Season
Champions Score Runners-up
2017 Northcliff Vikings colours.png Northcliff Vikings 34-18 Northsilver Panthers colours.png Northsilver Panthers Northcliff Vikings colours.png Northcliff Vikings
2018 TBC N/A TBC TBC

Media Coverage

Country TV Broadcasters Radio Broadcasters
Craitland Craitland VVision none
Kingdom of Coria Kingdom of Coria
Nohavland Nohavland
StadioSport StadioSport Radio
Florian Republic Florian Republic
Etourney Etourney
Sports Hub
Red Sports
Free Sports Radio
Senya Senya Senya TV Sport none
Mercury Mercury RLM24 none
Freeland Freeland PRF1 TV none

In the Florian Republic , the Super League (rugby league) has deals with two networks, Red Sports and Sports Hub. Collectively, these contracts cover every regular season and postseason game. In Freeland matches are broadcasted on PRF1 TV, its main TV channel. The NRL is available to the rest of Micras via an official Livestream channel. Matches are also broadcasted in Mercury, Craitland, the Kingdom of Coria and Senya.

Detailed Florian coverage

Matches on Sunday are currently are broadcasted by FBC Sports.

Records

Team

  • Most Titles - TBC
  • Most League Leaders Trophies - 1 Northcliff Vikings
  • Most Wooden Spoons - 1 Dragonmoor Devils
  • Longest winning Streak - 20 matches, Northcliff Vikings (2017)
  • Longest losing streak - 11 matches, Dragonmoor Devils (2017)

Match officials

Referees

  • Stanley Parry
  • Leon Gallagher
  • Arthur Day
  • James Walker
  • Jamie Shaw
  • Patrick Spencer
  • Fletcher Patterson
  • Graham Newman
  • Oscar Andrews

  • Lucas Bennett
  • Isaac Woods
  • Bobby Hunt
  • Stanley Hunter
  • Nathan Duncan
  • Sebastian Carr
  • Joseph Martin
  • Joe Holmes
  • Michael Price

'The Bunker' Video Referees

Logo for the 'Bunker'. Sponsored by Chicken King
  • Ewan Davies
  • Tom Berry
  • William May

Two referees system

The Super League (rugby league) uses a two-referee system. In every match, there are two referees, two touch judges, video referee and a timekeeper.

Sponsorship

The league was not sponsored in its first season.

The title sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. There have been two different title sponsors since the league's formation:

Period Sponsor Name
2017 no sponsor Super League
2018 Fastbet Fastbet Super League
2019- Monster Interactive Monster Interactive Super League

As well as title sponsorship, the league has a number of official partners and suppliers, such Raptor (Offical ball supplier), Queens Press (Offical beverage), VykMotors (Official motor company) and N@G@ (Offical communications partner). Drag0n is to make the official game, Rugby League World. Florian Airlines is the official airline of the league and will provide travel to matches abroad in Etourney and other countries. On the 5th December, The eyecare company, Quicklenses became an official referee sponsor. After a long negotiation talk, fast food company Chicken King became the sponsor of the video referring system.