Super League (rugby league)

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

The Super League, referred to as the Super League (rugby league) to avoid confusion with other similarly named competitions, is the highest level rugby league competition in the Florian Republic and is one of the fully professional rugby league competitions in Apollonia. It is run by the Florian Rugby Football League. It is known as the Wicked Devil Super League due to sponsorship reasons and is contested by 16 teams and the top eight teams enter the postseason playoffs. All 16 teams are based in the Florian Republic. Previously, the league had a team from Freeland which then withdrew from the league after its inaugural season. They have also been interests of teams from Etourney entering the league. There is use of promotion and relegation in the league with the three bottom teams of the league being relegated to Florian Super League 2. 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

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.

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 which 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.

Teams

The Super League (rugby league) consists of 18 teams: Three based in Northcliff, two in Blackoak, Dragonmoor and Havenbarrow. Other teams are from Birmingham, Meadowedge, Newhedge, Newmarsh, Northsilver, Stonehall,Oldhaven and Westlake. The league operates a promotion and relegation system with its feeder 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. 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. KR Viten Sharks however would leave after one season to join the new Micras Balkans Super League.Northcliff Broncos would be then readmitted into the league. In 2018, the Birmingham Titans, Oldhaven Wolfpack and Southern Storm were granted Super League licenses.

Current Clubs

Super League clubs
Colours Club Established Location Stadium Capacity*
Birmingham Titans colours.png Birmingham Titans 2017 Birmingham Eastpak Stadium 34,000
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 Dragonmoor City Stadium 12,000
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
Oldhaven Wolfpack colours.png Oldhaven Wolfpack 2017 Oldhaven The Den 9,000
Northcliff Broncos colours.png Northcliff Broncos 2017 Northcliff Ancestor Stadium 4,000
Northcliff Tigers colours.png Northcliff Tigers 2017 Northcliff Northcliff Sports Complex 20,000
Northcliff Roosters colours.png Northcliff Roosters 2017 Northcliff various
Stonehall Bears colours.png Stonehall Rhinos 2017 Stonehall The Jungle 26,500
Southern Storm colours.png Southern Storm 2017 Oldhaven Thunder Park (Under construction) 74,000
Westlake Wildcats colours.png Westlake Wildcats 2017 Westlake 'Wild' Park 5,333
Current Champions

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 Roosters

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 Roosters are the better out of two due to them winning more titles than Northcliff Tigers. The rivalry is nicknamed the Immortal derby.

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 the regular season starts late March following a brief series of friendlies. 18 teams currently compete in the competition. A round of regular season matches is played every weekend for 24 weeks with irregular breaks to fit in Apollonian Challenge Cup matches, usually until the end of September. All matches are played on Saturday afternoons and evenings. 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 24 rounds wins the Minor Premiership. The eight highest-ranked clubs at the end of the regular season advance to the postseason playoffs and the bottom three ranked teams are relegated to Florian Super League 2.

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.

Super Round

In an attempt to expand the sport of rugby league, and market the Florian game to a global audience, the Super League (rugby league) has staged games in large stadia abroad in countries and domestic areas 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.

Wildcard Round

Fron 2020, the teams finishing 7th to 10th in the regular season will play in a Wildcard Round for a place in the Super League Playoffs. Once the Wildcard Round winners have been determined, the playoffs will run like previous seasons.

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.

Player draft

From the 2019 season, the Super League (rugby league) and Florian Super League 2 will operate a player draft. Players avaliable for the draft would be from amateur clubs and university students. The combined clubs of 36 teams will have six rounds to pick one player. The worst ranked team in the Florian Super League 2 will choose first and the Super League (rugby league) will choose last. Clubs are required to make their selection within a certain period of time, the exact time depending on which round the pick is made in.

League Champions

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

Media Coverage

Country TV Broadcasters Radio Broadcasters
Craitland Craitland VVision none
Krasnocoria Krasnocoria StadioSport StadioSport Radio
Florian Republic Florian Republic
Etourney Etourney
FBC Sport
Red Sports
FBC Sports Radio
Senya Senya Senya TV Sport none
Mercury Mercury RLM24 none
Freeland Freeland PRF1 TV none
Worldwide Florian Super League Live Pass*

In the Florian Republic , 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. In Freeland matches are broadcasted on PRF1 TV, its main TV channel. The Florian Super League 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 covered by FBC Sports.

Records

Team

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

Match officials

Below, is a list of match officials currently officiating in the league, three of which are FMRL tier one officials:

Referees

  • Stanley Parry (FMRL Tier One)
  • Leon Gallagher (FMRL Tier One)
  • Arthur Day
  • James Walker
  • Jamie Shaw
  • Patrick Spencer
  • Fletcher Patterson
  • Graham Newman
  • Oscar Andrews
  • Jasmine Green

  • Lucas Bennett (FMRL Tier One)
  • Isaac Woods
  • Bobby Hunt
  • Stanley Hunter
  • Nathan Duncan
  • Sebastian Carr
  • Joseph Martin
  • Joe Holmes
  • Michael Price
  • Jess Dixon

'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 Wicked Devil Wicked Devil Super League
2020- No sponsor 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.