It wasn’t a question of who would win the basement encounter between the London Broncos and Hull FC, it was more a question of how many Hull FC would win by as any notion of defeat for the Black and Whites was simply unthinkable.

The bookies were confident in a win for the away side, giving the Broncos a twelve-point start on the coupon, the Airlie Birds only win in 2024 was the last ditch 28-24 victory over todays opponents when the sides met back at the beginning of March.

FC were undefeated in their last twelve meetings with the London side, a stretch meaning that the Broncos moniker has never defeated a Hull FC side.

London simply didn't stand a chance.

 

After a round nine packed with shock outcomes in favour of the underdogs, the confusion in the final fixture of the weekend was to understand whether a Hull FC side who had only won once in the 2024 season, or a Leeds Rhinos side who seem adept at engineering defeats when wins look the most likely outcome, were the real underdogs.

Hull FC gave debuts to new signing Ed Chamberlain and Yusuf Aydin while the Rhinos gave a debut to the nineteen your old Riley Lumb his debut on the wing in place of David Fusitu’a.

The bookies chose Hull FC as the underdogs, handicapping the Rhinos by fourteen points on the coupon and in the week of upsets suggested that it was a cast iron win for the Airlie Birds but a win for neither side would likely improve their current league positions.

In the final game of round four of Super League XXIX the Catalans Dragons needed the win to go level on points with the five clubs above them with a share of the top slot in the division while a win of forty-nine points or more would see them above Wigan into top spot, on points difference.

A win for Hull FC was unlikely to change their league position but it would open some breathing space between themselves and the three sides below them who are currently all looking for their first league points of the season.

The home side were string favourites with the bookies, few considered that the Black and Whites had any chance of securing their second win of the season.

Either Hull FC, or the newly promoted London Broncos, would get their 2024 points haul off the big zero as the two sides met in the final game of round three of Super League XXIX, with the leagues bottom side taking on the team in tenth spot.

The Airlie Birds came into the game decimated by injuries and suspensions after a nightmare start to the season which had seen them zero from two with a big negative points difference having only managed to score a total of ten points, but they were still two places above their opponents who had managed just a single try in their two games while shipping in seventy points.

The bookies had installed the Broncos as the underdogs with a fourteen-point start on the coupon but the round had seen a couple of shocks in the fixtures earlier in the weekend.

While the losers of Saturday afternoon’s clash between Hull FC and the Leeds Rhinos were not mathematically out of the race for the top six, and a play off place, the likelihood was that any practical chance that the loser would have of making the end of season knock out games would be highly unlikely.

Both sides came into the game on twenty points, four behind the play off place currently occupied by the Warrington Wolves who had a simultaneous kick-off in a home banker against the Castleford Tigers.

A Wolves win would see today’s losers needing to win all three of their remaining games while hoping that those around them did them a series of big favours.

In reality, this was just a dead rubber, but Hull FC were the favourites with the bookies to take the two points and further their fans agony for another make or break weekend.

Castleford breathed a collective sigh of relief last night as relegation rivals Wakefield Trinity’s winning run came to an end at the hands of fellow West Yorkshire side, the Huddersfield Giants leaving the door open for them to increase the points gap to four if they could travel to west Hull and take the points off a Black and Whites side who themselves needed the points to keep alive their faint hopes of the play-offs.

FC have emerged victorious from both encounters so far this season and they got a confidence boosting win over their arch enemy from across the city in the derby last Sunday, and the bookies made them big favourites to pile more misery on the Tigers in the Saturday afternoon kick off.

Just five days after the two sides met in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup, Hull FC and St Helens were thrown together again by the vagaries of the fixture computer for a round sixteen Super League match with the Black & Whites looking for revenge and hoping to keep thirteen players on the field beyond half time.

The home side were obviously without the services of Griffin after he received a seven-game suspension for what he said to the referee after the half time hooter last weekend, but coach Tony Smith made several other changes to his side as they looked for a reversal.

Saints were without the services of injured Percival and Makinson who were replace by Hopoate and Bennison.

FC came into the game on the back of a sixteen-game losing streak against the Saints, their last win coming back in August 2017, and the bookies had the visitors down as favourites to take the points and lift themselves up into third spot, just two behind the joint league leaders.

A one place improvement as possible for either side in the final game of the Magic Weekend as a Warrington Wolves side who were looking for a return to the top of the table took on a Hull FC side who had an eye on going ahead of Huddersfield Giants and into ninth place in the table.

The bookies favoured a Warrington win, handicapping them by eight points on the coupon, but Daryl Powell’s side came into the game with more than a little concern about the resurgence in form from the Airlie Birds after a poor fist half of the season.

After yesterday’s day of the underdog, today was the day of the favourite, and most thought that Warrington would continue the trend.

Two sides from the lower half of the Super League table had the chance of a confidence boosting Challenge Cup win and a place in the quarter finals which were now devoid of the likes of the Leeds Rhinos and the Catalans Dragons as Hull FC mad the trip down the M62 to visit Wheldon Road for a game against the Castleford Tigers.

After three of recent wins the Airlie Birds are sat in ninth place in the table and are six points clear of the Tigers, who themselves have only managed two wins out of the twelve games that they have played so far this season.

The visitors were the favourites with the bookies, but there wasn´t much between the two sides, it looked like it could be a cup classic.

After a week away from Super League for the International break, action returned on Thursday night as Hull FC looked for their second consecutive win as they faced the daunting task of a game against the league leaders, the Wigan Warriors.

Neither side could improve on their current league position but for the visitors it would give them a two-point lead at the top of the table, whereas for the Airlie Birds it would lift them four points clear of the Castleford Tigers and give them a comfortable cushion in tenth place.

The bookies thought it would be a closer game than most pundits, FC getting an eight-point start on the coupon, as most fans wearing both colours heading for the stadium forecast a sizable win for the Cherry and Whites.

The last time that tonight’s visitors to Headingley won a game was on their last visit on the 24th February when Hull FC recorded a 22-18 victory over the Leeds Rhinos before they went on a six game losing streak.

The Rhinos rode their luck last time out and secured a narrow win over the Huddersfield Giants thanks to a second half fightback which saw them pick up their fourth win of the campaign and elevate themselves to seventh spot in the table.

The bookies had the Rhinos as strong favourites for the win giving the visitors a sixteen-point start on the handicap coupon.

On paper, the league leaders had a home banker as they welcomed a hapless Hull FC to the Halliwell-Jones Stadium for a Saturday lunchtime game broadcast to a rugby hungry audience on Channel 4.

The Wolves are the only side in Super League with a  one hundred percent record in 2023 as they look for their seventh consecutive win at the start of the season while FC haven´t managed a win in March as they struggle to find any kind of form under the coaching of new boss Tony Smith.

The Wolves were big favourites to continue their great run with the pundits and bookies heavily tipping them for the win, but the Airlie Birds came into the game knowing that they must turn the corner at some point and why wouldn´t that be today?

It was a bottom half of the table four pointer as Hull FC took on the Leigh Leopards as ninth travelled to tenth as both sides looked for their third win of the season and a jump up the league table.

The Leopards won last time out but the Airlie Birds have lost their last three.

Both sides were keen for the win to get the lift of a win and move towards the top half of the table.

The bookies made the home side the favourites and had given Leigh a four-point start in the handicap coupon, but it was too nervous sides, and anything could happen.

The sides starting the evening sat in ninth and tenth spots in the fledgling Super League 2023 table met at the Totally Wicked Stadium as St Helens took on Hull FC with the prize on offer being a spot in the top half of the table.

Most pundits thought that this would be the game where Saints would restart their domestic campaign after a couple of recent blips against the Rhinos and the Leopards, while few Airlie Birds fans had any optimism about a likely successful outcome of a trip across the Pennines to take on the reigning World Champions.

Hull were given an eighteen-point start on the coupon, it was Saints opportunity to fill their boots and compound Tony Smith´s misery.

Hull FC had their hopes set on a jump from eighth to third spot in the table which would be achieved from a home win against a Salford Red Devils side who themselves knew that a decent points win could lift them from tenth to a position inside the top five as the final game of round four took place on Saturday afternoon.

Both sides suffered defeat last time out, FC being walloped by the Catalans Dragons while Salford lost to league leaders Warrington Wolves.

Both coaches made wholesale changes as they chased the result although the freezing conditions were as likely to play a role equally as important as team selection.

The game of the round saw third placed Hull FC travel to the south of France for an early Friday evening kick-off against the Catalans Dragons with both sides eyeing the top of the table but needing to record big points victories to achieve it.

The Dragons needed a thirty-seven point victory to overtake Warrington on points difference while the ask was an unlikely fifty-three point plus win.

A win for either side would lift them into second spot, at least until Hull KR took on the Leigh Leopards in an eight o´clock kick-off.

The home side were slight favourites for the win, but FC had only been given a four-point start on the handicap coupon.

After suffering an opening round defeat at the hands of the Warrington Wolves, the Rhinos had a second-round home match with Hull FC as they looked to spoil the Airlie Birds winning start to the season and pick up two points of their own to boost the Headingly faithful.

Rohan Smith made two changes to his side from last week bringing Nene Macdonald in for his debut and starting with Cameron Smith in the thirteen.

Tony Smith made just one positional switch to his winning side, with Joe Lovodua coming into the starting line-up, and Chris Satae dropping to the bench.

Leeds were slight favourites with the bookies, FC being given a four-point start on the handicap coupon.

Tony Smith´s coaching reign of his fifth Super League club got underway at Hull FC in the final game of round one as his new side took on a Castleford Tigers side coached by ex-FC boss Lee Radford.

Neither side were fancied pre-season by the bookies or pundits and came into the game anxious for a great start to calm nerves and get their supporters onside for the long season ahead.

For this game the bookies made FC the slight favourites but only gave the Tigers a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

Once again it was a large opening round crowd which greeted the sides to the pitch.

It´s been one of those seasons for Hull FC where inconsistency has tarnished a good start and has seen them slip out of the play-off positions and into the bottom half of the table.

A win in Round 23 of Super League was now crucial to see them back within shooting distance of the top six, the bad news was that they were facing the Champions as St Helens came into town.

Hull FC had been given a ten point start on the handicap coupon as the bookies favoured St Helens to collect another win which would put them a step closer to sealing the minor premiership.

A win for FC wouldn´t alter their league position, but it would move them level with the Salford Red Devils and within a point of the Leeds Rhinos in sixth spot.

It would all come down to who was the hungriest for the win.

Two sides looking anxiously over their shoulders at the chasing pack met to see who would further their claim for a play-off spot, and who would be vulnerable to being caught, as Hull FC took on their former coach as Castleford Tigers made the trip east.

A victory by more than thirty-six points would lift the home side above the visitors and into fifth in the league table, but a loss for the Airlie Birds would see them potentially dropping out of the six, depending on results elsewhere.

The bookies could barely split the two sides, making the Tigers the slight favourites, but only with a two-point difference on the handicap coupon.

It promised to be an entertaining battle.