Hull KR win bodes well for top flight's new era

That feels fitting after a season that has delivered the promise of several new clubs coming to the fore and looking as if they can now emulate the new champions and themselves smash Super League’s glass ceiling.

- Aaron Bower

For the first time in two decades Super League woke up yesterday morning with a name other than Wigan Warriors, St Helens or Leeds Rhinos as its champions. Hull KR are the first new winners of the competition since 2004, and only the fifth in history to be crowned at all.

For the Robins this is a watershed moment. Without a major trophy in 40 years before this season, they have now completed a historic treble in 2025 and are arguably Super League’s premier club side. For the wider competition as a whole, though, their success could not have come at a better time.

Sport thrives on unpredictability so the fact that three teams have dominated the past 20 years of Super League has left many feeling the need for a new force to rise. With the competition expanding to 14 teams in 2026 - the new-look lineup will be announced in the coming days - there is a need for fresh stories and fresh clubs to dominate the airwaves.

Rovers have not only ended a closed shop this year, they have hammered down its doors with a Robin-shaped battering ram.