As new trio make impact, is 14 the magic number?

Decision to expand top flight seems justified with Bradford, York and Toulouse grabbing impressive wins

- Aaron Bower

When the Super League fixtures were released late last year, it was hard not to be drawn to this weekend.

Clearly the headline attraction was Leeds and Hull KR squaring off in Las Vegas but there was also another game that carried immense intrigue.

Super League’s decision last year to expand to 14 teams was met with scepticism, to say the least. The general feeling was that there was not enough quality in the Championship, and with Salford Red Devils going into liquidation due to financial problems, the notion of three second-tier teams coming up at once did not exactly scream of excitement.

Which is what made this first meeting between two of those sides one to watch. Bradford and Toulouse were third and second respectively in the Championship last year, behind the other promoted team, York. So it was not difficult to imagine that this could have been the first opportunity for any promoted side to win a game.