The Dragons and Toulouse will launch their season on February 14 and 15 respectively. The Catalans will host Hull FC, TO will play Widnes the next day. During this 2025 edition, “the captain's challenge” appears in the Super League, the Super 8 in the Championship.
The Catalan Dragons and Toulouse are in the preparation phase. Indeed, in less than two months, it will be the start of the 2025 edition of the Super League and the Championship. On Thursday February 13, Wigan and Leigh will officially kick off the season in the top tier. The next day, it will be the Dragons' turn to face Hull FC at Gilbert-Brutus. And on Saturday 15, the TO, double finalist in 2023 and 2024 of the second level, will host Widnes on the inaugural day. Before taking on their English counterparts, the Catalans and Haut-Garonnais will be opponents on February 1, in Perpignan, as part of a preparation match. A 2025 edition which will mark the twentieth consecutive participation of the Sang et Or in the most popular of English competitions.
This new Super League season will be marked by something new, with the implementation of the “Captain's Challenge”. Already in operation in the NRL, this system allows the invalidation of an arbitration decision by calling on video at the request of the captain of the injured team. If the player wins his case after viewing, he wins another “challenge”. On the other hand, if the decision is invalidated, the captain can no longer request it.
The returns must be ten meters
Another new feature: the returns under the posts. This rule will be common to both competitions. During said returns, the ball must travel a minimum of ten meters. Otherwise, a penalty will be whistled but cannot be typed. It must be played by hand.
Finally, in the Championship, the novelty of 2025 will concern the maintenance, with the introduction of the Super 8. This playdown phase will bring together eight participants in a single pool, namely the clubs classified 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th in the Championship and the four first in League One (D3). All teams will play two matches at home and two away. The first two will be guaranteed to be in the Championship in 2026, when the 3rd and 4th will play a play-off match on the field of the highest ranked for a final ticket. The winner of this play-off and the last four of the group will go to League One.
As a reminder, thirteen teams will make up the Championship this season then twelve in 2026. And let us specify that the qualification method does not change: the number 1 and 2 of the regular phase will qualify directly for the semi-finals and the teams having finished between the 3rd and 6th places will go through the play-offs (“false” quarter-finals).
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