Rugby League

Super League

Sunday 5th July 2026

Kick Off 15.00

Leeds Rhinos 50 Bradford Bulls 16, attendance 42,903

@ Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton F.C.)

32 Regent Road

Bramley Moore Dock

Liverpool

L5 9SR

£28 Admission (day ticket covering 3 matches) plus £1 Booking Fee.

£5 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

So, a trip to the loo and then grabbed something to eat (massively overpriced and very small portions) before taking in game number two of the day and another Yorkshire derby, where top of the table Leeds Rhinos were taking on twelfth placed Bradford Bulls. As with the earlier game it was disappointing from a neutral point of view as Leeds won comfortably, scoring nine tries in the process, extending their lead at the top of the table to four points over Wigan, Warrington (have a game in hand) and Wakefield, whilst Bradford never looked like ever winning it.

Brodie Croft opened the scoring after nine minutes before Chris Hankinson scored their second try, both converted for a 12-0 lead. Jarrod O’Connor added their third try, again converted by Jake Connor for an 18-0 lead, before Bradford got a try through Caleb Aekins to make it 18-4, but the conversion was missed. Leeds soon regained the upper hand though and further tries from James McDonnell and Ash Handley gave them a 30-4 lead at halftime. Leeds extended their lead through another Handley try, but the attempted conversion hit the post. Ethan Ryan then scored for Bradford, with Luke Hooley converting for 34-10. A comeback looked on when Ryan scored his second try for Bulls as they pulled it back to 34-16 once converted, but that was the last points they managed to score. A try by Jake Connor, which he then converted stretched Rhinos lead to 40-16. The biggest surprise of the day was that it took until nine minutes from the end for Maika Sivo to finally score his now obligatory try, making it 44-16 and setting a new club record for Leeds in Super League games, having now scored a try in his last 10 consecutive matches. With the last play of the game Ash Handley completed his hattrick, with Jake Connor rounding off the scoring with a conversion.

The Wigan Warriors versus St. Helens clash was following this game and due to start at 17.30. As I’ve seen this fixture a number of times over the years, I decided to give it a miss and head for home. The Magic Weekend was certainly a success here at Everton and will return in 2027. The combined attendance for the weekend was 77,442 (plus 5,483 at the Catalans Dragons-Toulouse game in France) with this afternoon’s matches setting a new high for a single-day attendance, although that was certainly helped by the three big guns of Leeds, St. Helens and Wigan being scheduled together. An excellent day out and even with walking back to the car, followed by SatNav avoiding the M40 from J8A to J4, I was still home just after 10pm.

Super League

Sunday 5th July 2026

Kick Off 12.30

Wakefield Trinity 48 Castleford Tigers 6, attendance 42,903

@ Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton F.C.)

32 Regent Road

Bramley Moore Dock

Liverpool

L5 9SR

£28 Admission (day ticket covering 3 matches) plus £1 Booking Fee.

£5 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

An overnight stop in Warrington, following yesterday’s match in Lancaster, meant an easy twenty mile drive to Liverpool, which took around forty minutes, for Day 2 of Rugby League’s Magic Weekend. I parked in an NCP car park in Pall Mall (£12.50 weekend charge) and walked the 1 mile to the stadium, directly north along Regent Road. Hill Dickinson Stadium only opened last year and I’d already visited for an Everton home match in March, but this was a chance to tick off the ground for a different sport. Unsurprisingly, it hasn’t changed since then…..it’s a 52,769 all seater, set out in two tiers. My ticket was in the upper tier, with no designated seat, so you could pick to watch from anywhere, which gives you a chance to check out the various different views and of course avoid some of the less desirable of the crowd, especially those who can’t handle their drink….and there were plenty of those, especially as the afternoon wore on.

First game up was a Yorkshire derby between 5th in the league table Wakefield Trinity and 9th placed Castleford Tigers. Sadly, from a neutral point of view, it was too one sided and Wakefield won at a canter. After opening the scoring after just three minutes with a try from Scott, Wakefield also had two more tries ruled out before Johnstone scored right in the corner after sixteen minutes and four minutes later Scott got his second try to extend their lead to 20-0 before halftime. A try right in the corner from Walmsley made it 24-0 two minutes into the second half, quickly followed by a Smoothly try under the posts four minutes later and it was game over. Two tries from Hamlin-Uele and then a further one from Rourke saw Wakefield cruise to a 48-0 lead, where Sinfield converted six out of nine attempts. At least Castleford avoided getting nilled though, when Qareqare scored right in the corner in the last minute, with the conversion kicked by Weaver, to give a final score of 48-6.