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.