The final game of the round saw fifth placed Salford Red Devils make the long journey south to play the Catalans Giants who started the game in sixth pace but knew that a win would lift them above their opponents.

Salford had their eyes on getting to twenty-four points to lift them above St Helens and onto the same total as Hull KR and Warrington Wolves in second spot in the table, a loss for the Dragons would leave them anxiously looking over their shoulders at Leeds with a play-off place still at risk.

The bookies gave the Dragons a six-point handicap on the coupon making then slight favourites to pick up the points.

Fresh from their second league win of the season, the underachieving Hull FC made the trip across the Pennines to take on a Salford Red Devils side who are exceeding expectations after a player drain and well documented financial difficulties.

A win for Salford, as predicted by the bookies and the pundits, would put the Red Devils back into fifth spot and level on league points with the second placed St Helens while FC need three wins to get them above Castleford, should Castleford fail to register any more victories.

FC had a twelve-point start on the coupon, the bookies predicting a closer game than many pundits.

A Sunday afternoon cracker to complete round fifteen as St Helens made the short trip to Salford looking for the win to return to joint top of the table as they took on a Red Devils side who needed the win to reduce the points gap between themselves and the top sides.

Paul Rowley’s side were initially unchanged with Ryan Brierley still out with a rib injury but a warm injury for Tim Lafai saw Loghan Lewis brought into the starting line-up, while Paul Wellens made just one change as he brought in Bennison for Makinson who is out with a medium-term foot injury.

Saints were the favourites for the win with the bookies handicapping them by eight points on the coupon but this was a game billed as the best fixture of the weekend as Salford looked to complete a 2024 double over their visitors.

After a disappointing Wembley outing last weekend, the Warrington Wolves attention returned to Super League and a chance to get back to winning ways against a tricky and unpredictable Salford Red Devils as the Halliwell-Jones played host to a top half of the table clash.

A win for the Wolves would keep them in contention at the top end of the table, but a loss would see them slip away from the top contenders and level on points with their visitors.

Warrington were big favourites with the bookies for a bounce back win as Salford were given a ten-point start on the coupon, despite their week off to regroup and recover from any niggles.

Another Sunday afternoon, another loss for the London Broncos, and another win for the Salford Red Devils as they retake their place in the top six which had been temporarily lost to the Leeds Rhinos yesterday teatime, or so all the pundits, fans, and bookmakers predicted.

Having made the journey to the AJ Bell Stadium, London were given a thirty-two-point start on the handicap coupon as a landslide victory was predicted for the Red Devils on a glorious afternoon in Salford.

A win for Salford would lift them back to sixth spot in the table, two clear of the Rhinos in seventh, a win of any type for the visitors would lift them off the bottom of the table and push Hull FC into the basement position.

It’s just eleven miles between the home stadia of the Leigh Leopards and Salford Red Devils but a massive nine points on the Super League 2024 table as the home side look to build on the single point which they picked up in last weekend’s draw with the Castleford Tigers while Salford knew that a win would keep them joint top of a congested table.

The bookies had made the home side slight favourites for the win and handicapped them by six points on the coupon but the recent news of the departures of Asiata and Hardaker to Hull FC must have caused some disquiet in the ranks.

Salford won the encounter between the two sides in March by 36-24 but despite the gulf in table points, this was likely to be a close encounter.

Making the short trip to the Salford Community Stadium in Salford, the Warrington Wolves had one eye on the top of the table, but the other looking over their shoulder at Salford in the knowledge that a victory would see them move above St Helens while a reversal of great magnitude could see them drop below their opponents on points difference.

The Wolves were slight favourites for the win with the bookmakers, but the Red Devils were only given a four-point start on the handicap coupon, most commentators were unsure of the outcome with both clubs realistic prospects for a top six finish.

After yesterday’s shock reversals in round nine, anything could happen.

The East Lancashire Road derby pitted the Salford Red Devils against the Leigh Leopards in an Easter Saturday early evening kick off as the side in seventh pace hosted their historical rivals who are currently in ninth after both sides have had an indifferent start to the season.

One of these sides would give their season a kick start with a precious win, the other would remain in the doldrums, the bookies made the home side the slight favourites but after only handicapping them by two points on the coupon they didn’t believe that there would be very much in it.

It was the first time that the two sides had met in 2024, with plenty up to grabs.

With the sides level on points at the top of the table but separated by a massive seventy-one points difference and five league positions, the winner of tonight’s clash between the Salford Red Devils and Wigan Warriors would be two points clear at the top of the table.

Wigan are unbeaten so far in 2024, having played a game less than their opponents, while Salford have won three from their four games, including the shock scalp of St Helens in an away fixture for the first time in decades.

But Wigan were the strong favourites, to take the win and maintain an all competition fourteen game, winning streak running all the way back to 23rd of July 2023 when the Warriors lost to Hull KR in the Challenge Cup Semi Final.

Hull Kingston Rovers had their eyes on the top of the table as they travelled to a soggy Greater Manchester to take on a Salford Red Devils side who were looking to spoil the visitors one hundred percent start to the season, and go back above the Leeds Rhinos into the top half of the table.

A win of any description would lift KR into second, a big points win would see them finish the round in top spot and they were favourites with the bookies to take the points off Salford, the home side getting eight points start on the coupon.

Salford lost Ryan Brierley prior to kick off with a hamstring issue, Chris Atkin stepping into his shoes at full back for the hosts.

Two sides with opening round defeats had a Sunday afternoon encounter to complete the round two fixtures as the Salford Red Devils were visited by the Castleford Tigers with the home side hot favourites for the win after running the Leeds Rhinos close last weekend.

Salford had Joe Shorrocks in for an injured Oliver Partington while the Tigers had an unchanged starting thirteen from the side which lost heavily to the Wigan Warriors in the opening round.

The Tigers were given a twelve-point start on the handicap coupon, very few people could see beyond a Salford win.

The vagaries of the fixture computer threw together Leeds Rhinos and the Salford Red Devils with Paul Rowley’s side having to face their two key play makers of 2023 in the colours of their opponents, with Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers making their Rhinos debuts.

It was a new look Rhinos side with several arrivals, and departures, over the close season and Salford had to look to build again in 2024 after losing a few of their key players over the winter.

The visitors were given a big ten-point start on the handicap coupon with the bookies and pundits alike giving them little chance of a first round win, but that’s exactly the odds that the Red Devils like and Rohan Smith will have warned his charges about complacency as his Leeds side look to live up to pre-season expectations.

In what had widely been dubbed the play off for the play offs, the Salford Red Devils welcomed the Warrington Wolves to the AJ Bell Stadium for a showdown match which would determine whether the fight for the top six would go on for at least another round, or whether the home side would all but mathematically bow out at this stage.

A win for the Red Devils would put them level on points with sixth placed Warrington, and a win by forty-five points or more would lift them above their opponents and into sixth spot with two round remaining.

On the other hand, if the Wolves were to take the points, then they would join Hull KR four points clear of the seventh placed Salford and with them both having a far superior points difference it was effectively over for the Red Devils.

The bookies were struggling to pick a favourite but erred on the side of the visitors, but by a very narrow margin.

Depending on the Catalans Dragons result at Hull KR, a win for the Wigan Warriors over the Salford Red Devils in their round twenty-four clash at the DW Stadium could see them move to the top of the table and into the minor premiers’ spot with just three rounds of the regular season remaining.

The Red Devils started the game in the last play-off position, above Hull KR only on points percentage as the two sides have identical league points and points difference.

A win would lift them a spot closer to guaranteeing them a playoff spot, a loss would throw their end of season plans back into turmoil.

Wigan were the favourites with the bookies, the Red Devils given a ten-point start on the handicap coupon.

It is thirty-nine years since a Leigh side travelled to Salford and came away with the points and despite Leigh being second in the table against seventh paced Salford, the bookies still thought that it would be the Red Devils who would win a close game as they gave the Leopards a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

A win for the home side would lift them back into the top six but it was the Leopards aspirations of the minor premiership which were on the line as they needed the two points to keep them in touch with the Catalans Dragons at the top of the table.

There had never been an ‘East Lancs Road’ derby with more to play for and less certainty as to who would emerge victorious.

The Salford Red Devils were looking to rejoin the three sides in third place on twenty-two league points but standing in their way was a round eighteen game against Super League’s least predictable team, the Leeds Rhinos who themselves were eyeing up seventh spot.

Salford were the victors by ten points when the sides last met in early May, but it was the visitors who were slight favourites with the bookies this time out, Salford being given a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

This was a crucial game for both sides in their push for the play-offs, a win for the Red Devils would consolidate their place in the top six, while victory for their opponents would open the door for a charge into the six from the sides immediately outside the zone, including the Leeds Rhinos.

While the game of round sixteen was undoubtedly the trip of the Leigh Leopards to the Catalans Dragons last night, the Sunday afternoon fixture between the Salford Red Devils and Wigan Warriors ran it a close second on paper as the sixth placed side looked to overtake their hosts while the home side had one eye on the second spot which a big win would deliver.

Wigan were the slight favourites with the bookies with the Red Devils having been given a four-point start on the coupon, the margin of Warriors victory when the two sides met at the DW Stadium in March.

Both sides came into the game hungry for the points to assist in their quests for top six finishes.

It was a ten-point victory for the Salford Red Devils when the two sides met at the Magic Weekend in Newcastle a fortnight ago, but Hull KR would be hoping to put that defeat behind them and make progress into the semi-finals of the 2023 Betfred Challenge Cup as the two sides met at Craven Park in the opening game of an action packed weekend of quarter finals games.

For most people it was too close to call, the bookies giving the visitors a slight edge and awarding Hull KR a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

Hull KR came into the game with enforced changes including the absence of injured Lachlan Coote who was replaced by debutant Tanguy Zenon, but Salford named the same eighteen that emerged victorious from the game in Newcastle.

One of the games of the weekend was first up on the Saturday of Newcastle Magic Weekends as sixth placed Salford Red Devils faced a Hull KR side confounding the critics and residing in fourth spot with no indication that they intend to give up on a play-off place or even chasing the title.

The sides went into the game on level league points, KR with a far superior points difference but while a win by more than sixteen points would lift the Robins up into second place, at least temporarily, a victory for the Red Devils would see them go above their opponents and into fourth spot in the table.

The bookies were struggling to pick a favourite, giving Salford a small start on the coupon.

Ian Watson brought his Huddersfield to Salford in the last of Saturday's Betfred Challenge Cup games, but would his team get a vital win against the club he was last managing – and had taken to the final – before moving to West Yorkshire? Whoever won, the win would take them into the quarter-finals of the sport's most famous - and oldest – knock-out competition.

Famously, league form counts for nothing when it comes to the Cup, but both teams' fans were feeling confident about this tie, even if Huddersfield were still looking to get their stuttering season properly under way.