All week, the talk had been whether the Leigh Leopards could make the first final of the season, and their first Challenge Cup final since they beat Leeds in the 1971 final, that being their first final since 1921, by beating the Super League Champions St Helens at the Halliwell-Jones.

Leigh won the only encounter of 2023 by 20-12 but that was back in round four when Saints were suffering a massive World Club Challenge hangover and the bookies made them slight favourites for the win and progress to the final as Leigh were given a six-point start on the handicap coupon.

Leigh brought a massive and vociferous support to Warrington, their fans full of hope and expectation that they would be the ones partying come the final whistle.

It was Leigh’s first semi-final since 1987 when they lost to St Helens by 14-8, the majority of the crowd hoping for a better outcome thirty-six years on.

Cup semi-final weekend got underway with the first game of two for St Helens as their women’s side had the toughest of challenges against a league leading York Valkyrie side who are unbeaten so far in 2023 after six rounds of the league tournament.

The weather was likely to be a leveller, or at lead an additional variable in an already complex game as York named the same side which drew with the Leeds Rhinos last weekend.

York had won the earlier game in 2023 by some margin but this was likely to be a much tougher encounter for them with Saints desperate for a Wembley appearance as they look to make it three consecutive tournament wins.

A wet Halliwell-Jones Stadium welcomed the two sides onto the field.

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There is a weekend of semi-finals ahead as six matches will decide the six sides who will walk out onto the hallowed turf at Wembley on the 12th August with their hopes pinned on lifting the silverware.

All games are to be played over Saturday and Sunday with one Men’s, Women’s and 1895 cup match being allocated to each day and at the end of the games we will know which six sides will be planning their trips to the nation’s capital.

We take a look at the fixtures and who we think are likely to progress.

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.

Castleford breathed a collective sigh of relief last night as relegation rivals Wakefield Trinity’s winning run came to an end at the hands of fellow West Yorkshire side, the Huddersfield Giants leaving the door open for them to increase the points gap to four if they could travel to west Hull and take the points off a Black and Whites side who themselves needed the points to keep alive their faint hopes of the play-offs.

FC have emerged victorious from both encounters so far this season and they got a confidence boosting win over their arch enemy from across the city in the derby last Sunday, and the bookies made them big favourites to pile more misery on the Tigers in the Saturday afternoon kick off.

Warrington Wolves hadn’t beaten the Wigan Warriors in their last four meetings coming into tonight’s crucial round nineteen encounter at the DW Stadium with both sides tied together on twenty-two points and needing the win to join Leigh Leopards in joint second place.

Wigan won the last encounter, the 14-12 win the Challenge Cup quarter final a month ago and all indications were that tonight’s game could be as close, but Warrington are currently in free fall having lost their last three outings, Wigan looking to bounce back after last weekend’s golden point loss to Wakefield Trinity.

Wigan were the bookies favourites having been handicapped by eight points on the coupon.

The league leaders, the Catalans Dragons, travelled to St Helens for a top of the table clash with the Champions in the back of shock defeat at home to the Huddersfield Giants last weekend.

A win for the Saints would lift them within two points of the top of the table and open the door for the Leigh Leopards to take top spot should they beat Salford on Sunday afternoon but a win for the Dragons would lift them four points clear and guarantee that they go into the last quarter of the regular season on top spot with their destiny in their own hands.

It was a mouthwatering prospect for the Saints crowd and those tuning in on SKY and the bookies gave the home side the edge, handicapping them by eight points on the coupon.

As Queensland Maroons had already won the 2023 State of Origin series, the only thing left to play for in the third and final game of the series was pride.

Pride for Queensland in securing the first whitewash since 2010, and pride for the New South Wales Blues to deny them and avoid a three-game series defeat.

While Queensland made just two changes to their line up with Horsburgh and Dearden replacing Walsh and Flegler, there were wholesale changes for the Blues with Brad Fittler bringing in eight new faces in the form of; Best, Gutherson, Walker, Saifiti, Jake Trbojevic, Kolomatangi, Campbell-Gillard and Drinkwater.

The bookies were erring on the side of a Queensland whitewash, New South Wales with a two-point start on the coupon as the Accor Stadium in Sydney held its breath.

While neither side could improve their league position as a result of the final round eighteen championship match as fifth placed Bradford Bulls travelled over the Pennines on a Monday evening to take on a Widnes Vikings side currently in eighth place and needing the win to remain in contention for a play-off place.

It was a close game when the two sides met back in February, the Bulls victorious on that occasion by just two points with a scoreline of 14-12.

A Bulls win would get them within a league point of the two sides above them while a win for Widnes would keep their hopes alive and put them two points behind London Broncos.

The Bulls were string favourites with the bookies, Widnes with a fourteen-point start on the coupon.

Every major golf competition has its ‘moving day’, the third round of a four round competition when those players on the fringes of the leader board know that they need to push into the top echelons or drop out of contention as the top players pull away into their own little competitive group for the final round.

With eighteen rounds of a twenty-seven round Super League 2023 now almost complete (barring the postponed game between St Helens and the Huddersfield Giants) we are two games away from entering the final quarter of the regular season, a crucial time when clubs need to start making their move if they are to peak at the end of the year.

Cast an eye over the fixture calendar for the coming round and it is clear that it could have a significant influence over the final league table, our very own Super League ‘moving day’.

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.

A Hull derby is always eagerly anticipated and when FC have the opportunity of travelling across the city to dent their arch-rival’s chances of a play-off place, while keeping alive their own, then there is some added spice to the occasion.

Seventh placed KR had the opportunity to lift themselves into the top six, even if only for a few hours, while a win for FC, coupled with victory for the Leeds Rhinos over the Salford Red Devils later in the afternoon, would drop KR down into eighth spot just two league points ahead of their nearest and dearest.

The Robins had been installed as slight favourites with the bookies, the Airlie Birds given a two-point start on the coupon, but it was way too close to call, and it was unlikely to go the way of the 40-0 win for KR in April.

There is still a long way to go in Super League 2023 with most teams still having nine games to play while Huddersfield Giants still have eleven matches left including this evening’s visit to play the Catalans Dragons in the south of France.

But last nights golden point drop goal from Will Dagger threw a massive lifeline to Wakefield Trinity as they recorded their third win of the season, and their third win in their last four games as they show a massive turnaround in fortune.

With the Castleford Tigers losing to the Leigh Leopards last night the difference between the sides is now just two league points and it makes the game between the bottom two sides on the 20^th August looks like the most crucial game of the season.

As St Helens climb the Super League table after a poor start to the season, the Warrington Wolves are tumbling in the opposite direction on the back of five losses in their least six outings, most recently against struggling sides from over the Pennines in the Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos.

A place in the top three was up for grabs for the winners, Saints with a chance to jump ahead of the Wolves, the Wolves seeking to get closer to the Catalans Dragons ahead of their game tomorrow against Huddersfield.

Recent poor form from the hosts meant that the bookies had installed the visitors as favourites, handicapping their eight points on the coupon.

A round seventeen Championship Yorkshire derby saw the sixth placed Bradford Bulls looking to cement their place in the top six with a win over tenth a Keighley Cougars in tenth spot who knew that a win could lift them to eighth should other results go their way.

It was honours shared in the first two meetings between the two sides so far in the season with Keighley winning their home game in March by 34-6 while Bradford won the Summer Bash game in York at the end of May by 42-18.

Bradford were firm favourites for the win as the Cougars are struggling for form with the bookies giving the visitors a twenty-point start on the coupon.

Keighley did pick up a win last time out against Whitehaven, but it was their first since the 7th May.

After thrashing the Champions St Helens last time out, Hull FC had another home match against one of the top teams in the competition as they took on the league leaders, the Catalans Dragons, in a rare Saturday afternoon kick off.

A win for the Airlie Birds would see them level on points with the Leeds Rhinos in eighth spot but likely trailing them due to an horrendous negative points difference, while the Dragons knew that a win would see them four points clear at the top in their quest for the minor premiership.

The Dragons were slight favourites for the win with FC given a four-point start on the coupon, perhaps a reflection of the 38-6 scoreline in favour of the French side when the two sides met in the south of France in round three.

It was fourth against seventh on a night which could see a big shuffling of positions at the top end of the table and depending on results elsewhere could have seen the home side Leigh into second spot, or the visitors from Hull KR into third.

Leigh were favourites with the bookies, Hull KR having been given a six-point start on the coupon, but it was Hull KR who came into the fixture on the back of a two-game winning run while the Leopards lost a close match in the south of France against the Catalans Dragons last weekend.

It promised to be a close encounter between two sides with big play-off hopes.

Fresh from hammering the Huddersfield Giants six days ago, the Leeds Rhinos made the trip to the Halliwell-Jones to face a Warrington Wolves side who fell to a surprise defeat at the hands of the Castleford Tigers on their last outing.

A win for the home side would put them back level on points with the league leaders, but unless it was by a margin of seventy points or more, they would still be second on points difference, while the Rhinos knew that they couldn’t improve their league position, but could get closer to seventh placed Hull KR.

The Wolves were the slight favourites with the bookies but with the Rhinos only having been given a two-point start on the coupon they really had a dilemma over who would win the game and take the two points.

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.