Round Seventeen of the Betfred Championship would throw up a shock or two in a high scoring weekend which would leave us with more questions about the play-off places than answers.

The top two played on Saturday afternoon with Toulouse Olympique at home to Swinton while the Toronto Wolfpack took on the Dewsbury Rams.

There were some interesting fixtures on Sunday afternoon with Bradford at Leigh, high-flying Featherstone against play-off outsiders Widnes, Halifax at Barrow and Sheffield travelling to Batley. The one real home banker of the afternoon was York’s game against Rochdale.

The Bradford Bulls travelled to the Leigh Sports Village to take in a Centurions side seeking to capitalise on Toulouse's shock defeat at the hands of Swinton yesterday and close the gap on second spot to just two points. The Bulls also had it all to play for and knew that a win would get them level on league points with their opponents, but with a chasm between their points differences it would require a massive victory to take their place on the ladder.

John Kear had Crossley and Garside back in his side with Farrell, Webster and Roche missing out. John Duffy’s Leigh were looking for their third consecutive win and a seventh victory in their last eight as one of the form sides in the division.

The scene was set for a belter of a game.

After last weekends sensational win over league leaders St Helens, the London Broncos travelled to the South of France to take on a Catalans Dragons side looking to cement themselves into the play-off places as we move into the second half of the season.

Danny Wards went into the game knowing that a win would lift them level on points with Hull KR and the Leeds Rhinos as the race to avoid the drop intensifies over the coming rounds. It was a massive game for both sides, and one that neither could afford to lose.

The Dragons were favourites to deny the Broncos a second consecutive win but this London side had plenty of bottle and is up for any challenge.

Another crucial basement battle for the Leeds Rhinos as they welcomed the old enemy, Wigan Warriors, to Headingley for a four pointer. An unlikley twenty-seven point victory for the Rhinos would lift them above the Warriors into eighth, a twenty-four point win for the visitors would lift them to the dizzy heights of sixth, there was plenty to play for.

The Rhinos started with the same seventeen that nilled Wakefield last time out and made it back to back wins for the first time in 2019.  Wigan scraped a scrappy one point win over Hull KR last week and came into the game without Zak Hardaker through injury and Taulima Tautai, who was in court today pleading guilty to a drink driving charge.

The Rhinos were slight favourites with the bookies, but on paper, there was little to choose between the two sides.

Fourth travelled to fifth as the battle for the play-off places roared into the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, with Castleford Tigers hosting Hull FC. A win for the Tigers would lift them ahead of the Airlie Birds and into fourth but a win for FC would push them into third and give them some breathing space in the race for the five.

In a crazy season for FC their supporters and management team will have been hoping that it was the sensational side which demolished the Catalans Dragons a fortnight ago, rather than the awful side which lost to the Giants at the Magic Weekend.

Both sides can blow very hot and very cold and it was anyones guess who would emerge victorious.

There are still eight sides with a realistic chance of making the Betfred Championship play-offs, and therefore having a shot at promotion into Super League for 2020. Firm favourites are the Toronto Wolfpack, but unrest this week with the self-sacking of their Chief Executive David Argyl was sure to unsettle the runaway leaders.

Toronto had an easy trip to Swinton on Sunday evening as they concluded the round sixteen fixtures with a number of other key fixtures having taken place on Saturday and Sunday.

Game of the round saw third placed York host second placed Toulouse on Saturday, and Sunday featured games between; Bradford and Batley, Dewsbury and Rochdale, Leigh and Halifax, Sheffield and Featherstone and Widnes and Barrow.

Oldham had their eyes set on second spot as they travelled to Doncaster to take on the side sat in seventh place, who themselves needed a win to keep in touch with the sides above them.

These two sides did battle last weekend in the second round of the 1895 Cup with Doncaster progressing to the quarter finals thanks to a 24-12 victory, Oldham were now keen on revenge and the two crucial league points.

Legendary Super League coach Tony Smith took charge for the first time as his Hull KR side took on the Wigan Warriors in a curcial game down the wrong end of the Super League table. It was ninth against eleventh as both sides looked to get away from the perilous bottom spot.

This was the first meeting between the two sides this season but Hull KR recorded a loss in the Challenge Cup last weekend, whereas Wigan had a week off and came into the game the fresher of the two sides.

KR skipper Joel Tomkins was back after missing last weekend through suspension, but Danny McGuire was unavailable after picking up an injury during training yesterday. Liam Farrell was back in the Cherry and White after an injury lay off.

The Super League game of the weekend pitched second placed Warrington Wolves against the side in third spot, the Catalans Dragons. Both sides came into the round seventeen fixtures after very different Challenge Cup weekends, Warrington surviving the test of a determined Hull KR but the Dragons having been destroyed by the Black & White side of Hull.

A win for the Wolves would lift them six points clear of the chasing pack, but should they lose then Catalans would be just two points behind them in the league table.

Warrington were without the services of Jake Mamo and Tom Lineham but Catalans would also have to do it tough as they were without Remi Casty, Lewis Tierney and Brayden Wiliame.

A club in turmoil, the Leeds Rhinos, took the short drive down the road to Wakefield to take on a Trinity side who have their eyes set firmly set on securing a play-off place, and ending the season as Yorkshires top placed outfit.

The home side were without David Fifita, who picked up an ankle injury at the Magic Weekend, but Junior Sa’u was back after missing last weekend's Challenge Cup game due to being cup tied. Leeds had Tui Lolohea and Konrad Hurrell amongst a side which also saw newly announced departing captain Kallum Watkins named in the second row.

The Rhinos were desperate for a win, and a much needed two points. After Wakefield won the earlier season fixture quite comfortably, there was just two points between the sides when Trinity picked up the points in mid-April.

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The second round of the 1895 Cup hit Cumbria, where the Barrow Raiders entertained a very youthful looking Bradford Bulls side, looking to banish thoughts of their Challenge Cup exit at the hands of Halifax last Sunday.

It was a strong Barrow side who were giving full respect to the competition, whereas the Bulls had ten debutants in their side with an average squad age of 20 years and 6 months, the youngest ever fielded Bulls side. Bradford coach Kear had seemingly decided that this wasn’t the competition for them in 2019.

A Wednesday night game in Cumbria harked back a few decades and with the Bulls appearing to just make up the numbers, it was the home side who were firm favourites for the win.

The Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane was the venue for the opening fixture of the three game Holden State of Origin 2019 series as one of the seasons most awaited games pitched the Maroons of Queensland against the Blues of New South Wales.

This is the start of the thirty-eighth State of Origin series with Queensland well ahead on twenty-one series wins. New South Wales took the series win last year, the first time that they had taken the honours since 2014. The Blues won the opening two games in 2018, by 22-12 and 18-14 before Queensland picked up the dead rubber with an 18-12 win.

Queensland were hoping, and expecting a win on home soil as Kevin Walters rallied his charges against Brad Fittlers New South Wales. There were certain to be fireworks.

The draw for the semi-finals of the Coral Challenge Cup was made at Odsal Stadium at the conclusion of the last quarter final match between the Bradford Bulls and Halifax. Halifax joined Hull FC , Warrington Wolves and St Helens in the hat with all sides just eighty minutes away from Wembley and the chance to lift the famous trophy.

The semi-finals will take place as a triple-header at the University of Bolton Stadium on the 27^th July (including the final of the Women’s Challenge Cup) and the draw was made by Jon Dutton, chief executive of the Rugby League World Cup 2021 and Lindsay Impett, event director of the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019.

The last Coral Challenge Cup quarter final was probably the most anticipated of the week as Championship sides Bradford Bulls and Halifax went head to head to become the first semi-finalists from outside Super League since Hull Kingston Rovers in 2006.

There was added spice in that the two sides are currently level on league points in the Championship table, and that their stadiums are only separated by six West Yorkshire miles. The two sides have met twice in 2019 with honours shared, Halifax winning on the last meeting a fortnight ago by 21-14 at the summer bash.

The Bulls were firm home favourites with the bookies and who would bet against them after their sensational victory over the Leeds Rhinos in the last round. A place alongside Hull FC, Warrington Wolves and St Helens in the semi-finals awaited the winner.

On paper there was only one winner as St Helens welcomed Wakefield Trinity to the Totally Wicked Stadium for the third Coral Challenge Cup quarter final. A semi-final draw containing Hull FC, Warrington Wolves, and one as yet undecided Championship side awaited for the victors, but no-one could see past that being the Red Vee.

St Helens are runaway leaders of Super League, and are already clear favourites to lift the Challenge Cup, but on their day Trinity have put in some tremendous performances and are deserving of their league position just outside the play-offs in sixth.

Danny Brough and Jacob Millar were back for Trinity but they had a mountain to climb against the side who had only previously lost one game all season, and who had Mark Percival, Luke Thompson and Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook returning to action.

Hull KR were bidding to be the second side from the city to make the semi-finals of the Coral Challenge Cup, after their Black & White neighbours coasted past the holders yesterday. The daunting obstacle in their way was Super League's second placed Warrington Wolves, who themselves have a pretty decent Challenge Cup pedigree.

It was second top against second bottom, but both knew that the unpredictability of the cup could go either way. Both sides had good wins at the Magic Weekend, but Warrington had the advantage of having won both previous league meetings between the two sides.

KR were without their skipper Joel Tomkins after he was found guilty of a dangerous contact last weekend, with Owen Harrison being brought into the side. Steve Price named an unchanged Wolves side as they looked to edge closer to their third final in the last four years.

Two sides, both with an excellent recent Coral Challenge Cup pedigree, were the first to clash in the quarter finals of the 2019 competition as the holders Catalans Dragons travelled to Hull to take on the Black and Whites side which lifted the trophies in the two previous years.

Hull overcame the Castleford Tigers in the last round, while the Dragons demolished lower league opposition from Doncaster. But the sides had very different fortunes last weekend at the Magic event in Liverpool with the Dragons recording a good victory over Wakefield Trinity, while FC crashed horrendously at the hands of the Huddersfield Giants.

The two sides are currently sat third and fourth in the league table, the French side with a two point advantage. The bookies had made the home side slight favourites, despite last weeks result, but expected that the holders wouldn’t relinquish their grip on the trophy without a fight.

After todays two point margin wins for Hull KR and the Leeds Rhinos, the remaining crowd were hopefully of an equally close game between the league leaders St Helens and their opponents the Castleford Tigers as they brought down the curtain on the Magical festival of rugby.

The Tigers have the better Magic record with eight from eleven but are four places and twelve points adrift of the Saints who have spend 2019 sweeping aside all before them. A Tigers win would lift them up to fourth but of the Saints maintained their roll then they’d end the weekend six points clear at the top of the pile.

It was a thirty point winning margin for the Saints when the sides met in March, the bookies were tipping the same outcome but by a narrower margin.

The most eagerly anticipated game of the Magic weekend was the Sunday encounter in game five between the Leeds Rhinos and London Broncos. At the start of the game the sides occupied the bottom two places in Super League and the loser would find themselves two points adrift at the foot of the table at the halfway stage of the season.

Both sides have a fifty percent record at the Magic weekend, the Rhinos with six from twelve and the Broncos with four from eight. The Broncos won the only previous encounter between these two sides in 2019 by 18-16 and the Rhinos needed to end a three game losing streak.

The Rhinos were strong favourites with the bookies but their fans doubted whether their stand in coach Richard Agar could take the points off former Leeds Star Danny Ward’s side. But it’s six years since the Rhinos won at a Magic Weekend.