Is 14 the magic number? Promoted trio make instant Super League impact

about 18 hours ago

When the Super League fixtures were released late last year, it was hard not to be drawn to this weekend.Clearly the headline attraction was Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR squaring off in Las Vegas but there was also another game that carried immense intrigue.Super League’s decision last year to expand to 14 teams was met with scepticism, to say the least.The general feeling was that there simply was not enough quality in the Championship, and with Salford Red Devils going into liquidation due to financial problems, the notion of three second‑tier teams coming up at once did not exactly scream of excitement.Which is what made this first meeting between two of those sides one to watch.

Bradford and Toulouse were third and second respectively in the Championship last year, behind the other promoted team, York.So it was not difficult to imagine that three weekends in, this could have been the first opportunity for any promoted side to win a game.How wrong those critics have proved to be.This was Bradford’s day as the former Super League champions deservedly defeated Toulouse 18-6 to ensure all three promoted teams have won two of their first three matches.The Bulls are now fourth, with Toulouse and York sixth and seventh respectively.

To anyone who suggests it is not a surprise, even the coach who has masterminded one of these fine starts is shocked.“I think we’re all surprised,” Kurt Haggerty, the Bradford head coach, said.“Especially with us, we’ve had a short turnaround in the off-season having not been promoted until late.But I think all three have made it look like a good competition and a strong one.”The story of the three sides so far is perhaps the Bulls: fallen giants, four-time champions of Super League in the competition’s early years.

Almost 9,000 fans were at Odsal Stadium for their win on Sunday afternoon.That, after 10,000 attended the win over Catalans the previous week, suggests the momentum that once made this club a force is building again.And after three rounds this season, the Super League table has a distinct 2000s feel to it, with the four most successful teams in the competition’s history – Wigan, Leeds, St Helens and the Bulls – occupying the top four spots.Whether Bradford or any of the promoted teams can last the pace and push for the playoffs remains to be seen but for now it is a good story for Super League.York, never a Super League side before this season, have claimed the scalps of both Hull clubs, having beaten the world champions, Hull KR, on the opening night before winning 17-16 at Hull FC on Friday.

They will house another big crowd on Friday against Warrington, too,Which invites the question: is 14 the magic number?At a time when rugby union is ringfencing its premier division but leaving the door ajar for extra clubs, a model Super League introduced a couple of seasons ago, you wonder whether rugby league will declare on 14,Much depends on what happens in the summer with Super League locked in talks over a new broadcast deal,York and Toulouse, who were the two extra teams after Bradford finished in the top 12 of the IMG gradings system, entered with half the central distribution of the other 12 teams this year: about £650,000,That cannot be repeated next year, meaning all teams will get an even split.

If the competition secures an increased TV deal, there is suggestion that London Broncos, who were 106‑18 winners – yes, you read that right – over North Wales Crusaders in the Championship on Saturday, are next to be added,Whether it is in place of an existing club or to make Super League a 15‑team competition, these three clubs have shown so far that whoever is promoted next has the potential to bring more than just a feeling of making up the numbers,

technologySee all

OpenAI to work with Pentagon after Anthropic dropped by Trump over company’s ethics concerns

OpenAI said it had struck a deal with the Pentagon to supply AI to classified US military networks, hours after Donald Trump ordered the government to stop using the services of one of the company’s main competitors.Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, announced the move on Friday night. It came after an agreement between Anthropic, a rival AI company that runs the Claude system, and the Trump administration broke down after Anthropic sought assurances its technology would not be used for mass surveillance – nor for autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.Announcing the deal, Altman insisted that OpenAI’s agreement with the government included assurances that it would not be used to those ends.“Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,” Altman wrote on X

2 days ago

Her husband wanted to use ChatGPT to create sustainable housing. Then it took over his life.

On 7 August, Kate Fox received a phone call that upended her life. A medical examiner said that her husband, Joe Ceccanti – who had been missing for several hours – had jumped from a railway overpass and died. He was 48.Fox couldn’t believe it. Ceccanti had no history of depression, she said, nor was he suicidal – he was the “most hopeful person” she had ever known

3 days ago

Suicide forum found to be in breach of Online Safety Act after failing to block UK users

A suicide forum linked to deaths in Britain has been ruled provisionally in breach of the Online Safety Act after it failed to properly block access to UK users when ordered to do so last year.Ofcom, the online regulator, said it could now apply to the courts to demand internet service providers block access to the site in the UK. This will depend on how the site, which also faces fines, responds over the next 10 days.Coroners had been raising concerns about the links between the forum and suicides in the UK since at least 2019, campaigners said. The family of 17-year-old Vlad Nikolin-Caisley, from Southampton, said he took his own life in 2024 after using the site, which Ofcom is not naming

3 days ago

OpenAI announces $110bn funding round that would value firm at $840bn

OpenAI said on Friday it is raising $110bn in a blockbuster funding round that would value the ChatGPT maker at $840bn, in a deal that signals the feverish pace of investment in artificial intelligence.It’s more than double the amount the company raised last year, when it racked up $40bn in the largest private tech deal on record.This year’s funding round, which is still open, includes a $30bn investment from SoftBank, $30bn from Nvidia, and $50bn from Amazon, and comes ahead of the AI startup’s expected mega-IPO later this year. Even more investors are expected to join.“We’re super excited about this deal,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC on Friday

3 days ago

Instagram to alert parents if teens repeatedly search self-harm terms

Instagram will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm.The announcement on Thursday comes as Instagram’s parent company, Meta, is in the midst of two trials over harms to children.A trial under way in Los Angeles questions whether Meta’s platforms deliberately addict and harm minors. Another in New Mexico seeks to determine whether Meta failed to protect kids from sexual exploitation on its platforms.The alerts will only go to parents who are enrolled in Instagram’s parental supervision program

3 days ago

Jack Dorsey to cut 4,000 jobs due to AI advances at Square parent Block

Fintech company Block announced that it would be laying off 4,000 of its 10,000 employees because of gains in AI productivity.“Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company,” Jack Dorsey, Block’s CEO, said in a letter to shareholders on Thursday. “We’re already seeing it internally. A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better. And intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week

3 days ago

sportSee all