New season.

It feels like an age since time was called on the 2019 Super League but the wait is over with the end finally in sight. Super League fans can give themselves a pat on the back for getting through the off-season now that their teams are going through the final preparations before kick-off.

So what does the season have lined up and will it be more of the same or can we expect a shakeup in the league table?

There’s good reason to believe that the 2019 Super League table will begin to take shape again with the last season’s frontrunners St Helens and Wigan looking every bit as good as they did in 2019. Wigan, in particular, look like a side that could end the season on top of the pile and clinch the League Leaders Shield. That may sound a bit presumptuous with the Saints having won back-to-back shields, but Adrian Lam has now had a full season to implement his ideas and you should see a barnstorming Wigan from the off.

Making up the last three spots of the top five in the 2020 season according to the latest rugby league odds should be Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves and Hull FC, but you can’t ignore the Castleford Tigers after they claimed the fifth spot last year with a better points difference. Over the years Castleford have struggled when injury has struck, but with the addition of Sosaia Feki and Derrell Olpherts, there is now added strength and depth.

When all is said and done, the playoff spots are won by the teams that suffer the least in terms of injury so without the odd bit of fortune, a team can slip down the table over the end of spring and early summer.

Bringing up the rear would have to be Huddersfield and Hull KR with these two destined for a relegation scrap. It was London Broncos last year that suffered relegation despite winning ten of their 29 games, but tied on points with the only professional rugby league side in the south of England was indeed Hull Kingston Rovers.

A spree of signings may well be enough to keep Hull KR up but then again you’re taking for granted the fact that they will all gel straight away. At 9/4 to finish at the bottom of the pile they are the favourite but something just says that Huddersfield will give them a good run for their money as far as last place goes.

And now the burning question: Who will be the 2020 Grand Final winner?

Both the Saints and Wigan are locked in at 5/2 to triumph at Old Trafford but if you’re looking for value then Leeds Rhinos at 10/1 will do it. The West Yorkshire club will want to put on a show this season and the Rhinos should be emotionally charged for the fight ahead given the tragic developments off the field to one of their all-time legends, Rob Burrow.

The waiting is almost over with the gun about to sound on the 2020 Super League season.