Super League 2026 storylines: Key coaching changes and three new teams

Coaching changes, new squads, stars on show and up-and-comers with a point to prove. The Super League 2026 season is about to begin and, with it, storylines take shape.

With every new season, fans adorn their shirts, and let’s face it with this weather their bobble hats and big coats, to head out to watch their side compete across 27 rounds in an attempt to make it to the Grand Final at Old Trafford on October 2.

Buoyed by the naivety of off-season expectation, fans of all 14 clubs will set out to their opening match discussing all the teams they think they can beat, the players they need to perform well, and that old derby steeped in history that they must win no matter what.

Overarching those specific expectations though, there are storylines that are a thread throughout the entire competition.

Like cause and effect, a win is reliant on external factors. If a butterfly flaps its wings in Los Angeles can it cause a tornado in Texas? If a coach gets sacked in Super League can it actually dent another side’s chances of winning silverware?

Can a storyline that has developed in the off-season truly affect results when the Super League season gets going?

That is a question which will be answered in due course but before we do get that answer, let’s look at the storylines at hand…

The head coach and his first-team coach

Analysing dynamics is always intriguing but there is one that has caught my eye more than most for this season: That between head coach Sam Burgess and first-team coach Steve McNamara at Warrington Wolves.

It was a tough 2025 for the Wolves as they finished outside of the play-offs, with Burgess under extreme pressure from fans that led to the board putting their full weight behind him.

Since then, former Catalans Dragons head coach McNamara has been appointed as a first-team coach with the task of improving the team’s culture, plus bolstering the coaching staff.

Never before have we seen a Super League head coach transition to supporting another head coach like McNamara has. How Warrington perform with those two at the helm will either be a lesson in experience paying off, or another example of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

From one challenge to another…

Paul Rowley is renowned as one of the top coaches in Super League who knows how to take on a challenging club and improve them.

Now, he takes on a completely different challenge in charge of a Super League giant in St Helens.

Rowley, who has previously coached at Leigh, Toronto and Salford, has become known for taking a club that is struggling and helping them exceed expectations, playing with freedom and becoming dangerous.

However, with St Helens, he has something he has never faced before: Success as an expectation.

That is something Rowley has not worked with in his Super League career and it will be about him adapting to being an expected part of the trophy conversation.

Rowley has insisted he wants Saints to attack with freedom and if they pull it off, what a threat they will be. To do that, though, they will have to find the balance between getting the results required by the club and fans alike while playing in a style they feel entertains.

Their squad has been bolstered, they have a new outlook on their attack, now it is time to see how they fare when pressure arrives and results matter.

Peet’s power: Time to get back those trophies?

Stood in the tunnel at Old Trafford after the Grand Final 2025, Matt Peet cut a forlorn figure. It was in that moment I realised it was the first time the Wigan Warriors head coach had experienced defeat in a major final.

Yes, really.

He had won the Super League Grand Final, Challenge Cup, World Club Challenge and League Leaders’ Shield but now the Wigan native and his side enter the 2026 season with zero silverware in the cabinet. They will want to change that and quickly.

Salary caps always bite after success and now it is up to Wigan to show if they can overcome that and put themselves back in those finals and walk away with the trophy once again.

New (and old) kids on the block

Anyone remember Bullmania? Well if you were a Super League supporter at the competition’s inception you certainly will and now the Bulls are on the charge once again.

Bradford Bulls make their return to the top flight for the first time since 2014 through the gradings system and as one of only five teams to have won the competition alongside Hull KR, Wigan Warriors, St Helens and Leeds Rhinos, they will be now looking to carve out a path that sees them restored to their former glory.

They have a rich history, yes, but serious work to do to reinstate themselves as a Super League big boy. Everyone starts somewhere and improvements on and off the field at Odsal will be key as their growth begins.

Meanwhile, Toulouse Olympique and York Knights were chosen by an independent panel to join Super League with the competition growing to 14 teams.

While the French outfit have top-flight experience in the bag, this will be completely new for York Knights. The Knights have been one of the strongest clubs in the Championship and now will look to become a mainstay side in Super League.

The perception is that these three sides will prop up the bottom of the table come Round 27. If they can make sure that is not the case then we have some serious upsets on our hands.

The England factor

Over the last few weeks, we have heard a multitude of rumours about Super League coaches putting their hat in the ring to be appointed as Shaun Wane’s successor as England head coach after he left the role following his side’s 3-0 Ashes loss to Australia

Indeed, with this role looking set to move part-time and the RFL having its eyes on the current roster of coaches, the likes of Brad Arthur, Willie Peters and Peet look set to be the candidates to lead England into a World Cup this year.

Once we find out who takes on that role, all eyes will be on them, how they run their set-up and which players they have their eyes on throughout the season.

2026 Super League – key dates and what to look out for

• Opening night: Thu Feb 12: York Knights vs Hull KR, 8pm (Sky Sports)
• World Club Challenge: Thu Feb 19: Hull KR vs Brisbane Broncos, 7:30pm (Sky Sports)
• Rugby League in Las Vegas: Sat Feb 28: Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos, TBC (Sky Sports)
• Super League’s 30th birthday: Thu Mar 26: Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls, 8pm (Sky Sports)
• Rivals Round: April 3-April 5
• Super League in Paris: Sat Jun 6: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6:30 UK (Sky Sports)
• Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
• Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
• Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
• Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
• Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.

Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com