THE 2022 Super League season was set in motion on Thursday evening when last season’s Grand Final victors St Helens defeated 2021 League Leader’s Shield winners Catalans Dragons 28-8.

It was a close, competitive game apart from 15 first-half minutes during which the home side asserted their dominance and laid down a marker for the new season.

The fixture was a repeat of the 2021 Grand Final and pit two of this season’s favourites against each other. A high-profile way to kick off the new season, or at least it should have been.

Men’s and women’s rugby league continues to battle for media bandwidth with numerous other sports and often loses those battles, but 2022 could be an important year and one in which that begins to change, even if not immediately.

The start of the new season has coincided with the Winter Olympics as well as rugby union’s Six Nations. Thursday’s season opener also clashed with two high-profile Premier League games.

Rugby league moved to summer seasons in 1996 which removed some of the clashes with football, but the association game has become a year-round phenomenon.

The increased coverage of women’s football means the nation’s most popular game gets more airtime and column inches than ever before, and other sports, both men’s and women’s, have to fight for their space in the sporting consciousness.

The increased popularity and investment in women’s football has demonstrated how a game can grow if the coverage is there and the tales are told to a wider audience.

It’s not always the case that a sport will naturally become more popular without that extra coverage. But once that arrives it can put pressure on broadcasters to invest and on governing bodies to do deals prioritising the number of eyes on the game, as opposed to the number of digits following the pound sign.

We’ve seen how the increase in coverage and subsequent availability of women’s football has seen the game grow exponentially in recent years, and other sports can use this as an example. But they need help in doing so.

Rugby league is one such sport. The game has long struggled for recognition and coverage beyond its heartlands and media coverage will regularly limit itself to such boundaries.

There are regular examples of highlights shows only being broadcast regionally (and late at night), while more comprehensive, regular newspaper and media coverage can be limited to local publications.

Its competitions shown on subscription-only channels or exclusively on streaming platforms are obviously much less available than if they were free-to-air.

When it’s made more widely available, audiences do tune in. The 2021 Grand Final on subscription-only channel Sky Sports drew just under 400,000 viewers, but the Challenge Cup final shown on the BBC regularly attracts peak TV audiences of over one million.

Even American football is beginning to get more coverage and popularity than rugby league in the UK.

In many ways they are similar sports, and if anything rugby league —  with fewer stoppages in play but equally fast-paced moments — is the more entertaining game.

The sport also retains its working-class roots and support — something top-level football and other sports have alienated over the years through unreasonably high ticket prices, pandering to TV companies and a more commercial or corporate matchday focus.

There should be an air of positivity going into 2022, though, as it could be a breakthrough year for rugby league thanks in part to a broadcast deal with Channel 4.

The high-profile free-to-air station will show 10 live matches this season, starting with the headline clash between Leeds and Warrington on Saturday at midday.

Their coverage will be hosted by Adam Hills, the stand-up comedian who also presents popular Channel 4 show The Last Leg.

“I love Rugby League,” says Hills, who also plays for Warrington Wolves Physical Disability Rugby League team.

“I’ve been a fan since I was three days old when my dad brought a South Sydney Rabbitohs toy rabbit to the hospital for me.

“Presenting Rugby League for Channel 4 will be a childhood dream come true. 

“I intend to play the role of an excited fan, asking loads of questions to the experts alongside me.

“Hopefully I can relay the passion, the excitement and the inclusive nature of the game to the viewers.”

This will be the first time Super League has been shown on “terrestrial” television, while the BBC will continue its coverage with radio commentary, highlights shows and extensive coverage of the Challenge Cup.

And perhaps the most exciting thing for the sport in 2022 is that all of this will be building up to a World Cup held in England at the end of the year.

The tournament, postponed from 2021, will be shown on free-to-air television on the BBC and will include coverage of the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments.

Though international rugby league isn’t as high profile as its union cousin and is perhaps seen as a less competitive spectacle, it does have its interesting narratives and its fair share of entertaining games.

And, after all, only one game of the opening round of the Six Nations was a close contest in the end. So it’s not all about the games themselves, it’s about the build-up around them and the storylines around the players and their teams.

Even in football, the build-up to a game and the overall narrative they produce can often be more entertaining than the 90 minutes of sport.

Though international rugby league has its own merits and point of interest, there’s no doubt the best form of rugby league, arguably the best form of rugby full stop, lies in the more regional or club game — in the NRL and State of Origin series down under, and Super League in Europe.

These competitions are the ones that need to be made more widely available to casual viewers, listeners and readers than is currently the case.

Sky’s contribution to rugby league has been good for the game, but its coverage is still likely to only attract people who are already rugby league fans or supporters of the teams involved.

In order to attract new audiences to this most entertaining and diverse sport, increased national media coverage and free-to-air broadcasting is needed.

The benefits of such an approach should start to be seen during 2022, and Channel 4’s 10-game deal, which includes two playoff games, is a step in the right direction. Then, later in the year, the international game will be broadcast to the nation on the BBC.

Just as more people are turning to non-league football on matchdays and others are turning to the NFL for TV entertainment, 2022 could be the year sports fans realise one of the most entertaining games is closer to home and more accessible than they thought. 

Rugby league and its organisers need to make sure they take full advantage and give it the best chance to thrive.