2011 Super League season
The Engage Super League XVI was the official name for the 2011 Super League season. Fourteen teams competed over 27 rounds, after which the highest finishing teams entered the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win the championship and the Super League Trophy. Leeds Rhinos claimed their fifth Super League crown, tying the record previously held by St. Helens, whilst the Warrington Wolves lifted the League Leaders' Shield.
The season kicked off on 12 February with the Annual "Millennium Magic Weekend", which was brought forward from its usual slot in May.
The 2011 season included the introduction of the Rugby League International Origin Match, wherein the England national rugby league team played the RL Exiles, an outfit made up of Australians and New Zealanders playing for Super League clubs. This contest is intended to henceforth become an annual fixture to replace the previously existing annual test against the France national rugby league team, due to the onesidedness of such contests in recent years.
Teams
Super League XVI was the third year of a licensed Super League. Under this system, promotion and relegation between Super League and Championship was abolished, and 14 teams were granted licences subject to certain criteria. All twelve teams from Super League XIII were given places, as well as former Super League team Salford City Reds and Crusaders. This was the final year of the initial licensing cycle; a new set of licences would be awarded for 2012–14.Geographically, the vast majority of teams in Super League are based in the north of England, four teams – Warrington, St. Helens, Salford and Wigan – to the west of the Pennines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and seven teams to the east in Yorkshire – Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. Catalans Dragons are the only team based in France and are outside of the UK, Crusaders are the only team in Wales, and Harlequins are the only team to be based in a capital city.
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area | |
| Bradford Bulls | Grattan Stadium, Odsal | 27,000 | Bradford, West Yorkshire | |
| Castleford Tigers | The Jungle | 11,750 | Castleford, West Yorkshire | |
| Catalans Dragons | Stade Gilbert Brutus | 10,000 | Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France | |
| Crusaders Rugby League | The Racecourse Ground | 15,000 | Wrexham, Clwyd, Wales | |
| Harlequins | Twickenham Stoop | 12,700 | Twickenham, London | |
| Huddersfield Giants | Galpharm Stadium | 24,544 | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire | |
| Hull F.C. | Kingston Communications Stadium | 25,404 | Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | "New" Craven Park | 9,471 | Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire | |
| Leeds Rhinos | Headingley Carnegie Stadium | 22,250 | Leeds, West Yorkshire | |
| Salford City Reds | Salford City Stadium | 12,000 | Salford, Greater Manchester | |
| St Helens R.F.C. | Halton Stadium | 13,350 | Widnes, Halton | |
| Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | Belle Vue | 12,600 | Wakefield, West Yorkshire | |
| Warrington Wolves | Halliwell Jones Stadium | 14,206 | Warrington, Cheshire | |
| Wigan Warriors | DW Stadium | 25,138 | Wigan, Greater Manchester |
The maps below indicate the locations of teams that competed in Super League XVI.
Dragons
Quins
Crusaders
Saints
Wolves
Warriors
Reds
Hull
Hull KR
Tigers
Rhinos
Wildcats
Bulls
Giants
Rules
Rule changes
- A new stricter variation on the ruck and holding down was introduced in 2011. When the referee calls "held" and "move", the tackle is deemed to be completed, and any further infringement from that point on in the ruck is penalised.
Operational rules
- All Super League clubs agreed to operate within the £1.7million salary cap for their top 25 first-tier players.
- Quota spots were reduced to 5, meaning only 5 players could be from abroad. However, players from France, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea all count as federation-trained and thus do not count against the quota.
Table
Play-offs
The play-offs commenced following the conclusion of the 27-round regular season. To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, Super League uses its unique play-off system. The finals concluded with the 2011 Super League Grand Final.Statistics
The following are the top points scorers in the Super League during the 2011 season. Statistics also include tries and goals scored in the play-offs.Most tries
| Player | Team | Tries |
| Ryan Hall | Leeds Rhinos | 28 |
| Sam Tomkins | Wigan Warriors | 28 |
| Joel Monaghan | Warrington Wolves | 26 |
| Kris Welham | Hull Kingston Rovers | 24 |
| Josh Charnley | Wigan Warriors | 23 |
| Ryan Atkins | Warrington Wolves | 22 |
| Kirk Yeaman | Hull F.C. | 21 |
| Jamie Foster | St. Helens | 21 |
| Pat Richards | Wigan Warriors | 21 |
| Damien Blanch | Catalans Dragons | 20 |
Most goals
| Player | Team | Goals |
| Kevin Sinfield | Leeds Rhinos | 138 |
| Jamie Foster | St. Helens | 123 |
| Brett Hodgson | Warrington Wolves | 121 |
| Pat Richards | Wigan Warriors | 115 |
| Scott Dureau | Catalans Dragons | 92 |
| Patrick Ah Van | Bradford Bulls | 87 |
| Kirk Dixon | Castleford Tigers | 84 |
| Danny Tickle | Hull F.C. | 83 |
| Danny Brough | Huddersfield Giants | 82 |
| Michael Dobson | Hull Kingston Rovers | 76 |
Most points
| Player | Team | Tries | Goals | DGs | Points |
| Jamie Foster | St. Helens | 21 | 123 | 0 | 330 |
| Brett Hodgson | Warrington Wolves | 18 | 121 | 0 | 314 |
| Pat Richards | Wigan Warriors | 21 | 115 | 0 | 314 |
| Kevin Sinfield | Leeds Rhinos | 2 | 138 | 2 | 286 |
| Scott Dureau | Catalans Dragons | 11 | 92 | 5 | 233 |
| Patrick Ah Van | Bradford Bulls | 9 | 87 | 0 | 210 |
| Danny Tickle | Hull F.C. | 9 | 83 | 0 | 202 |
| Danny Brough | Huddersfield Giants | 8 | 82 | 1 | 197 |
| Kirk Dixon | Castleford Tigers | 7 | 84 | 0 | 196 |
| Luke Gale | Harlequins | 8 | 75 | 2 | 184 |