Leeds and Warrington thriller is fitting gift on Super League’s 30th birthday

Summer rugby league began in Paris in 1996 but for all its success, it has struggled with the business of expansion

It began with an explosion of noise and a wave of excitement on the fringes of Paris in 1996, and as Super League celebrated its 30th anniversary weekend in the slightly more rugby league-centric surroundings of Leeds on Sunday, it felt an appropriate time not only to look back, but forwards, too.

Amid all of the missed opportunities – more on those later – and boardroom frustration that have often dominated the past 30 years in the competition since its seismic switch from winter rugby to summer, one thing Super League has almost always managed to count upon as a consistent force is the entertainment on the field.