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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.

That was emphasised on Sunday at Headingley, one of the competition’s renowned amphitheatres, when Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves served up a thrilling birthday present with a contender for the standout game of 2026 so far. It was Leeds who edged it, 26-22, just as they have so many times in the past three decades, but both will fancy their chances of silverware this year.

Perhaps in a way it was fitting that it was two heartlands clubs who were around in 1996 that were the teams who took to the field on this significant anniversary.

In contrast, 30 years ago, it was Sheffield who were entrusted to travel to Paris Saint-Germain in part because most people around the world had heard of the city.

The PSG brand and the French city needed no introduction to casual observers either, with the hope being the French franchise would light the touch paper for rugby league to break free of its constraints from along the M62. That, if we are being honest, has not happened in the way many would have hoped, with rugby league’s plan for expansion never really taking off full sail.

Whether it be PSG in the 1990s, Celtic Crusaders in the 2010s or Toronto Wolfpack in more recent years, many projects have arrived with plenty of optimism and ultimately failed or, even worse, disappeared from the game’s footprint.

For everything Super League has done well, it has fumbled the concept of expansion, something that was opined this past week by Gary Hetherington, the former Sheffield and Leeds chief executive who is now in charge at London Broncos.

The Broncos will almost certainly become a Super League club and it feels, just as it did in the 90s, that success there could be a gamechanger.

But it is not all pessimism and, for all the clamour for geographical expansion, the sport’s heartlands still have plenty to offer. Nobody epitomises the progression since 1996 better than Leeds Rhinos, a club who began the summer era in grave financial difficulty, with a crumbling old stadium and a team who finished third-last in the inaugural Super League campaign.

Today, they sit alongside Wigan and St Helens as the heavyweights of the sport. Their famous Headingley home has been redeveloped into one of the game’s best venues, they attract the biggest attendances in the competition and are in contention for a ninth Super League title this year. If more clubs were like Leeds, perhaps Super League would not need investment by Australia’s National Rugby League.

Which takes us to the future and that aforementioned investment from Super League’s sister competition. The Rhinos and the Wolves sit centrally in the blueprint of what the game should look like on a grander scale and, with an offer for investment from the NRL likely to land on the desk of Super League officials in the coming weeks, there is much to ponder.

Super League has to strike the delicate balance of maintaining the strength of its biggest clubs such as Leeds and Warrington while also finding a way to cut through into a wider mainstream. Only then will the prophecies of those who devised the decision to change the direction of the game in 1996 come true.

There is much to market and marvel at. English stars such as Jake Connor, Jake Thewlis and George Williams, who all shone on Sunday, are hidden away from wider audiences when their ability feels untapped in terms of underlining how great an on-field product league has. Perhaps the NRL’s riches will finally break down that glass ceiling.

Few sports honour their history and heritage quite like rugby league. This has been a great few days to look back and reflect on how far things have come in the past 30 years, but the real challenge now is to look ahead and ensure there is an exciting future over the horizon.