Reigning champions Leeds were beaten at domestic by Wakefield; Warrington swatted aside Widnes; and Ryan Hampshire shone on his Castleford debutBy Gavin Willacy for No Helmets Required,part of the Guardian Sport NetworkSuper League XXI kicks off next month and half of the contestants have been in action over the final week. Most left out their international stars, opting to mix and match their senior players with rising talent from the youth ranks as the pre-season friendlies kicked off (strangely referred to as “warm-up matches” by the RFL and by that annoying Australianism “trials” by too many Brits). Among the top flight line-ups were plenty of names unique to Super League spectators, or some of them familiar to Premier Sports’ NRL viewers and plenty of youthful unknowns,a select few of whom will no doubt emerge as future stars as 2016 unfolds.
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Source: theguardian.com