Champions Leeds Rhinos will begin the defence of their Super League title with a trip to Wrexham to face the Crusaders on Friday, 29 January. The match is one of two to be played a week before the first full round of the 2010 season on 5-7 February. The game has been rearranged because of the Rhinos involvement in the World Club Challenge on Sunday, 28 February against Melbourne Storm.
The season will climax with the Grand Final on Saturday, 2 October.
Next season starts a week earlier than last year because of England traveling to the 2010 Four Nations tournament, which will be played in the southern hemisphere in October and November.
The Magic Weekend will take place for a second successive year at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on 1 and 2 May, with the draw for the matches to be made on shortly.
Welsh side Crusaders recently dropped the word “Celtic” from their name, while 2010 will be the second year of the three-year Super League franchises awarded to the clubs when promotion and relegation was abolished.
North Wales Assembly Member Janet Ryder has described the new Rugby League season as a “new era” for sport in Wrexham after it was revealed that Crusaders will play defending champions Leeds Rhinos at the Racecourse Stadium in the first game of the new season in January.
The Plaid Cymru AM, who is also patron of the Welsh Rugby League and a passionate fan, said the move by Crusaders to play some of their Super League games in Wrexham’s Racecourse Stadium was a fantastic opportunity for both the Crusaders and rugby league in the north of Wales.
Janet Ryder said: “To play the defending champions in the opening game of the new season on January 29 is quite a challenge for Crusaders and to have this taking place in the north of Wales will make it an extra special event. There is fantastic support for rugby league in the north and I’m sure Leeds will also bring good support as they have an average attendance of 17,000, so Wrexham will enjoy a bumper crowd.
“I think Crusaders will benefit from the move as well and I’m confident that it will benefit the grassroots development of sports through youth and community initiatives in the area. The Welsh Rugby League is working hard to promote the sport throughout Wales and to have such an attractive tie to open the new Super League season is a bonus. It’s a new era for the sport in Wrexham and I’m sure Wrexham Football Club and the town as a whole will see the benefit.”