Betfred Super League fixtures 2020: St Helens v Salford Grand Final rematch, Toronto to start v Castleford

The season will kick off on Thursday, January 30, with Wigan hosting Warrington in a fixture that will mark the Super League debuts of England internationals George Burgess and Gareth Widdop.

St Helens launch the defence of their title the following night against Salford, the side they beat at Old Trafford in October, while newly-promoted Toronto will play Castleford on the Sunday at Headingley as part of a double-header that also includes Leeds against Hull FC.

Also on the opening Friday, Hull KR host Wakefield while on the Saturday, Huddersfield make the trip to France to play Catalans Dragons.

The Wolfpack are playing their first three home games "on the road" because of the harsh Canadian winter and the unavailability of the local authority-owned Lamport Stadium until April.

The club are also taking their home games against Castleford and Wakefield to neutral venues before hosting Hull FC in Ontario in round 11 on Saturday, April 18 with a 1.30pm kick-off locally.

The Hull derby is the stand-out game of round two on Friday, February 7.

As expected, clubs will play just once over Easter as the league accedes to player-welfare issues, with the six fixtures spread over four days.

Leeds kick off the Easter schedule against Wakefield on Thursday, April 9, followed by the traditional Good Friday fixtures between Wigan and St Helens and the two Hull clubs.

Newcastle will host the Magic Weekend on May 23 and 24, with highlights including another Saints-Salford clash on the Saturday and Wigan taking on Warrington the following day.

The final round of matches will all kick off at 7.45pm on Friday, September 11 to ensure that no team gains an unfair advantage if relegation or play-off places are at stake.

Super League chief commercial officer Rhodri Jones said: "We are delighted to be able to share the full 2020 schedule with our fans and after a lot of work, we are happy with what has been created.

"Round one promises to be a fantastic start to our 25th season with some real heavyweight fixtures.

"There is a new feel to Easter, appreciating the tough nature of Super League on the players, and we've kept the Friday night final round of games which proved so successful in 2019.

"There is clearly a lot of excitement with Toronto Wolfpack coming into Super League and we've had to work through a number of logistical challenges regarding their fixtures.

"Their first Super League game hosted at Lamport Stadium in April against Hull FC will be a superb event. It will also be great for new and existing fans to see them kick off their season in a double-header at Emerald Headingley.

"As ever, given the unpredictable nature of the sport, we all recognise that changes to the fixture list will have to be made towards the end of the season to accommodate our broadcast partner, Sky Sports."