At the beginning of February the RFL announced team and match specific Twitter hashtags in time for the new Super League season.

The hashtags are designed to improve discussions on Twitter between rugby league fans attending matches or watching them live on Sky Sports.  All 14 Super League teams have been assigned a specific hash tag and each match will have its own unique hashtag.

The initiative by the RFL is a borrowed idea from their Australian counterparts in the NRL, which itself was copied from the AFL.

Super League specific hashtags were introduced towards the end of last season following a campaign led by fans with backing from rugby league newspaper League Express. However, in response the RFL released their own hashtags which led to confusion amongst fans over which hashtag to use.

This season both League Express and the RFL are using the same hashtags and the early signs would suggest that fans are taking to the idea.

The game specific hashtags have been a success in Australia with NRL games trending regularly worldwide. With a smaller audience and fanbase in the UK, the RFL will be hoping for similar success with their own match specific hashtags.

If you are rugby league fan and follow any of the UK teams then make sure you are using using these;

Bradford Bulls #Bra
Castleford Tigers #Cas
Catalan Dragons #Cat
Huddersfield Giants #Hud
Hull FC #HFC
Hull KR #HKR
Leeds Rhinos #Lee
London Broncos #Lon
Salford City Reds #Sal
St Helens #StH
Wakefield Wildcats #Wak
Warrington Wolves #War
Widnes Vikings #Wid
Wigan Warriors #Wig

Recent games in the Suiperleague have been using hashtags to help people follow the action….

Friday 3rd February
Widnes Vikings v Wakefield Wildcats = #SLWidWak
Leeds Rhinos v Hull KR = #SLLeeHKR

Saturday 4th February
London Broncos v St Helens = #SLLonStH
Salford City Reds v Castlefprd Tigers = #SLSalCas

Sunday 5th February
Bradford Bulls v Catalan Dragons = #SLBraCat
Hull FC v Warrington Wolves = #SLHFCWar
Wigan Warriors v Huddersfield Giants = #SLWigHud

And then more tags for discussing the Grand Final and the Challenge Cup…

Grand Final = #SLGF

Challenge Cup Final = #RLCCF

Lets see how this works out and whether fans will pick up on them during the season.