Tuesday 30 January 2018

NZ National Competition : 2014 Season

The two Auckland teams finished in the top two places, just as they had done last year (for an overview of the teams, simply click here). The interesting thing was three were tied for first. Canterbury moved up two places on last years and Waicoa Bay finished 4th for the third consecutive year. Central climbed off the bottom to take 5th and Wellington fell three places to 6th. Northern returned to last place (7th) after a monumental 2013 when they were 6th.

2014 Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
Counties Manukau Stingrays 6 5 0 1 310 64 246 12*
Akarana Falcons 6 5 0 1 288 104 184 12*
Canterbury Bulls 6 5 0 1 256 130 126 12
Waicoa Bay Stallions 6 3 0 3 144 212 -68 8
Central Vipers 6 2 0 4 148 210 -62 6
Wellington Orcas 6 1 0 5 148 244 -96 4
Northern Swords 6 0 0 6 64 394 -330 2

*Disqualified for fielding ineligible players. 

The big news was the two winners were disqualified, meaning Canterbury and Waicoa took their places in the final. It made a change for the usual all Auckland affair. Canterbury took the silverware with an emphatic and expected victory, 40-8.

To view the 2015 season, simply click here.
To see the 2013 season, just click here.

Monday 29 January 2018

Queensland State Champs : 1996-2017 Contributors

Having done the Big Hitters article, where those who were winners were rewarded, I decided to do one that acknowledged the teams that have been there, year after year doing their best. Some may not have much but all contributed something by their existence. Therefore the Contributors list.

I have allocated pints for how well teams went but even those who were cellar dwellers get something in this chart. Aqua is the Brisbane area clubs, salmon the urban areas outside of Brisbane (but nearby), yellow Queensland country and green PNG.


Club Points Adj

Redcliffe 578

Easts 403

Burleigh 381

Wynnum-Manly 352

Norths 345

Ipswich 313

Souths Logan 304 202

Souths
58

Logan 44

Northern (Cairns) 235

Toowoomba 234

Tweed Heads 227

Central Queensland 170

Sunshine Coast 136

North Queensland 129

Mackay 123

Wests 119

PNG 99

Townsville 75

Cairns (Cyclones) 43

Pine Rivers 40

Port Moresby 16

Gold Coast 16

Aspley 11

Townsville (Stingers) 10

Brothers-Valleys 5

Bundaberg 5

For the start of the series (1996-99), simply click here.
The last one (2015-17), just click here
The Big Hitter summary is found by clicking here.

Sunday 28 January 2018

UK Elite Teams By Season : 2002

From 2001, the Huddersfield Giants were dropped from the top division, to be replaced by the Widnes Vikings. For this season, the Salford City reds were relegated. 12 teams made up the competition with six going into the playoffs.

The League: St Helens RLFC won the league with 46 points,tied with the Bradford Bulls also on 46. Wigan Warriors collected 39 points for 3rd, Leeds Rhinos on 34 points took 4th. Hull FC (32) and Castleford Tigers (30) made up the top six for the finals.

Challenge Cup: The quarter final results were Leigh Centurions 16-30 Wigan, Castleford 32-14 Doncaster Dragons, Halifax Blue Sox 20-26 St Helens and Leeds 46-10 Wakefield Trinity.

The semi finals Had wigan taking on castleford and prevailing 20-10. In the other fixture Saints were too good for Leeds, winning 42-16. The final was held in Edinburgh, Scotland in front of 62,000 fans. Wigan took the trophy 21-12.

The Finals: In the elimination games Leeds knocked out Hull FC 36-22 and Wiagan likewise Castleford 26-14. Next week the two victors moved on to another sudden death game, with Wigan overpowering Leeds 41-18. The other game that week offered the winner a ticket to the grand final, the offer was taken by Bradford when they just defeated Saints 28-26 away.

St Helens then had to play Wigan to see who would join Bradford at Old Trafford and they did enough with a 24-8 result over their arch rivals. Just over 61,000 witnessed a close encounter, Saints clinching it 19-18. Three tries and goals each but a Sean Long field goal the difference.

The drop goal decider (Pic SkySports)

Summary: Allocating points for the season leads to St Helens being the most successful, winning both the league and grand final. being a losing finalist in the cup stopped them from taking the treble. Wigan's collecting the silverware at the cup was the highlight for them. Leigh and Doncaster were two non-SL teams who collected points via their cup quarter final appearances.


Rk Team Rnd Fnl CC Total

1 St Helens 20 20 16 56

2 Wigan 16 12 20 48

3 Bradford 18 16
34

3 Leeds 14 8 12 34

5 Castleford 11 4 12 27

6 Hull FC 12 4
16

7 Halifax 8
6 14

8 Wakefield 6
6 12

9 Widnes 10

10

10 London 9

9

11 Warrington 7

7

12 Leigh

6 6

12 Doncaster

6 6

14 Salford 5

5


Total 136 64 84 284

The 2001 season is reached by simply clicking here.
The 2003 season can be accessed by clicking here.

Friday 26 January 2018

NZ National Competition : 2013 Season

Some of the names may not be well known so for an overview of the teams involves, simply click here.

Counties-Manukau won the league for the second year, with Akarana Falcons second for another year also. Below things were different. Wellington went from 5th to 3rd, Waicoa held their 4th spot, which the South Island was replaced by the main province there, Canterbury. Whether that was the cause of their dropping from 3rd to 5th I don't know. It may have happened anyway. At the bottom, the Northern and Central teams swapped places from 2012. Northern got their first win in four years when achieving that milestone.

2013 Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
Counties Manukau Stingrays 6 6 0 0 294 118 176 14
Akarana Falcons 6 5 0 1 266 88 178 12
Wellington Orcas 6 4 0 2 204 110 94 10
Waicoa Bay Stallions 6 3 0 3 184 204 -20 8
Canterbury Bulls 6 2 0 4 212 168 44 6
Northern Swords 6 1 0 5 96 252 -156 4
Central Vipers 6 0 0 6 64 380 -316 2

As with last year, the second placed Akarana defeated the league winners Counties-Manukau in the final. This year it was 22-12.

To see the 2014 season, simply click here.
To review the 2012 season, please click here.

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Queensland State Champs : 1996-2017 Big Hitters

In the final in the series, we look at the years that the competition has been run to see how the sides have fared. By allocating 6 points maximum for each league and grand final win, and then scoring the top four down from that we see who did best in winning terms. Please note that unless a team has finished in the top four league or finals, they don't appear here at all.

The most successful by far is the Brisbane club, the Redcliffe Dolphins. They have been there from the beginning and amassed 115 points, over twice the second team. It may surprise the Burleigh Bears are second, just missing the first year of competition.

Some clubs haven't been around for that many seasons, so to acknowledge them, the Avg column is added. Redcliffe tops that too, so a worthy place at the top. PNG Hunters come second, from Townsville and Northern Pride.

Teams Tot Avg 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08














1 Redcliffe Dolphins 115 5.2 5 10


10 3

1
2 Burleigh Bears 54 2.6
9







3 Toowoomba 43 3.9









4 Northern Pride 43 4.3


12 8
5 7 7 4
5 Easts Tigers 40 1.8 3
1 6 6




6 Norths Devils 36 1.6




1
7

7 Wynnum Manly 35 1.6

1 5 1 9 6

1
8 Ipswich Jets 32 1.5

8 1 1 1


10
9 Souths Logan 30 1.4





2 8 8 9
9 North Queensland 24 4.0









11 Tweed Heads 24 1.6


1
4 10


12 PNG Hunters 18 4.5 12 1 5






12 Sunshine Coast 16 1.8 5 2




2 7
12 Townsville 13 4.3
3 10






15 Mackay Cutters 11 1.1



9

2

16 Wests Panthers 11 1.4









17 Pine River 4 1.3









18 Central Q'sland 4 0.2







4












Total 545 18 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 25


Teams 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96














1 Redcliffe Dolphins 7 8 3
9 12 6 12 10 3 9 7
2 Burleigh Bears

6 12 10 1 5 2 8
1
3 Toowoomba
10
1

12 6 2

12
4 Northern Pride











5 Easts Tigers
2
6
4 1 5

6
6 Norths Devils

4 4
2 1
5 12

7 Wynnum Manly


2 3




7
8 Ipswich Jets 2


3 6





9 Souths Logan










3
9 North Queensland 8 4 12








11 Tweed Heads 8 1









12 PNG Hunters











12 Sunshine Coast











12 Townsville











15 Mackay Cutters











16 Wests Panthers








6 2 3
17 Pine River








4

18 Central Q'sland























Total 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

Summary: I would have liked to have not had to divide the list but limited width of the page forced my hand. While we live in a world that celebrates success, the teams that turned up again and again without any success are to be commended too. Not everyone can win but all can compete. The Central Coast for example have been there every year with scarcely any success. The fact they keep turning up for another year is what sport is all about to me.  

For the 2015-17 review, please click here.
To start at the beginning (1996-99), just click here.
The Contributors summary is found by clicking here.