It's too easy to blame the official in the middle for issues in the game. RL is no exception. I hear so many saying that the referee cost the team the game or that the match didn't flow due to the way it was managed. So who's to blame?
Problems:
1) The decisions favoured one side. The person with the whistle is scrutinised by cameras that catch every angle while he/she gets one look in real time. Vision can be obscured and even replays on TV can be inconclusive so they have a difficult job.
A referee that allows personal feeling to shape a result would be rare, if non-existent. If the official has a way of judging situations that doesn't go with a particular team's style, it could give the impression of favourtism. However, refs will tell you they are objective and I believe them.
2) The game didn't flow. If teams push the boundaries of the rules to try and get an advantage and they are penalised accordingly, that is the teams fault, not the official. They are instructed by their coaches to try and disrupt the opponents game, usually by slowing down the play the ball.
3) The play the ball area is a mess. Many fans for some reason blame the official for this. Hello? Taking too long to get off the tackled player is the player's problem. A tackled player getting up slowly while staring at the referee is the player's fault.
Solutions:
1) The decisions favoured one side. In any given match, 50/50 decisions will favour one side but over the course of a season, they will level out.
2) The game didn't flow. I know, why not try sportsmanship? You know, that word that once meant something but today no one knows the meaning of.
3) The play the ball area is a mess. This is because fast play the balls - catching out retreating defenses - is a vital tactic to taking control. Players on the receiving end then try to slow this down. The poor official has to try balance the two conflicting efforts and is blamed for the ensuing mess that often occurs.
This needs to be looked at through the rules of the game. It's certainly not the referees fault.
Summary: These people do a fine job, trying to be fair while under constant pressure to deliver precise and accurate decisions in a high speed sporting environment. If you think they are useless, join ranks their ranks and see how you get on.
Monday, 30 April 2018
Sunday, 29 April 2018
UK Elite Teams By Season : 1990-91
Three new teams were promoted the top flight league or championship, Hull KR, Oldham and Rochdale. Fourteen teams battled it out for the title, along with a plethora of cup competitions that brought in many other teams to win titles if they could off the best sides in the land.
The League. Any surprise Wigan won? They accrued 42 points, just two more than Widnes. Hull FC and Castleford earned 34, Leeds 30 and St Helens 29. They were the top six. Oldham, Sheffield and Rochdale went down, which was two of the newly promoted sides.
The Challenge Cup. In the quarter finals it was Wigan 32-2 Bradford, Warrington 14-26 Widnes, Halifax 16-24 St Helens and Oldham 40-3 Salford.
The semis saw Wigan defeat a game Oldham 30-16 and Saints proved too strong for Widnes, winning 19-2. The final as usual at Wembley had 75,500 fans in attendance. In it Wigan just managed to take the silverware with a 13-8 victory over St Helens.
The League Cup. At the quarter finals stage, it was Wigan 6-12 Bradford, Castleford 14-19 Rochdale, Warrington 18-12 St Helens and Widnes 56-6 Batley.
For the semi finals: Bradford 13-2 Rochdale, Warrington 8-4 Widnes. A healthy 58,000 turned up at Headingly, Leeds to see Warrington take the trophy with a 12-2 defeat of Bradford.
Lancashire Cup: The semi finals of this regional cup had Salford beating Leigh 16-7 and Widnes overcoming Warrington 20-4. The final was held at Central Park, Wigan before 37,000 spectators. Widnes prevailed 24-18 over Salford.
Yorkshire Cup: Across the Pennines, the last four played to see who made the final. Castleford took one spot witha 29-6 win over Hull KR and the other secured by Wakefield when they defeated Dewsbury 25-2. 12,500 came along to Elleand Rd, Leeds to see Castleford win the silverware with a narrow 11-8 victory over Wakefield.
The Premiership Finals. The top eight teams from the league lined up to see who would become the premiership winners. In the first round it was Cas' 20-24 Leeds, Hull FC 28-12 Saints, Widnes 46-10 Bradford and Wigan 26-31 Featherstone.
The semis had Hull FC just scraping past Leeds 10-7 and Widnes more comfortable in their 42-28 win over Featherstone. The final at Old Trafford, Manchester attracted 42,000 fans to the match. Hull FC took the title 14-4 over Widnes.
Summary: It was an unusual season in that Widnes are well ahead in my points system without much winning. They were second in the league, semi finalists in the Challenge Cup and League Cup plus losing finalists in the Premiership final. They actually won the Lancashire Cup! That consistency gave them 66 points in my system to be clearly best. I'm sure they felt they could have done so much better.
Wigan took the League and Challenge Cup but fired blanks otherwise and that gave them 50 points. Just below that the points were close, with Castleford winning the Yorkshire Cup and Hull FC the Premiership. Saints did well without winning anything.
For the 1989-90 season, simply click here.
To see the 1991-92 season, just click here.
The League. Any surprise Wigan won? They accrued 42 points, just two more than Widnes. Hull FC and Castleford earned 34, Leeds 30 and St Helens 29. They were the top six. Oldham, Sheffield and Rochdale went down, which was two of the newly promoted sides.
The Challenge Cup. In the quarter finals it was Wigan 32-2 Bradford, Warrington 14-26 Widnes, Halifax 16-24 St Helens and Oldham 40-3 Salford.
The semis saw Wigan defeat a game Oldham 30-16 and Saints proved too strong for Widnes, winning 19-2. The final as usual at Wembley had 75,500 fans in attendance. In it Wigan just managed to take the silverware with a 13-8 victory over St Helens.
The League Cup. At the quarter finals stage, it was Wigan 6-12 Bradford, Castleford 14-19 Rochdale, Warrington 18-12 St Helens and Widnes 56-6 Batley.
For the semi finals: Bradford 13-2 Rochdale, Warrington 8-4 Widnes. A healthy 58,000 turned up at Headingly, Leeds to see Warrington take the trophy with a 12-2 defeat of Bradford.
Lancashire Cup: The semi finals of this regional cup had Salford beating Leigh 16-7 and Widnes overcoming Warrington 20-4. The final was held at Central Park, Wigan before 37,000 spectators. Widnes prevailed 24-18 over Salford.
Yorkshire Cup: Across the Pennines, the last four played to see who made the final. Castleford took one spot witha 29-6 win over Hull KR and the other secured by Wakefield when they defeated Dewsbury 25-2. 12,500 came along to Elleand Rd, Leeds to see Castleford win the silverware with a narrow 11-8 victory over Wakefield.
The Premiership Finals. The top eight teams from the league lined up to see who would become the premiership winners. In the first round it was Cas' 20-24 Leeds, Hull FC 28-12 Saints, Widnes 46-10 Bradford and Wigan 26-31 Featherstone.
The semis had Hull FC just scraping past Leeds 10-7 and Widnes more comfortable in their 42-28 win over Featherstone. The final at Old Trafford, Manchester attracted 42,000 fans to the match. Hull FC took the title 14-4 over Widnes.
 |
| Not sure which year this was but Widnes had a strong team back then. Source: Widnes Hall of Fame. |
Summary: It was an unusual season in that Widnes are well ahead in my points system without much winning. They were second in the league, semi finalists in the Challenge Cup and League Cup plus losing finalists in the Premiership final. They actually won the Lancashire Cup! That consistency gave them 66 points in my system to be clearly best. I'm sure they felt they could have done so much better.
Wigan took the League and Challenge Cup but fired blanks otherwise and that gave them 50 points. Just below that the points were close, with Castleford winning the Yorkshire Cup and Hull FC the Premiership. Saints did well without winning anything.
| Rk | Team | Lge | Fnl | CC | LC | Y/L | Total | |
| 1 | Widnes | 18 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 66 | |
| 2 | Wigan | 20 | 6 | 20 | 4 | 50 | ||
| 3 | St Helens | 11 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 37 | ||
| 4 | Castleford | 14 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 36 | ||
| 4 | Hull FC | 16 | 20 | 36 | ||||
| 6 | Bradford | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 34 | ||
| 6 | Warrington | 8 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 34 | ||
| 8 | Leeds | 12 | 12 | 24 | ||||
| 9 | Featherstone | 9 | 12 | 21 | ||||
| 10 | Oldham | 5 | 12 | 17 | ||||
| 11 | Wakefield | 7 | 8 | 15 | ||||
| 12 | Salford | 6 | 8 | 14 | ||||
| 13 | Rochdale | 3 | 8 | 11 | ||||
| 14 | Hull KR | 6 | 4 | 10 | ||||
| 15 | Halifax | 6 | 6 | |||||
| 16 | Sheffield | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 16 | Leigh | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 16 | Dewsbury | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 16 | Batley | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Total | 143 | 84 | 84 | 60 | 56 | 427 |
For the 1989-90 season, simply click here.
To see the 1991-92 season, just click here.
Thursday, 26 April 2018
UK Elite Teams By Season : 1991-92
Three teams were dropped from the 14 team elite Championship from the previous year (Sheffield, Oldham and Rochdale) while Halifax, Salford and Swinton replaced them. For the size of the league, that was quite some change of teams.
The League. Wigan took the title with 44 points, St Helens were next on 36 points with Castleford third (32 points). Warrington (30), Leeds (29) amd Wakefield (27) followed up after that. Featherstone (22) and poor Swinton (just 6 points) were relegated.
The Challenge Cup. The quarter finals pitted arch rivals Saints and Wigan, the latter coming away with the win 6-13. The other results were Castleford 19-12 Featherstone, Halifax 4-12 Bradford and Workington 8-24 Hull FC.
The semis went as follows: Cas' 8-4 Hull FC and Wigan 71-10 Bradford. Wow, some result that was. How did Cas' feel heading into the final after that? Over 77,000 went to Wembley Stadium and witnessed Wigan take the trophy with a 28-12 victory.
The League Cup. The quarter finals were: Salford 24-14 Wigan, Leeds 24-4 Castleford, Saints 30-12 Bradford, Widnes 34-22 Featherstone. Everyone must have fancied their chances with Wigan gone.
The semi finals pitted Leeds against Salford, the former progressing with a 22-15 triumph. Meanwhile Widnes joined them, defeating Leeds 24-0. The final attracted 15,000 to Central Park, Wigan where Widnes prevailed 24-0 over Leeds.
Lancashire Cup: The pennultimate county cups were held this year, the 79th edition. The semi final had Rochdale defeating Carlisle 19-6 and Saints getting gone over Wigan 24-14. The crowd of 9,300 at Warrington who came to the final predictably saw Saints taking the trophy 24-14 over a galant Rochdale.
Yorkshire Cup: The eastern equivalent at the semi final stage had Bradford proving too strong for Wakefield 14-10 and Castleford defeating Featherstone 18-10. The final took place at Leeds with 8.900 attending. There Cas' won 28-6 over Bradford.
The Premiership Finals. The top eight from the league came together here. The first round (quarter finals) went this way: Cas' 28-18 Wakefield, St Helens 52-6 Halifax, Warrington 18-18 and 8-22 Leeds, Wigan 42-16 Widnes.
The semi finals went Lancashire's way with Saints too good for Castleford (30-14) and Wigan easily over Leeds (74-6). 33,000 came to the final at Old Trafford where Wigan ran out winners 48-16 against Saints.
Summary: Wigan dominated this period and this season was no exception. They won the league, Challenge Cup and Premiership final (columns 1 to 3 below) The only blemishes were the lesser League Cup and Lancashire Cup (columns 4 and 5). They were given 68 points in my awards system. Castleford had a dig and took the Yorkshire Cup for a creditable 60 points. St Helens also got the same number of points with the Lancashire Cup victory. After that it was just crumbs for the rest.
For the 1990-91 season, simply click here.
To see the 1992-93 season, just click here.
The League. Wigan took the title with 44 points, St Helens were next on 36 points with Castleford third (32 points). Warrington (30), Leeds (29) amd Wakefield (27) followed up after that. Featherstone (22) and poor Swinton (just 6 points) were relegated.
The Challenge Cup. The quarter finals pitted arch rivals Saints and Wigan, the latter coming away with the win 6-13. The other results were Castleford 19-12 Featherstone, Halifax 4-12 Bradford and Workington 8-24 Hull FC.
The semis went as follows: Cas' 8-4 Hull FC and Wigan 71-10 Bradford. Wow, some result that was. How did Cas' feel heading into the final after that? Over 77,000 went to Wembley Stadium and witnessed Wigan take the trophy with a 28-12 victory.
The League Cup. The quarter finals were: Salford 24-14 Wigan, Leeds 24-4 Castleford, Saints 30-12 Bradford, Widnes 34-22 Featherstone. Everyone must have fancied their chances with Wigan gone.
The semi finals pitted Leeds against Salford, the former progressing with a 22-15 triumph. Meanwhile Widnes joined them, defeating Leeds 24-0. The final attracted 15,000 to Central Park, Wigan where Widnes prevailed 24-0 over Leeds.
Lancashire Cup: The pennultimate county cups were held this year, the 79th edition. The semi final had Rochdale defeating Carlisle 19-6 and Saints getting gone over Wigan 24-14. The crowd of 9,300 at Warrington who came to the final predictably saw Saints taking the trophy 24-14 over a galant Rochdale.
Yorkshire Cup: The eastern equivalent at the semi final stage had Bradford proving too strong for Wakefield 14-10 and Castleford defeating Featherstone 18-10. The final took place at Leeds with 8.900 attending. There Cas' won 28-6 over Bradford.
The Premiership Finals. The top eight from the league came together here. The first round (quarter finals) went this way: Cas' 28-18 Wakefield, St Helens 52-6 Halifax, Warrington 18-18 and 8-22 Leeds, Wigan 42-16 Widnes.
The semi finals went Lancashire's way with Saints too good for Castleford (30-14) and Wigan easily over Leeds (74-6). 33,000 came to the final at Old Trafford where Wigan ran out winners 48-16 against Saints.
Summary: Wigan dominated this period and this season was no exception. They won the league, Challenge Cup and Premiership final (columns 1 to 3 below) The only blemishes were the lesser League Cup and Lancashire Cup (columns 4 and 5). They were given 68 points in my awards system. Castleford had a dig and took the Yorkshire Cup for a creditable 60 points. St Helens also got the same number of points with the Lancashire Cup victory. After that it was just crumbs for the rest.
| Rk | Team | Lge | Fnl | CC | LC | Y/L | Total | |
| 1 | Wigan | 20 | 20 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 68 | |
| 2 | Castleford | 16 | 12 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 60 | |
| 2 | St Helens | 18 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 60 | |
| 4 | Leeds | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 | |||
| 5 | Widnes | 9 | 6 | 16 | 31 | |||
| 6 | Bradford | 6 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 30 | ||
| 7 | Halifax | 10 | 6 | 6 | 22 | |||
| 8 | Wakefield | 11 | 6 | 4 | 21 | |||
| 9 | Warrington | 14 | 6 | 20 | ||||
| 10 | Featherstone | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 18 | ||
| 11 | Hull FC | 5 | 12 | 17 | ||||
| 12 | Salford | 7 | 8 | 15 | ||||
| 13 | Hull KR | 8 | 8 | |||||
| 13 | Rochdale | 8 | 8 | |||||
| 15 | Workington | 6 | 6 | |||||
| 16 | Carlisle | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 17 | Swinton | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Total | 143 | 84 | 84 | 60 | 56 | 427 |
For the 1990-91 season, simply click here.
To see the 1992-93 season, just click here.
Thursday, 19 April 2018
UK Elite Teams By Season : 1992-93
The new teams in the elite league for this season were Sheffield and Leigh. At the end of the season, no teams were relegated as the competition was to expand to 16 sides. There were six trophies, with up to five available to any one side. Quite a packed scene back then!
The League. Two sides were head and shoulders above the rest, the Lancashire duo of Wigan and St Helens The former took the title on points differential after they both secured 41 points each. Bradford, Widnes and Leeds took the next three places and they too shared points (30). Hull KR came up the rear with just seven wins.
The Challenge Cup. The quarter finals went as follows: Halifax 18-19 Wigan, Hull KR 4-4 Widnes and then Widnes 16-11 Hull KR, Oldhan 4-42 Bradford, Leeds 12-8 Castleford. The semis had Widnes triumphing over leeds 39-4 and Wigan too good for Bradford with a 15-6 scoreline.
78,000 came to Wembley Stadium to witness Wigan take the trophy 20-14, overcoming Widnes in the process (see highlights below).
The League Cup. The last four games in the tournament were: St Helens 8-12 Castleford, Hull FC 24-14 Leigh, Workington 12-24 Wigan, Bradford 21-10 Widnes. Then Wigan acocunted for Hull FC with a 19-4 victory and Bradford were too good for Cas', winning 19-12.
The final was held at Elland Rd, Leeds and a modest 13,000 attended. Wigan took the contest 15-8 at the expense of Bradford.
Lancashire Cup: Starting at the semi final stage, Wigan defeated Oldham 48-8 and Saints won 18-5 against Salford. The two rivals met in another final, this time Wigan scraped home 5-4 victors in front of 21,000 fans at Knowsley Rd, St Helens.
Yorkshire Cup: At the semi final stage, Sheffield took the game 12-8 over Hull FC and Featherstone couldn't repel Wakefield, losing 8-22. 8,000 came to Elland Rd, Leeds to see Wakefield triumph 29-16 against Sheffield.
The Premiership Finals. The top eight from the league came together to contest the Premiership. In the first round results were Saints 34-25 Halifax, Bradford 6-19 Castleford, Widnes 10-22 Leeds, Wigan 40-5 Warrington.
Wigan then prevailed over Cas' 25-8 and St Helens likewise with Leeds 15-2. This brought the two rivals together in the grand final. 37,000 were at Old Trafford to see Saints take the title 10-4 over Wigan.
Now for the Lancashire / Yorkshire Cups. This was the last season for these two trophies covered below, based on which county the team was located.
Summary: Wigan won the league, Challenge Cup, League Cup (aka the Regal Trophy) and Lancashire Cup for good measure. It was the losing finalist the grand final. Still by my reckoning, that put them miles ahead of anyone else with 84 points.
St Helens tried to keep up and did take the Grand Final and become the season's premiers. That gave them 50 points, with Bradford (46) and Widnes (40) close behind. Castleford were 5th after taking the Yorkshire Cup but wasn't great for teams east of the Pennines.
For the 1991-92 season: simply click here.
To see the 1993-94 season, just click here.
The League. Two sides were head and shoulders above the rest, the Lancashire duo of Wigan and St Helens The former took the title on points differential after they both secured 41 points each. Bradford, Widnes and Leeds took the next three places and they too shared points (30). Hull KR came up the rear with just seven wins.
The Challenge Cup. The quarter finals went as follows: Halifax 18-19 Wigan, Hull KR 4-4 Widnes and then Widnes 16-11 Hull KR, Oldhan 4-42 Bradford, Leeds 12-8 Castleford. The semis had Widnes triumphing over leeds 39-4 and Wigan too good for Bradford with a 15-6 scoreline.
78,000 came to Wembley Stadium to witness Wigan take the trophy 20-14, overcoming Widnes in the process (see highlights below).
The League Cup. The last four games in the tournament were: St Helens 8-12 Castleford, Hull FC 24-14 Leigh, Workington 12-24 Wigan, Bradford 21-10 Widnes. Then Wigan acocunted for Hull FC with a 19-4 victory and Bradford were too good for Cas', winning 19-12.
The final was held at Elland Rd, Leeds and a modest 13,000 attended. Wigan took the contest 15-8 at the expense of Bradford.
Lancashire Cup: Starting at the semi final stage, Wigan defeated Oldham 48-8 and Saints won 18-5 against Salford. The two rivals met in another final, this time Wigan scraped home 5-4 victors in front of 21,000 fans at Knowsley Rd, St Helens.
Yorkshire Cup: At the semi final stage, Sheffield took the game 12-8 over Hull FC and Featherstone couldn't repel Wakefield, losing 8-22. 8,000 came to Elland Rd, Leeds to see Wakefield triumph 29-16 against Sheffield.
The Premiership Finals. The top eight from the league came together to contest the Premiership. In the first round results were Saints 34-25 Halifax, Bradford 6-19 Castleford, Widnes 10-22 Leeds, Wigan 40-5 Warrington.
Wigan then prevailed over Cas' 25-8 and St Helens likewise with Leeds 15-2. This brought the two rivals together in the grand final. 37,000 were at Old Trafford to see Saints take the title 10-4 over Wigan.
Now for the Lancashire / Yorkshire Cups. This was the last season for these two trophies covered below, based on which county the team was located.
Summary: Wigan won the league, Challenge Cup, League Cup (aka the Regal Trophy) and Lancashire Cup for good measure. It was the losing finalist the grand final. Still by my reckoning, that put them miles ahead of anyone else with 84 points.
St Helens tried to keep up and did take the Grand Final and become the season's premiers. That gave them 50 points, with Bradford (46) and Widnes (40) close behind. Castleford were 5th after taking the Yorkshire Cup but wasn't great for teams east of the Pennines.
| Rk | Team | Lge | Fnl | CC | LC | Y/L | Total | |
| 1 | Wigan | 20 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 84 | |
| 2 | St Helens | 18 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 50 | ||
| 3 | Bradford | 16 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 46 | ||
| 4 | Widnes | 14 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 40 | ||
| 5 | Castleford | 11 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 37 | ||
| 6 | Leeds | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 | |||
| 7 | Halifax | 10 | 6 | 6 | 22 | |||
| 8 | Hull FC | 8 | 8 | 4 | 20 | |||
| 9 | Wakefield | 5 | 12 | 17 | ||||
| 10 | Warrington | 9 | 6 | 15 | ||||
| 10 | Sheffield | 7 | 8 | 15 | ||||
| 12 | Oldham | 6 | 4 | 10 | ||||
| 12 | Leigh | 6 | 4 | 10 | ||||
| 14 | Hull KR | 3 | 6 | 9 | ||||
| 15 | Salford | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||||
| 16 | Featherstone | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 16 | Workington | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Total | 143 | 84 | 84 | 60 | 56 | 427 |
For the 1991-92 season: simply click here.
To see the 1993-94 season, just click here.
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