UK Elite Teams By Season : 1984-85

For this 89th season Barrow, Workington, Hunslet and Halifax came up to the first division, at the expense of Fulham, Wakefield, Salford and Whitehaven. 16 teams took part in the elite division.

The League. Hull KR finished top with 48 points, ahead of St Helens on 45. Wigan (43), Leeds (41), Oldham (37), Hull FC (35), Widnes (34), Bradford (33) were the top eight. Barrow, Leigh, Hunslet and Workington went down. Three of the four promoted went straight back down.

The Challenge Cup. Starting at the quarter final stage, Hull FC 6-6 and 19-12 Widnes, Bradford 6-7 Wigan, Castleford 58-18 Bramley, Hunslet 7-27 Hull KR. To the last four, where Wigan overcame Hull KR 18-11. It was closer in the Castleford v Hull FC match up where the first game was 10-10 but Cas' made the final with a 22-16 win in the replay game.

The Wembley, London final had 100,000 in attendance, where Wigan met Hull FC. They played the week before, where Wigan easily won in a Premiership quarter finals match. However, this epic match was never going to be a repeat of that score. In the end Wigan took the trophy with a 28-24 victory over Hull FC. What a game! Shame there had to be a loser. See it below.

The League Cup. At the quarter finals stage, the scores were St Helens 8-14 Halifax, Dewsbury 8-22 Hull FC, Hull KR 14-6 Widnes, Leeds 28-14 Bramley. The semis then pitted Hull KR against Halifax, the former triumphing 14-8 and Hull FC were too good for Leeds, winning 18-6.

The second final of the year where the two Hull sides clashed. Nearly 70,000 were at Boothferry park in Hull to see the final. Hull KR took the encounter 12-0, reversing the Yorkshire Cup result.

Lancashire Cup: The first semi final involved St Helens and leigh, the former winning 31-10. Meanwhile Salford was unable to contain Wigan, going down 8-19. The final was a t Cental Park, Wigan, where home town advantage didn't prove decisive as Saints took the title 26-18.

Yorkshire Cup: In the semi final, Hull FC beat by the unusual scoreline Leeds 24-1 and Featherstone lost by a similar margon the Hull FC, this time it was 2-22. The all Hull Final had over 25,000 in attendance at Boothferry park in Hull. There Hull FC came out victors 29-12.

The Premiership Finals. The top eight went for the title and the first round results were: St Helens 26-2 Widnes, Hull KR 42-18 Bradford, Leeds 36-18 Oldham, Wigan 46-12 Hull FC. Semi final clahes saw Hull KR pip Leeds 15-14 and Saints defeat Wigan 37-14. The grand final had 15,500 at Elland Rd where Saints took the match 36-16 at the expense of Hull KR.

Summary: I've allocated points to see how the clubs did. Hull KR were top on 72 points. They won the league and league Cup, plus making the finals of the Premiership and Yorkshire Cup. Hull FC made it a 1,2 for that city, scoring 57 points. They won the Yorkshire Cup and made both the Challenge Cup and League Cup finals. Their cup(s) runneth over.

Wigan was just behind on 56 points, courtesy of that Challenge Cup win, and lancashire Cup final appearance. St Helens won the Premiership final and Lancashire Cup for a 54 point haul.

For the 1983-84 season, simply click here.
To see the 1985-86 season, just click here.

Northern Hemisphere Internationals Idea

It seems to me that Australia has decided no one is going to decide for them regarding the international programme. They will organise their internationals around the Pacific region based on their own preferences. This means the Northern Hemisphere will have to look at what it is doing.

England has been playing a four nations tournament with Australia, New Zealand and one other nation, which  is something I feel has run its course. Surely England needs to throw its lot in with the nations around it. So why not instead have a Northern Hemisphere international programme? This it how I see it could be run:

It is played at the end of the season. Have a Group A plus a Group B, both comprising of six nations each. They play each team in their group once as double header matches at one venue. A finals weekend would follow where the top two from Group A play a grand final. The last team from Group A plays the winner of Group B to see if a those positions change for the next year. The bottom team of Group B later plays the winner of a challengers group we could call Group C, which is not part of this tournament.

I've done a chart to show how the tournament could be arranged. It's quite a large tournament but the benefit and profile for the international game would be huge. The domestic pro season in the UK may need shortening slightly but well worth the effort.

Group A					Group B
England France Ireland					Canada Jamaica Lebanon
Italy Scotland Wales					Russia Serbia USA
Rounds
Fri	1st	2nd	Sat	1st	2nd	Sun	1st	2nd	Wk1
	Canada	England		Russia	Scotland		Jamaica	Ireland
	Serbia	France		USA	Wales		Lebanon	Italy
Fri	1st	2nd	Sat	1st	2nd	Sun	1st	2nd	Wk2
	Canada	England		Jamaica	Ireland		Lebanon	France
	USA	Scotland		Russia	Wales		Serbia	Italy
Fri	1st	2nd	Sat	1st	2nd	Sun	1st	2nd	Wk3
	Canada	England		Jamaica	France		Lebanon	Italy
	Russia	Wales		Serbia	Ireland		USA	Scotland
Fri	1st	2nd	Sat	1st	2nd	Sun	1st	2nd	Wk4
	Canada	England		Lebanon	Ireland		Serbia	France
	Jamaica	Italy		Russia	Scotland		USA	Wales
Fri	1st	2nd	Sat	1st	2nd	Sun	1st	2nd	Wk5
	Canada	England		Serbia	France		Jamaica	Italy
	Lebanon	Ireland		Russia	Scotland		USA	Wales
Finals
			Sat	Play Off 6th v 1st		Sat	Gp A 1st v 2nd		Wk6
				Wales			England
				Lebanon			France

Who Runs RL?

RL needs to promote international matches and to spread the word. The problem was pro sports teams weren't releasing players. For that reason all major nations agreed that if the RLIF (International Federation) sanctioned a test, players must be released, provided it was within approved windows.

In just such a window, the RLIF approved one match per year for three years to be played in Denver, Colorado between England and New Zealand. Immediately howls of protests from pro clubs in Australia (NRL) that players may get injured or tired. Assurances were given that all insurances and the like would be arranged and medical staff approved the arrangement regarding player welfare.

The protests were lame because the NRL releases all players required to play three games in the middle of each season for a very intense competition between two states (State of Origin). Players get injured and are drained physically in that series but no one complains because it is for the good of the game in Australia. Players not involved in that series attending one test match during that time should be viewed in the same light.

The NRL and the Australian RL relented for this one game. Then suddenly this: Clubs will not be compelled to release players for the Denver Test match between New Zealand and England after a joint letter signed by the NRL, the Rugby League Players Association and the NRL clubs said they would not support the match. 

Although the group conceded the match would go as planned this year, it warned NRL players would not be released for the fixture if it goes ahead as scheduled in 2019 and 2020. The NRL has ruled out sanctioning clubs who do not let their players play.  “We have no doubt that you will do everything in your control to provide for the safety and welfare of the players while under your care, but the simple reality remains that the extent of travel and (lack of) recovery time cannot be considered ‘best practice’,” the letter read...."we will not compel clubs to release players for the match."

Three intense SOO series in the middle of a season isn't best practice either, as players who come back from that series are drained and unable to give of their best for some weeks later. So what's the real issue here? SOO is good for the game in Australia so any strain or injuries to players is OK. A test match not involving Australia doesn't give anything to Australia so everything changes. The hypocrisy stinks.

They agreed to support the test for 2018 and comply with the rule of players who are eligible must play, although they clearly didn’t want to. They have very quickly backtracked on that. Their word cannot be trusted. Australia is also going against the rules they agreed to, that is international RL as approved by the RLIF must be supported. By saying that for 2019 they will refuse to release players even if the test match is officially approved goes against that and therefore is open defiance. A line has been drawn in the sand. It's about who runs the international game.

We all know that Australia has been pulling the strings for decades, then they agreed that the RLIF should have more power. When the RLIF use that power and Australia doesn’t agree with it, then they renege on their agreement. If the RLIF insist they have the mandate to OK the 2019 test, Australia says it will defy that. If the RLIF back down, then it goes back to Australia being the puppeteer of international of RL.

UK Elite Teams By Season : 1985-86

For this year Swinton, Salford, York and Dewsbury came up, replacing Barrow, Leigh, Hunslet and Workington. The 16 teams then went into action.

The League. In a tight ending, Halifax were top with 44 points from Wigan (43), St Helens (42), Warrington and Widnes (41 each). York, Swinton and Dewsbury were relegated.

The Challenge Cup. In the quarter finals the results were: Hull KR 25-10 Leigh, Oldham 6-1 Bradford, Widnes 10-10 and 0-5 Leeds, Wigan 2-10 Castleford. The semi finals had Castleford defeating Oldham 18-7 while the other game was Leeds 24-24 and 0-17 Hull KR.

The final at Wembley Stadium, London attracted 82,000 fans. In the match itself, Cas' narrowly took the cup 15-14 over Hull KR.

The League Cup. At the quarter final point, the results were Warrington 22-26 Wigan, Hull KR 24-16 York, Widnes 31-35 Leigh, St Helens 57-14 Hull FC. The semi finals were Wigan 36-8 Leigh and Hull KR 22-4 St Helens. 17,600 came along to Elland Rd, Leeds for the final, the score being Wigan 11-8 Hull KR.

Lancashire Cup: The semi finals went this way: Warrington 11-4 Widnes and Wigan 30-2 St Helens. The final had 19,000 spectators at Knowsley Rd, St Helens were Wigan ran away with the match 34-8 against Warrington.

Yorkshire Cup: The semi finals had Hull KR defeating Bradford 11-5 and Leeds going down to Castleford 10-14. The final at Headingley, Leeds saw Hull KR take the trophy with a 22-18 victory over Cas' in front of nearly 13,000 attendees.

The Premiership Finals. The top eight from the league came together to sort out the premiership. The first round went as follows: Halifax 32-20, Saints 22-38 Leeds, Warrington 10-8 Widnes and Wigan 47-0 Hull KR. The semis: Halifax 16-13 Leeds and Wigan 12-23 Warrington.

The Elland Rd premiership final was at Elland Rd where Warrington were too strong for Halifax, winning 38-11.

Summary: By adding my points to the season, Wigan took the winners podium with a  second in the league, plus taking the League Cup and Lancashire Cup. This gave them 64 points, eight ahead of Hull KR won the Yorkshire Cup and were runners up in the Challenge Cup and league Cup.

Warrington won the Premiership Final to come third with 46 points, Leeds won nothing but secured 4th spot with 39 points. Amazinglu, Halifax won the league and made the Challenge Cup final but crashed everywhere else to finish 5th with 36 points.

	Rk	Team	Lge	Fnl	CC	LC	Y/L	Total
	1	Wigan	18	12	6	16	12	64
	2	Hull KR	10	6	16	12	12	56
	3	Warrington	14	20		4	8	46
	4	Leeds	11	12	12		4	39
	5	Halifax	20	16				36
	6	St Helens	16	6		8	4	34
	6	Castleford	6		20		8	34
	8	Widnes	12	6	6	4	4	32
	9	Oldham	8		12			20
	10	Hull FC	9	6		4		19
	11	Bradford	5		6		4	15
	12	Leigh			6	8		14
	13	Salford	7					7
	13	York	3			4		7
	15	Featherstone	4					4
	16	Swinton	2					2
	17	Dewsbury	1					1
		Total	146	84	84	60	56	430

For the 1984-85 season, simply click here.
To see the 1986-87 season, just click here.

UK Elite Teams By Season : 1986-87

This was the last season for 16 teams in the league apart from two seasons in the mid-90's. The 16 team elite division was started in the 62-63 season so 25 years of a consecutive 16 team league ended this year. Barrow, Leigh and Wakefield replaced Dewsbury, Swinton and York.

The League. Wigan were top on 56 points, followed by St Helens (41) Warrington (41), Castleford (40), Halifax (35), Hull KR (32), Bradford (31) and Widnes (28). These were the eight Premiership finalists. Oldham, Featherstone, Barrow and Wakefield were relegated.

The Challenge Cup. Picking up the action at the quarter final stage: Halifax 35-7 Hull KR, Hull FC 8-12 Leigh, Leeds 7-14 Widnes, St Helens 41-12 Whitehaven.

Semi final time saw Saints get past Leigh 14-8 and Halifax triumphed over Widnes 12-8. The final at Wembley has 91,000 in attendance. There Halfax won 19-18. Highlights (with Southern Hemiphere comentators) below.

The League Cup. The quarter finals went as follows: Bradford 8-20 Hull FC, Barrow 6-16 Widnes, St Helens 20-22 Warrington, Wigan 6-2 Leigh. In the semis Wigan just got past Hull FC 12-11 and Warrington comfortably won against Widnes 35-4. The final in Bolton had 22,000 spectators, where Wigan was too good, taking the spoils with an 18-4 victory over Warrington.

Lancashire Cup: Going straight to the semi finals, Oldham overcame Widnes 16-14 and Wigan did likewaise against Saints 22-16. 19,000 came along to Knowsley Rd, St Helens to see Wigan lift the trophy with their 27-6 defeat of Oldham.

Yorkshire Cup: Across the Pennines, Bradford lost out 12-16 to Hull FC as did Feathersone to Castleford 2-30. The final was attended by 11,000 at Headingly, Leeds. There Castleford won 31-24 at the expense of Hull FC.

The Premiership Finals. The eight participants were the best teams in England. The first round: Cas' 6-18 Halifax, Saints 46-14 Bradford, Warrington 24-12 Hull KR, Wigan 22-18 Widnes. Then Wigan were too good for Halifax, winning 18-10. Then Saints were upset by Warrington 10-18.

The final was held at Old Trafford in front of 39,000 fans. There Wigan added another trophy with an 8-0 victory.

Summary: I've put points to performances so here is the result. Wigan won the league, League Cup, Lancashire Cup and the Premiership final. The only failing was being dumped out of the Challenge Cup in the first round by Oldham. That otherwise all conquering season added up to 68 points. St Helens tried hard to keep up but won nothing while competing strongly in everything. 54 points was the final tally. The other trophies went to Halifax (Challenge Cup) and Castleford (Yorkshire Cup).

	Rk	Team	Lge	Fnl	CC	LC	Y/L	Total
	1	Wigan	20	20		16	12	68
	2	St Helens	18	12	16	4	4	54
	3	Warrington	16	16		12		44
	3	Halifax	12	12	20			44
	5	Widnes	9	6	12	8	4	39
	6	Castleford	14	6			12	32
	7	Hull FC	6		6	8	8	28
	8	Bradford	10	6		4	4	24
	9	Hull KR	11	6	6			23
	9	Leigh	7		12	4		23
	11	Oldham	4				8	12
	12	Leeds	5		6			11
	13	Salford	8					8
	14	Featherstone	3				4	7
	15	Whitehaven			6			6
	15	Barrow	2			4		6
	17	Wakefield	1					1
		Total	146	84	84	60	56	430

For viewing of the 1985-86 season, just click here.
To see the 1987-88 season, just click here.