1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season

1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season
LeagueNorthern Rugby Football League
Champions Hull Kingston Rovers
Premiership Leeds
Man of Steel Award Doug Laughton
Top point-scorer(s) Sammy Lloyd (373)
Top try-scorer(s) Steve Hartley (35)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division
Relegated to Second Division

The 1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 84th season of rugby league football. Sixteen English clubs competed for the Northern Rugby Football League's first division championship, with Hull Kingston Rovers claiming the title by finishing on top of the League.

Season summary

The 1978 Kangaroo tour took place during the first half of the season and involved matches between a number of clubs.

Hull Kingston Rovers won their third Championship this season.

The Challenge Cup Winners were Widnes who beat Wakefield Trinity 12-3 in the final.

Rugby League Premiership Trophy Winners were Leeds who beat Bradford Northern 24-2 in the final.

The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Winners were Widnes who beat St. Helens 13-7 in the final.

2nd Division Champions were Hull F.C., with a very unusual perfect season. New Hunslet, York and Blackpool Borough were also promoted to the First Division.[1]

Geoff 'Sammy' Lloyd of Hull F.C. equalled the club match record for scoring goals when he was successful 14 times in the match against Oldham on 10 September 1978. They were part of a club record 170 goals in a season, and a club record 369 points in a season.[2]

Widnes beat Workington Town (from Cumbria) 15–13 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Bradford Northern beat York 18–8 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

League Tables

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1978–79 Challenge Cup

Widnes beat Wakefield Trinity 12-3 in the State Express Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 5 May 1979, in front of a crowd of 94,218.[3]

This was Widnes' fifth cup final win in seven Final appearances. To date, this was Wakefield Trinity’s last appearance in a Challenge Cup Final.

The Wakefield Trinity stand-off, David Topliss, won the Lance Todd Trophy.

League Cup

Main article: 1978–79 League Cup (rugby league)

Premiership

Main article: 1978–79 Rugby League Premiership

Statistics

The following are the top points scorers in the 1978–79 season.[4]

Kangaroo Tour

Main article: 1978 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

The months of September, October and November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1978 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 12 club and county representative sides as well as playing Wales in a non-test international.

The 1978 Kangaroos were coached by dual Manly-Warringah NSWRFL premiership coach Frank Stanton who had previously toured as a player in 1963–64. The team was captained by brilliant centre / stand-off Bob Fulton making his second tour after being a part of the 1973 squad.

The 11–10 loss to Widnes at Naughton Park on 25 October remains (as of 2017) the last time that the Kangaroos have lost to an English club or county team.

game Date Result Venue Attendance
1 30 September Australia def. Blackpool Borough 39–1 Borough Park, Blackpool 2,700
2 1 October Australia def. Cumbria Cumbria 47–7 Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness 5,964
3 4 October Australia def. Great Britain U/24 30–8 Craven Park, Hull 6,418
4 8 October Australia def. Bradford Northern 21–11 Odsal Stadium, Bradford 15,755
5 11 October Australia def. Warrington 15–12 Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington 10,143
6 15 October  Australia def.  Wales 8–3 St Helens Rugby Ground, Swansea 4,250
7 17 October Australia def. Leeds 25–19 Headingley, Leeds 9,781
8 21 October  Australia def.  Great Britain 15–9 Central Park, Wigan 17,644
9 25 October Widnes def. Australia 11–10 Naughton Park, Widnes 12,202
10 29 October Australia def. Hull F.C. 34–2 The Boulevard, Hull 10,723
11 1 November Australia def. Salford 14–2 The Willows, Salford 6,155
12 5 November  Great Britain def.  Australia 18–14 Odsal Stadium, Bradford 26,761
13 8 November Australia def. Wigan 28–2 Central Park, Wigan 10,645
14 12 November Australia def. St Helens 26–4 Knowsley Road, St Helens 16,352
15 14 November Australia def. York 29–2 Clarence Street, York 5,155
16 18 November  Australia def.  Great Britain 23–6 Headingley, Leeds 30,604

References

  1. ^ "1978-79 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  2. ^ "Hull F.C. History". Retrieved 2009-10-23.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  4. ^ Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David (27 March 1997). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. London: Headline. pp. 163–7. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.

Sources