1956–57 Northern Rugby Football League season

1956–57 Rugby Football League season
LeagueNorthern Rugby Football League
Champions Oldham
League Leaders Oldham
Top point-scorer(s) Lewis Jones 496
Top try-scorer(s) Billy Boston 60

The 1956–57 Rugby Football League season was the 62nd season of rugby league football.

Season summary

Oldham finished the regular season as the league leaders and then won their fourth Rugby Football League Championship when they beat Hull F.C. 15-14 in the play-off final.

The Challenge Cup winners were Leeds who beat Barrow 9-7 in the final.[1]

Oldham won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Oldham beat St. Helens 10–3 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Hunslet 23–5 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

Team Pld W D L Pts
1 Oldham 38 33 0 5 66
2 Hull 38 29 2 7 60
3 Barrow 38 29 0 9 58
4 Leeds 38 28 0 10 56
5 St. Helens 38 25 3 10 53
6 Wigan 38 26 0 12 52
7 Hunslet 38 26 0 12 52
8 Wakefield Trinity 38 23 1 14 47
9 Huddersfield 38 23 0 15 46
10 Warrington 38 21 1 16 43
11 York 38 21 0 17 42
12 Halifax 38 21 0 17 42
13 Salford 38 19 2 17 40
14 Workington Town 38 20 0 18 40
15 Featherstone Rovers 38 19 0 19 38
16 Rochdale Hornets 38 19 0 19 38
17 Leigh 38 18 1 19 37
18 Whitehaven 38 18 1 19 37
19 Swinton 38 18 0 20 36
20 Keighley 38 17 1 20 35
21 Bradford Northern 38 17 0 21 34
22 Bramley 38 14 2 22 30
23 Widnes 38 15 0 23 30
24 Blackpool Borough 38 14 0 24 28
25 Castleford 38 11 2 25 24
26 Hull Kingston Rovers 38 11 2 25 24
27 Liverpool City 38 9 1 28 19
28 Batley 38 8 0 30 16
29 Dewsbury 38 5 1 32 11
30 Doncaster 38 3 0 35 6
  Play-offs

Play-offs

Semi-finals Championship final
      
1 Oldham 22
4 Leeds 12
Oldham 15
Hull 14
2 Barrow 14
3 Hull 45

Challenge Cup

Leeds beat Barrow 9-7 in the Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 76,318.

This was Leeds’ eighth Challenge Cup Final win in ten Final appearances.[2][3] Jeff Stevenson, their scrum half back, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.

Kangaroo Tour

October until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1956–57 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played 16 matches against club and county representative sides.[4]

The Kangaroos were captain-coached by St George Dragons hooker Ken Kearney.

game Date Result Venue Attendance
1 10 October Australia def. Liverpool City 40–12 Knotty Ash Stadium, Liverpool 4,712
2 13 October Leeds def. Australia 18–13 Headingley, Leeds 24,459
3 15 October Australia def. Hull F.C. / Hull KR XIII 37–14 The Boulevard, Hull 17,172
4 18 October Australia def. Barrow 25–11 Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness 9,988
5 20 October Whitehaven def. Australia 14–11 Recreation Ground, Whitehaven 10,840
6 24 October Australia def. Bradford Northern 23–11 Odsal Stadium, Bradford 2,743
7 27 October Warrington def. Australia 21–17 Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington 15,613
8 29 October Australia def. English League XIII 19–15 Hilton Park, Leigh 7,811
9 3 November Australia def. York 20–18 Clarence Street, York 6,842
10 7 November Oldham def. Australia 15–2 The Watersheddings, Oldham 8,458
11 10 November Australia def. Huddersfield 20–10 Fartown Ground, Huddersfield 12,127
12 17 November  Great Britain def.  Australia 21–10 Central Park, Wigan 22,473
13 21 November Australia def. Hunslet 27–11 Parkside, Hunslet 4,451
14 24 November St Helens def. Australia 44–2 Knowsley Road, St Helens 15,579
15 1 December  Australia def.  Great Britain 22–9 Odsal Stadium, Bradford 23,634
16 5 December Halifax def. Australia 6–3 Thrum Hall, Halifax 2,254
17 8 December Australia def. Wigan 32–4 Central Park, Wigan 15,854
18 10 December Wakefield Trinity def. Australia 17–12 Belle Vue, Wakefield 3,381
19 15 December  Great Britain def.  Australia 19–0 Station Road, Swinton 17,542

References

  1. ^ "1956-57 season summary". Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  2. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  3. ^ "Leeds Cup Winning Line-up". Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  4. ^ 1956–57 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project

Sources