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1983–84 Rugby Football League season

{{Short description|none}}

{{Infobox rugby football league season

| title = 1983–84 Rugby Football League season

| league = Slalom Lager Championship

| logo =

| pixels =

| caption =

| duration =

| no_of_teams = 16

| attendance =

| TV =

| season =

| season_champs = {{leagueicon|Hull KR|16}} Hull Kingston Rovers

| season_champ_name = Champions

| league_leaders =

| league_leaders_name=

| second_place =

| premiership_win = {{leagueicon|Hull KR|16}} Hull Kingston Rovers

| premiership_win_name= Premiership winners

| MVP = {{leagueicon|Widnes|16}} Joe Lydon

| MVP_link = Man of Steel Award

| top_scorer = {{leagueicon|Leigh|16}} John Woods 355

| top_scorer_link =

| top try scorer = {{leagueicon|Hull|16}} Garry Schofield 38

| top try scorer_link =

| membership_type =

| join =

| join_method =

| leave =

| leave_reason =

| promote = {{ubl|{{leagueicon|Barrow|16}} Barrow|{{leagueicon|Workington|16}} Workington Town|{{leagueicon|Hunslet|16}} Hunslet|{{leagueicon|Halifax|16}} Halifax}}

| promote_from = Second Division

| relegate = {{ubl|Fulham|{{leagueicon|Wakefield|16}} Wakefield Trinity|{{leagueicon|Salford City Reds|16}} Salford|{{leagueicon|Whitehaven|16}} Whitehaven}}

| relegate_to = Second Division

| licence_period =

| awarded =

| removed =

| season2 = Second Division

| season_champs2 = {{leagueicon|Barrow|16}} Barrow

| season_champ_name2 = Champions

| league_leaders2 =

| league_leaders_name2=

| second_place2 =

| MVP2 =

| MVP_link2 =

| top_scorer2 =

| top_scorer_link2 =

| top try scorer2 = {{leagueicon|Hunslet|16}} Graham King 28

| top try scorer_link2=

| promote2 =

| promote_from2 =

| relegate2 =

| relegate_to2 =

| season3 =

| season_champs3 =

| season_champ_name3 =

| league_leaders3 =

| league_leaders_name3=

| second_place3 =

| MVP3 =

| MVP_link3 =

| top_scorer3 =

| top_scorer_link3 =

| top try scorer3 =

| top try scorer_link3=

| membership_type3 =

| join3 =

| join_method3 =

| leave3 =

| leave_reason3 =

| prevseason_link = 1982–83 Rugby Football League season

| prevseason_year = 1982–83

| nextseason_link = 1984–85 Rugby Football League season

| nextseason_year = 1984–85

}}

The 1983–84 Rugby Football League season was the 89th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1983 until May, 1984 for the Slalom Lager Championship.

The Second Division was increased to 18 clubs with the introduction of Kent Invicta, who played their home fixtures at Maidstone, this season.

Rule changes

End of possession:

  • A "handover" was introduced after the sixth tackle, replacing the scrum that had previously been formed at that point.{{Citation | editor-last =de la Riviere | editor-first =Richard | publication-date =August 2009 | year =2009 | title =Top ten: Rugby league rules | periodical =Rugby League World | place =Brighouse, UK | publisher =League Publications | issue =340 | pages =61 | issn =1466-0105 }} The team receiving possession would now play-the-ball to carry on play.
  • Scrum rules were changed which meant the non offending side had head and ball advantage, effectively making the scrum a non contest.

Value of a try:

  • The number of points a team scored from a try increased from three to four. The aim of this change was to "incentivise scoring tries" over kicking penalty goals, which were worth two points, because the tries were more entertaining.

Temporary suspension:

  • The 10-minute "sin bin" was introduced.

Season summary

In September 1983, the ban on international transfers between England and Australia was lifted.{{cite news |title=International ban lifted |work=The Guardian |date=30 September 1983 |location=London |page=24 |id={{ProQuest|186513563}}}} This resulted in a big influx of Australian players being signed by clubs on short-term contracts, most notably Test stand-off and future Australia captain Wally Lewis, who signed for Wakefield Trinity.

Slalom Lager League Champions: Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers finished on top of the First Division table to claim their fifth championship, and also the Rugby League Premiership competition, this was the first occasion the 'Championship / Premiership Double' had been achieved.

State Express Challenge Cup Winners: Widnes (19-6 v Wigan)

John Player Special Trophy Winners: Leeds (18-10 v Widnes). During the competition, Danny Wilson of Swinton scored a record 5 drop goals in the tie against Hunslet on 6 Nov 1983.{{cite web |url=http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/page.php?id=394&areaid=46 |title=RFL All Time Records |access-date=2009-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226210935/http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/page.php?id=394&areaid=46 |archive-date=2009-02-26 |url-status=dead }}

Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners: Hull Kingston Rovers (18-10 v Castleford)

Barrow (from Cumbria) beat Widnes 12–8 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Castleford 13–2 to win the Yorkshire County Cup

=1983/84 Queensland Tour=

At the end of the 1983 seasons in Qld and NSW, the Queensland team also toured Papua New Guinea and England. Their tour of Great Britain saw them play three matches. The first against Hull Kingston Rovers resulted in an 8–6 loss, though the Wally Lewis-led Maroons then easily won their remaining matches against Wigan (40–2) and Leeds (58–2)

League Tables

{{col-begin}}

{{col-break}}

=Championship=

Final Standings

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
width=20 abbr="Position" |

!width=175 |Team

!width=20 abbr="Played" |Pld

!width=20 abbr="Won" |W

!width=20 abbr="Drawn" |D

!width=20 abbr="Lost" |L

!width=20 abbr="Points for" |PF

!width=20 abbr="Points against" |PA

!width=20 abbr="Points difference" |PD

!width=20 abbr="Points" |Pts

align=center style="background:#FFD700;"

|1

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|hull kr|16}} Hull Kingston Rovers

|30

2226795421+37446
align=center style="background:#e1e1ff;"

|2

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|hull fc|16}} Hull

|30

2217831401+43045
align=center style="background:#e1e1ff;"

|3

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|warrington|16}} Warrington

|30

1929622528+9440
align=center style="background:#e1e1ff;"

|4

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|castleford|16}} Castleford

|30

1839686438+24839
align=center style="background:#e1e1ff;"

|5

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|widnes|16}} Widnes

|30

19110656457+19939
align=center style="background:#e1e1ff;"

|6

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|st helens|16}} St. Helens

|30

18111649507+14237
align=center style="background:#e1e1ff;"

|7

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|bradford|16}} Bradford Northern

|30

17211519379+14036
align=center style="background:#e1e1ff;"

|8

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|leeds|16}} Leeds

|30

15312553514+3933
align=center style="background:"

|9

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|wigan|16}} Wigan

|30

16014533465+6832
align=center style="background:"

|10

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|oldham|16}} Oldham

|30

15213544480+6432
align=center style="background:"

|11

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|leigh|16}} Leigh

|30

14016623599+2428
align=center style="background:"

|12

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|featherstone|16}} Featherstone Rovers

|30

11217464562|
9824
align=center style="background:#FFCCCC"

|13

style="text-align:center;"|Fulham

|30

9120401694|
29319
align=center style="background:#FFCCCC"

|14

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|wakefield|16}} Wakefield Trinity

|30

7023415780|
36514
align=center style="background:#FFCCCC"

|15

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|salford city|16}} Salford

|30

5025352787|
43510
align=center style="background:#FFCCCC"

|16

style="text-align:center;"|{{league icon|whitehaven|16}} Whitehaven

|30

3027325956|
6316
---

{{col-break}}

=Second Division=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!

!Club

!P

!W

!D

!L

!PF

!PA

!Pts

---
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:"

|1

|Barrow

|34

|32

|0

|2

|1126

|332

|64

align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:"

|2

|Workington Town

|34

|24

|2

|8

|714

|504

|50

align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:"

|3

|Hunslet

|34

|24

|0

|10

|900

|597

|48

align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:"

|4

|Halifax

|34

|23

|2

|9

|722

|539

|48

align=center style="background:"

|5

|Blackpool Borough

|34

|20

|3

|11

|615

|466

|43

align=center style="background:"

|6

|Swinton

|34

|21

|0

|13

|764

|437

|42

align=center style="background:"

|7

|York

|34

|19

|2

|13

|743

|570

|40

align=center style="background:"

|8

|Bramley

|34

|16

|2

|16

|584

|545

|34

align=center style="background:"

|9

|Kent Invicta

|34

|17

|0

|17

|595

|700

|34

align=center style="background:"

|10

|Huddersfield

|34

|15

|3

|16

|600

|545

|33

align=center style="background:"

|11

|Cardiff City Blue Dragons

|34

|15

|1

|18

|710

|717

|31

align=center style="background:"

|12

|Rochdale Hornets

|34

|13

|3

|18

|551

|667

|29

align=center style="background:"

|13

|Batley

|34

|13

|0

|21

|477

|738

|26

align=center style="background:"

|14

|Dewsbury

|34

|12

|0

|22

|526

|698

|24

align=center style="background:"

|15

|Carlisle

|34

|12

|0

|22

|539

|780

|24

align=center style="background:"

|16

|Huyton

|34

|9

|2

|23

|431

|760

|20

align=center style="background:"

|17

|Keighley

|34

|7

|3

|24

|425

|728

|17

align=center style="background:"

|18

|Doncaster

|34

|2

|1

|31

|384

|1083

|5

---

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%"

|bgcolor="#FFD700" width="20" |  

|Champions

|bgcolor="#e1e1ff" width="20" |  

|Play-offs

|bgcolor="#ccffcc" width="20" |  

|Promoted

|bgcolor="#FFCCCC" width="20" |  

|Relegated

{{col-end}}

Challenge Cup

{{main|1983–84 Challenge Cup}}

The 1983-84 State Express Challenge Cup was won by Widnes after defeating Wigan 19-6 in the final.

The Final was played at Wembley before a crowd of 80,116.

John Player Special Trophy

{{main|1983–84 John Player Special Trophy}}

County cups

{{main|1983–84 Lancashire Cup}}

{{main|1983–84 Yorkshire Cup}}

Premiership

{{main|1983–84 Rugby League Premiership}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Sources

  • [http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=403 1983-84 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826205317/http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=403 |date=2009-08-26 }}

{{Rugby Football League seasons}}

{{Hull Kingston Rovers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League Season, 1983-84}}

Category:1983 in English rugby league

Category:1984 in English rugby league

Category:Rugby Football League seasons

Category:1983 in Welsh rugby league

Category:1984 in Welsh rugby league