Super League VIII

Super League VIII
LeagueSuper League
Duration28 Rounds
Teams12
Highest attendance21,784
Bradford Bulls vs Leeds Rhinos (23 May)
Lowest attendance1,276
Halifax vs London Broncos (22 Aug)
Attendance1,336,374 Increase
(average 7,955)
Broadcast partnersUnited Kingdom Sky Sports
2003 Season
ChampionsBullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
3rd Super League title
5th English title
League LeadersBullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
Man of SteelBullscolours.svg Jamie Peacock
Top point-scorer(s)Bullscolours.svg Paul Deacon (286)
Top try-scorer(s)Quinscolours.svg Dennis Moran (24)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from National League 1Redscolours.svg Salford City Reds
Relegated to National League 1Faxcolours.svg Halifax
Seasons

Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League.

The season culminated in a replay of the 2001 Grand Final between Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors, and again Bradford won, claiming the 2003 premiership, their second in three years.

Rule changes

  • The knock-on rule was modified so that if in the referee's judgement a player did not play at the ball, a knock-on would not be given.[1]
  • Super League coaches voted 12-0 for new interchange and substitution rules for the 2003 season.[2] The number of interchanges, which now included blood bins, increased from 6 to 12 using a pool of 4 substitutes.[1][2] This change aimed to retain the element of wearing down a team's opponents during the game - which was considered part of the character of the sport.[2] Stuart Cummings, the Rugby Football League's technical controller said the changes "bring us into line with the international rules" and ruled out future increases as well as declaring, "We will never see the unlimited interchange introduced into rugby league in Britain," a change that had caused controversy in Australia during its experiment there.[2]

Table

Super League VIII
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qual.
1 Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 28 22 0 6 878 529 +349 44 Play-off Semi Final
2 Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos 28 19 3 6 751 555 +196 41
3 Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors 28 19 2 7 776 512 +264 40 Play-off Elimination Final
4 Saintscolours.svg St. Helens 28 16 1 11 845 535 +310 31[a]
5 London Broncos 28 14 2 12 643 696 −53 30
6 Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves 28 14 1 13 748 619 +129 29
7 Hullcolours.svg Hull F.C. 28 13 3 12 701 577 +124 27[b]
8 Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers 28 12 1 15 612 633 −21 25
9 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 28 12 1 15 640 727 −87 25
10 Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants 28 11 1 16 628 715 −87 23
11 Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 28 7 1 20 505 774 −269 15
12 Faxcolours.svg Halifax 28 1 0 27 372 1227 −875 0[c] Relegated to National League 1

Source: Rugby League Project.
Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

Notes

^ a: St Helens deducted two points for salary cap breaches
^ b: Hull F.C. deducted two points for salary cap breaches
^ c: Halifax deducted two points for salary cap breaches

Play-offs

  Elimination play-offs   Qualifying / Elimination semi-finals   Elimination final   Grand Final
                                 
   
1  Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 30  
2  Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos 14        
       Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls 25
           Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors 12
  3  Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors 25        Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos 22  
  6  Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves 12        Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors 23
     Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors 40  
     Saintscolours.svg St. Helens 24
  4  Saintscolours.svg St. Helens 24  
  5  Broncoscolours.png London Broncos 6
   
Key:         Losing team progressing     Winning team progressing


Source: Rugby League Project[3]

Grand Final

Media

Television

This season was the final year of Sky Sports' contract with the Rugby Football League allowing them to broadcast matches exclusively live, the deal ended in November 2003.[4]

Records

On 2 March, Matt Crowther of Hull F.C. equalled the club record for goals in a match when he was successful 14 times against Sheffield Eagles.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b BBC Sport (20 February 2003). "Sculthorpe questions rule changes". BBC. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d Ray French (16 May 2002). "All change, please". BBC. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  3. ^ "Super League VIII 2003". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  4. ^ Telegraph (3 February 2004). "More money for League from TV deal". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Hull F.C. History". Retrieved 23 October 2009.[dead link]

External links


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