1983–84 Rugby Football League season

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.

1983–84 Rugby Football League season
LeagueSlalom Lager Championship
Teams16
Champions Hull Kingston Rovers
Premiership winners Hull Kingston Rovers
Man of Steel Award Joe Lydon
Top point-scorer(s) John Woods 355
Top try-scorer(s) Garry Schofield 38
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division Barrow
Workington Town
Hunslet
Halifax
Relegated to Second DivisionFulham
Wakefield Trinity
Salford
Whitehaven
Second Division
Champions Barrow
Top try-scorer(s) Graham King 28

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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1]

Temporary suspension:

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

Season summary

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.

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.[2]

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.

League Tables

Challenge Cup
Main article: 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.

Premiership
Main article: 1983–84 Rugby League Premiership

References
  1. de la Riviere, Richard, ed. (2009), "Top ten: Rugby league rules", Rugby League World, Brighouse, UK: League Publications (published August 2009) (340), p. 61, ISSN 1466-0105
  2. "RFL All Time Records". Archived from the original on 2009-09-26. Retrieved 2009-08-07.

Sources
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