1984–85 Rugby Football League season

1984–85 Rugby Football League season
1984–85 Rugby Football League season
League	Slalom Lager Championship
Teams	16
Champions	Hull Kingston Rovers
Premiership winners	St. Helens
Man of Steel	Ellery Hanley
Top point-scorer(s)	Sean Day 362
Top try-scorer(s)	Ellery Hanley 55
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division	Swinton; Salford; York; Dewsbury;
Relegated to Second Division	Barrow; Leigh; Hunslet; Workington Town;
Second Division
Champions	Swinton
Top try-scorer(s)	Vince Gribbin 27
	← 1983–84 1985–86 →

The 1984–85 Rugby Football League season was the 90th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams played each other from August 1984 until May 1985 for the Slalom Lager Championship. Also these 16 teams plus several more competed for the Challenge Cup.

Season summary

Slalom Lager League Champions: Hull Kingston Rovers
Silk Cut Challenge Cup Winners: Wigan (8 – 28–24 v Hull)
Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners: St. Helens (36–16 v Hull Kingston Rovers at Elland Road, Leeds)
- Harry Sunderland Trophy: Harry Pinner
John Player Special Trophy Winners: Hull Kingston Rovers (12–0 v Hull F.C. at Boothferry Park, Hull)
Burtonwood Brewery Lancashire County Cup Winners: St. Helens (26–18 v Wigan at Central Park, Wigan)
2nd Division Champions: Swinton

Aside from retaining the Championship Hull Kingston Rovers won the John Player Special Trophy and reached the finals of both the Premiership and Yorkshire Cup, they were beaten in the Semi-Final of the Challenge Cup meaning they played in every possible game of the season bar one.

On 21 October 1984 Peter Wood kicked a record-equalling five drop goals for Runcorn Highfield in a match against Batley. On 28 October, two tries by Mal Meninga inspire St. Helens, to beat Wigan 26–18, and win the Lancashire County Cup for the first time in 16 years.

The 1985 Man of Steel Award went to Bradford Northern utility back, Ellery Hanley. He also became the first man to score more than 50 tries in a season since Billy Boston, and the first non-winger to reach this figure for 70 years.

The increase of the Second Division to 20 teams meant that it would have taken 38 rounds to play out a full double round robin, which was considered too many matches, so a complicated fixture formula was used to reduce it to 28. For this season, Huyton relocated and were renamed Runcorn Highfield, Cardiff City Blue Dragons relocated and were renamed Bridgend Blue Dragons, and Kent Invicta relocated and were renamed were Southend Invicta, Huddersfield were renamed Huddersfield Barracudas, and Mansfield Marksman, and Sheffield Eagles joined the Second Division. As of 2017, 11th in the Second Division is the lowest position that Wakefield Trinity have ever finished.

St. Helens beat Wigan 26–18 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Hull Kingston Rovers 29–12 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

Hull Kingston Rovers finished on top of the First Division table to claim their fifth championship.

Championship final Standings

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Hull Kingston Rovers	30	24	0	6	778	391	387	48
2	St. Helens	30	22	1	7	920	508	412	45
3	Wigan	30	21	1	8	720	459	261	43
4	Leeds	30	20	1	9	650	377	273	41
5	Oldham	30	18	1	11	563	439	124	37
6	Hull	30	17	1	12	733	550	183	35
7	Widnes	30	17	0	13	580	517	63	34
8	Bradford Northern	30	16	1	13	600	500	100	33
9	Featherstone Rovers	30	15	0	15	461	475	−14	30
10	Halifax	30	12	2	16	513	565	−52	26
11	Warrington	30	13	0	17	530	620	−90	26
12	Castleford	30	12	1	17	552	518	34	25
13	Barrow	30	9	1	20	483	843	−360	19
14	Leigh	30	8	2	20	549	743	−194	18
15	Hunslet	30	7	1	22	463	952	−489	15
16	Workington Town	30	2	1	27	297	935	−638	5

Champions	Relegated

Second Division Final Standings

^[1]

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Swinton	28	24	1	3	727	343	384	49
2	Salford	28	20	3	5	787	333	454	43
3	York	28	21	1	6	717	430	287	43
4	Dewsbury	28	21	1	6	539	320	219	43
5	Carlisle	28	19	0	9	547	437	110	38
6	Whitehaven	28	16	3	9	496	385	111	35
7	Batley	28	17	0	11	489	402	87	34
8	Fulham	28	16	1	11	521	526	−5	33
9	Mansfield Marksman	28	15	0	13	525	398	127	30
10	Blackpool Borough	28	15	0	13	486	434	52	30
11	Wakefield Trinity	28	12	2	14	450	459	−9	26
12	Rochdale Hornets	28	12	2	14	436	466	−30	26
13	Huddersfield Barracudas	28	12	1	15	476	476	0	25
14	Runcorn Highfield	28	11	1	16	462	538	−76	23
15	Keighley	28	11	0	17	495	567	−72	22
16	Bramley	28	9	2	17	439	492	−53	20
17	Sheffield Eagles	28	8	0	20	424	582	-158	16
18	Doncaster	28	6	2	20	353	730	−377	14
19	Southend	28	4	0	24	347	690	−343	8
20	Bridgend Blue Dragons	28	1	0	27	258	966	−708	2

Promoted

Challenge Cup

The 1984–85 Silk Cut Challenge Cup was won by Wigan after defeating Hull F.C. in the final.

The Final was played on 4 May at Wembley before a crowd of 99,801 and is arguably the greatest ever in Challenge Cup history.^[2] Just after half-time Hull were 22 – 8 down before staging a fight back, but Wigan held on to win 28–24, ushering in an era of dominance for the club.^[3]

League Cup

Premiership

References

^ Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995–1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 299. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
^ "5. Wigan v Hull Challenge Cup final, 4 May 1985". Great Sporting Moments: Rugby League. London: independent.co.uk. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.^{[dead link‍]}
^ Baker, Andrew (20 August 1995). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". Independent, The. London: independent.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2017.

Sources

[Tables-1] Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995–1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 299. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.

[2] "5. Wigan v Hull Challenge Cup final, 4 May 1985". Great Sporting Moments: Rugby League. London: independent.co.uk. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.^{[dead link‍]}

[3] Baker, Andrew (20 August 1995). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". Independent, The. London: independent.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2017.

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