The 1982–83

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

season was the 88th ever season of professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1982 until May, 1983 for the Slalom Lager

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Season summary

*Slalom Lager League Champions: Hull *Challenge Cup Winners: Featherstone Rovers (14-12 v Hull) *Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners:

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

(22-10 v Hull) * John Player Special Trophy Winners:

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

(15-4 v

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

) *2nd Division Champions:

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Hull finished on top of the First Division table to claim their sixth and, to date, last championship, but Widnes won the Rugby League Premiership competition. Fulham, Wakefield Trinity, Salford and Whitehaven were promoted to the First Division.

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

beat St. Helens 16–0 to win the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Bradford Northern 18–7 to win the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

County Cup.

League Tables

Championship

Final Standings

Second Division

Challenge Cup

The 1982-83 State Express

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

was won by underdogs Featherstone Rovers after defeating Hull F.C. 14-12 in the final. The Final was played at Wembley before a crowd of 84,969.

John Player Trophy

Premiership

Kangaroo Tour

The months of October and November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1982 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

(won 3–0 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 9 Championship teams (Hull KR, Wigan, Barrow, St Helens, Leeds, Leigh, Bradford Northern, Hull and Widnes), 1 Second Division side (Fulham) and 1 county side (

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

). The 1982 Kangaroos were coached by

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

head coach Frank Stanton who had previously toured as a player in 1963–64 and as coach of the 1978 Kangaroos. The team captain was veteran Manly-Warringah hooker Max Krilich who had also toured in 1978. South Brisbane centre Mal Meninga, making the first of a record 4 Kangaroo Tours as a player, was the leading point scorer on the tour with 166 from 10 tries and 68 goals including 48 points in the three Tests against Great Britain (2 tries, 21 goals). Manly-Warringah's Queensland winger John Ribot was the leading try scorer on the tour with 25. The 1982 Kangaroos became known as The Invincibles after becoming the first team to go undefeated on a Kangaroo Tour.

References

Sources

1982-83 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League season, 1982-83 1982 in English rugby league 1983 in English rugby league Rugby Football League seasons 1982 in Welsh rugby league 1983 in Welsh rugby league