The 1983–84

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 89th 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, 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 In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transf ...

" was introduced after the sixth tackle, replacing the scrum that had previously been formed at that point. 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. 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 Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

, who signed for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

. Slalom Lager League Champions:

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

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

Rugby League Premiership The Rugby League Premiership was a competition for British rugby league clubs between 1973 and 1995. As the Super League Premiership the competition continued until 1997. History From 1909 until 1973 (except for 1962–64) the Rugby Football Le ...

competition, this was the first occasion the 'Championship / Premiership Double' had been achieved. State Express Challenge Cup 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, ...

(19-6 v

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 ...

) John Player Special Trophy Winners:

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 ...

(18-10 v

). During the competition, Danny Wilson of Swinton scored a record 5

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kick ...

s in the tie against

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

on 6 Nov 1983. Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners:

(18-10 v

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

) Barrow (from

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 ...

) beat

12–8 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. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

beat

13–2 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

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

resulted in an 8–6 loss, though the Wally Lewis-led Maroons then easily won their remaining matches against

(40–2) and

(58–2)

League Tables

Championship

Final Standings

Second Division

Challenge Cup

The 1983-84

State Express ''State Express'' is a 1938 Indian Hindi-language action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been ...

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

after defeating

19-6 in the final. The Final was played at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

before a crowd of 80,116.

John Player Special Trophy

County cups

Premiership

References

Sources

1983-84 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League Season, 1983-84 1983 in English rugby league 1984 in English rugby league Rugby Football League seasons 1983 in Welsh rugby league 1984 in Welsh rugby league