1990–91 Rugby Football League season

The 1990–91 Rugby Football League season was the 96th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Fourteen teams competed from August, 1990 until May, 1991 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

1990–91 Rugby Football League season
LeagueChampionship
TeamsFirst Division: 14
Second Division: 21
First Division
Champions Wigan
Premiership winners Hull
Man of Steel Award Garry Schofield
Promotion and relegation
Relegated to Second Division Oldham
Sheffield Eagles
Rochdale Hornets
Second Division
Champions Salford
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division Salford
Halifax
Swinton
Relegated to New Third Division Doncaster
Hunslet
Huddersfield
Whitehaven
Keighley
Dewsbury
Trafford Borough
Batley
Barrow
Chorley Borough
Bramley
Runcorn Highfield
Nottingham City

Season summary

Overview

Summary

Bradford Northern player Simon Tuffs tested positive for amphetamines, and was the first time a failed drugs test involving a rugby league player had been made public since random testing had been introduced by the RFL in 1987.[1] He received a two-year suspension,[2] but the ban was lifted following an appeal.[3]

Due to a fixture backlog, Wigan, who were challenging for the league championship title, were forced to play their final eight league games within 19 days, a task described as "Mission Impossible" by coach John Monie.[4] The club managed to win seven out of eight games to retain the title.

In April 1991, clubs approved a new three division format to be used from the start of the 1991–92 season. The Championship would remain a 14 team league, while the Second Division would consist of eight teams and the new Third Division would have 14 teams.[5]

League tables

Wigan retained their title this season, relegated were Oldham, Sheffield Eagles and Rochdale Hornets, to date this is Rochdale Hornets's last appearance in the top flight.

First Division
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Wigan (C) 26 20 2 4 652 313 +339 42 Qualification for Premiership first round
2 Widnes 26 20 0 6 635 340 +295 40
3 Hull F.C. 26 17 0 9 513 367 +146 34
4 Castleford 26 17 0 9 578 442 +136 34
5 Leeds 26 14 2 10 602 448 +154 30
6 St Helens 26 14 1 11 628 533 +95 29
7 Bradford Northern 26 13 1 12 434 492 −58 27
8 Featherstone Rovers 26 12 1 13 533 592 −59 25
9 Warrington 26 10 2 14 404 436 −32 22
10 Wakefield Trinity 26 10 2 14 356 409 −53 22
11 Hull Kingston Rovers 26 9 3 14 452 615 −163 21
12 Oldham (R) 26 10 0 16 481 562 −81 20 Relegated to Second Division
13 Sheffield Eagles (R) 26 7 2 17 459 583 −124 16
14 Rochdale Hornets (R) 26 1 0 25 317 912 −595 2
Source: [6]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Second Division
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Salford (C, P) 28 26 1 1 856 219 +637 53 Promoted to First Division
Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round
2 Halifax (P) 28 24 0 4 941 311 +630 48
3 Swinton (P) 28 21 2 5 523 370 +153 44
4 Ryedale-York 28 20 2 6 559 294 +265 42 Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round
5 Leigh 28 18 1 9 698 372 +326 37
6 Workington Town 28 18 1 9 497 323 +174 37
7 Fulham 28 17 2 9 450 338 +112 36
8 Carlisle 28 16 2 10 613 425 +188 34
9 Doncaster (R) 28 16 0 12 507 434 +73 32 Relegated to Third Division
10 Hunslet (R) 28 13 2 13 519 438 +81 28
11 Huddersfield (R) 28 13 1 14 493 477 +16 27
12 Whitehaven (R) 28 13 0 15 412 592 −180 26
13 Keighley (R) 28 12 0 16 456 588 −132 24
14 Dewsbury (R) 28 10 1 17 410 455 −45 21
15 Trafford Borough (R) 28 10 0 18 508 618 −110 20
16 Batley (R) 28 10 0 18 337 466 −129 20
17 Barrow (R) 28 8 2 18 415 705 −290 18
18 Chorley Borough (R) 28 7 1 20 388 721 −333 15
19 Bramley (R) 28 7 1 20 379 726 −347 15
20 Runcorn Highfield 28 3 1 24 351 779 −428 7
21 Nottingham City (R) 28 2 0 26 284 945 −661 4
Source: [6]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Kangaroo Tour
Main article: 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

The months of October and November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1990 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 8 Championship teams (St Helens, Wakefield Trinity, Wigan, Leeds, Warrington, Castleford, Hull and Widnes), 1 Second Division side (Halifax) and one county side (Cumbria). The team was coached by 1973 tourist and 1978 tour captain Bob Fulton and was captained by Mal Meninga who was making his third Kangaroo Tour as a player.

Penrith Panthers halfback Greg Alexander (who played most of the tour as the backup fullback to Gary Belcher), was the leading point scorer on the tour with 156 from 14 tries and 50 goals. Like Terry Lamb on the 1986 tour, Alexander was selected for every match on the tour, but he did not get off the bench in the 2nd Ashes Test at Old Trafford. Cronulla-Sutherland outside back Andrew Ettingshausen was the leading try scorer with 15 including hat-tricks against St Helens in the tour opener and Wigan a week later.

Great Britain's win in the first test at Wembley was the Lions first test win on home soil over Australia since 5 November 1978. It was the Kangaroos only loss of the tour.

gameDateResultVenueAttendance
17 October Australia def. St Helens 34–4Knowsley Road, St Helens15,219
210 October Australia def. Wakefield Trinity 36–18Belle Vue, Wakefield7,724
314 October Australia def. Wigan 34–6Central Park, Wigan24,814
417 October Australia def. Cumbria Cumbria 42–10Derwent Park, Workington6,750
521 October Australia def. Leeds 22–10Headingley, Leeds16,037
627 October Great Britain def.  Australia 19–12Wembley Stadium, London54,569
731 October Australia def. Warrington 26–6Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington10,200
84 November Australia def. Castleford 28–8Wheldon Road, Castleford9,033
96 November Australia def. Halifax 36–18Thrum Hall, Halifax8,730
1010 November Australia def.  Great Britain 14–10Old Trafford, Manchester46,615
1114 November Australia def. Hull F.C. 34–4The Boulevard, Hull13,081
1218 November Australia def. Widnes 15–8Naughton Park, Widnes14,666
1324 November Australia def.  Great Britain 14–0Elland Road, Leeds32,500

References
  1. Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-356-17852-3.
  2. Fitzpatrick, Paul (27 February 1991). "Tuffs given two-year ban for drug-taking". The Guardian. London. p. 17. ProQuest 187070161.
  3. Macklin, Keith (17 April 1991). "Ban on Tuffs removed after appeal". The Times. No. 63995. p. 40.
  4. "1990-2 Mission Impossible". Wigan Warriors. 25 April 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  5. Fitzpatrick, Paul (18 April 1991). "Three divisions agreed". The Guardian. London. p. 17. ProQuest 187316602.
  6. Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-96. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-7472-7817-7.

Sources
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