1982–83 Rugby Football League season

The 1982–83 Rugby Football League season was the 88th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1982 until May, 1983 for the Slalom Lager Championship.

1982–83 Rugby Football League season
League	Slalom Lager Championship
Teams	16
Champions	Hull
Premiership winners	Widnes
Man of Steel Award	Allan Agar
Top try-scorer(s)	Bob Eccles 37
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division	Fulham Wakefield Trinity Salford Whitehaven
Relegated to Second Division	Barrow Workington Town Halifax Carlisle
Second Division
Champions	Fulham
Top point-scorer(s)	Steve Diamond (Fulham) 308
Top try-scorer(s)	John Crossley (Fulham) 27

Season summary

• Slalom Lager League Champions: Hull
• Challenge Cup Winners: Featherstone Rovers (14-12 v Hull)
• Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners: Widnes (22-10 v Hull)
• John Player Special Trophy Winners: Wigan (15-4 v Leeds)
• 2nd Division Champions: Fulham

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 beat St. Helens 16–0 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Bradford Northern 18–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

League Tables

Championship

Final Standings

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Hull	30	23	1	6	572	293	+279	47
2	Hull Kingston Rovers	30	21	1	8	496	276	+220	43
3	Wigan	30	20	3	7	482	270	+212	43
4	St. Helens	30	19	1	10	516	395	+121	39
5	Widnes	30	18	2	10	534	357	+177	38
6	Leeds	30	18	2	10	480	443	+27	38
7	Castleford	30	18	1	11	629	458	+171	37
8	Oldham	30	15	2	13	346	320	+26	32
9	Bradford Northern	30	14	2	14	381	314	+67	30
10	Leigh	30	13	3	14	488	374	+114	29
11	Warrington	30	13	2	15	423	410	+13	28
12	Featherstone Rovers	30	10	4	16	350	447	-97	24
13	Barrow	30	11	1	18	472	505	-33	23
14	Workington Town	30	6	2	22	318	696	-378	14
15	Halifax	30	5	1	24	221	651	-430	11
16	Carlisle	30	2	0	28	251	751	-500	4

Second Division

	Club	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
1	Fulham	32	27	1	4	699	294	55
2	Wakefield Trinity	32	25	2	5	672	381	52
3	Salford	32	24	0	8	686	363	48
4	Whitehaven	32	20	3	9	464	298	43
5	Bramley	32	20	1	11	560	369	41
6	Hunslet	32	17	5	10	553	448	39
7	Swinton	32	19	1	12	549	454	39
8	Cardiff	32	17	2	13	572	444	36
9	Keighley	32	15	5	12	470	423	35
10	York	32	15	0	17	516	455	30
11	Blackpool Borough	32	13	1	18	381	433	27
12	Huddersfield	32	13	1	18	397	524	27
13	Rochdale Hornets	32	10	5	17	361	469	25
14	Dewsbury	32	8	1	23	325	507	17
15	Batley	32	6	1	25	305	719	13
16	Huyton	32	6	0	26	250	687	12
17	Doncaster	32	2	1	29	307	799	5

Champions

Play-offs

Promoted

Relegated

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1982–83 Challenge Cup

The 1982-83 State Express Challenge Cup 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.

League Cup

Main article: 1982–83 League Cup (rugby league)

Premiership

Main article: 1982–83 Rugby League Premiership

Kangaroo Tour

Main article: 1982 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 1982 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (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 one county side (Cumbria).

The 1982 Kangaroos were coached by 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.

Souths Magpies 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 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.

game	Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	10 October	Australia def. Hull Kingston Rovers 30–10	Craven Park, Hull	10,742
2	13 October	Australia def. Wigan 13–9	Central Park, Wigan	12,158
3	15 October	Australia def. Barrow 29–2	Craven Park, Barrow	6,282
4	17 October	Australia def. St Helens 32–0	Knowsley Road, St Helens	8,190
5	20 October	Australia def. Leeds 31–4	Headingley, Leeds	11,570
6	24 October	Australia def. Wales 37–7	Ninian Park, Cardiff	5,617
7	30 October	Australia def. Great Britain 40–4	Boothferry Park, Hull	26,771
8	3 November	Australia def. Leigh 44–4	Hilton Park, Leigh	7,680
9	7 November	Australia def. Bradford Northern 13–6	Odsal, Bradford	10,506
10	9 November	Australia def. Cumbria 41–2	Brunton Park, Carlisle	5,748
11	14 November	Australia def. Fulham 22–5	Craven Cottage, London	10,432
12	16 November	Australia def. Hull F.C. 13–7	The Boulevard, Hull	16,049
13	20 November	Australia def. Great Britain 27–6	Central Park, Wigan	23,126
14	23 November	Australia def. Widnes 19–6	Naughton Park, Widnes	9,790
15	28 November	Australia def. Great Britain 32–8	Headingley, Leeds	17,318

Sources

• 1982-83 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com