1984–85 Rugby Football League season

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1984–85 Rugby Football League season
League
Second Division
Champions Swinton
Top try-scorer(s) Vince Gribbin 27

The 1984–85

Slalom Lager Championship. Also these 16 teams plus several more competed for the Challenge Cup
.

Season summary

Aside from retaining the Championship

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

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

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.

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

  1. .
  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.

Sources