The 1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 84th season of rugby league football. Sixteen English clubs competed for the Northern Rugby Football League's first division championship, with Hull Kingston Rovers claiming the title by finishing on top of the League.
Season summary The 1978 Kangaroo tour took place during the first half of the season and involved matches between a number of clubs.
Hull Kingston Rovers won their third Championship this season.
The Challenge Cup Winners were Widnes who beat Wakefield Trinity 12-3 in the final.
2nd Division Champions were Hull F.C., with an impressive season, despite poor results in previous seasons. New Hunslet, York and Blackpool Borough were also promoted to the First Division.
Geoff 'Sammy' Lloyd of Hull F.C. equalled the club match record for scoring goals when he was successful 14 times in the match against Oldham on 10 September 1978. They were part of a club record 170 goals in a season, and a club record 369 points in a season.
League Tables
Championship Final Standings TeamPldWDLPFPAPts1Hull Kingston Rovers302307616344462Warrington302208521340443Widnes302127480322444Leeds3019110555370395St. Helens3016212485379346Wigan3016113484411337Castleford3016113498469338Bradford Northern3016014523416329Workington Town30133143783452910Wakefield Trinity30131163824562711Leigh30131164065352712Salford30112173894352413Barrow3092 193685362014Featherstone Rovers3081215015491715Rochdale Hornets3080222975651616Huddersfield30712231472515
Second Division TeamPldWDLPFPAPts1Hull262600702175522New Hunslet262114454218433York261718426343354Blackpool Borough261538321272335Halifax261529312198326Dewsbury2615011368292307Keighley2612212357298268Bramley2612113375342259Oldham26101152974352110Whitehaven2683152974081911Swinton2672173494521612Doncaster2670192595471413Huyton263320261513914Batley2641211944799
Champions Play-offs Promoted Relegated
Cups Challenge Cup
Widnes beat Wakefield Trinity 12-3 in the State Express Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 5 May 1979, in front of a crowd of 94,218.
This was Widnes' fifth cup final win in seven Final appearances. To date, this was Wakefield Trinity’s last appearance in a Challenge Cup Final.
The Wakefield Trinity , David Topliss, won the Lance Todd Trophy.
John Player Trophy
Premiership
Rugby League Premiership Trophy Winners were Leeds who beat Bradford Northern 24-2 in the final.
County cups
Widnes beat Workington Town (from Cumbria) 15–13 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Bradford Northern beat York 18–8 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Winners were Widnes who beat St. Helens 13-7 in the final.
Statistics The following are the top points scorers in the 1978–79 season.
Most tries Player Team Tries Steve Hartley Hull Kingston Rovers 35 Stuart Wright Widnes 28 David Barends Bradford Northern 25 Phil Lowe Hull Kingston Rovers 25 Paul Prendiville Hull F.C. 25 Keith Fielding Salford 24 David Redfearn Bradford Northern 23 Roy Mathias St. Helens 22 Graham Bray Hull F.C. 21 Keiron O'Loughlin Wigan 21 Clive Sullivan Hull Kingston Rovers 21
Most goals (including drop goals) Player Team Goals Sammy Lloyd Hull F.C. 172 Steve Hesford Warrington 170 Mick Burke Widnes 140 Iain McCorquodale Workington Town 114 Geoff Pimblett St. Helens 105 Graham Beale Keighley 96 John Woods Leigh 96 Jimmy Birts Halifax 86 George Fairbairn Wigan 86 Paul Norton Castleford 82
Kangaroo Tour
The months of September, October and November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1978 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 12 club and county representative sides as well as playing Wales in a non-test international.
The 1978 Kangaroos were coached by dual Manly-Warringah NSWRFL premiership coach Frank Stanton who had previously toured as a player in 1963–64. The team was captained by brilliant centre / stand-off Bob Fulton making his second tour after being a part of the 1973 squad.
The 11–10 loss to Widnes at Naughton Park on 25 October remains (as of 2017) the last time that the Kangaroos have lost to an English club or county team.
game Date Result Venue Attendance1 30 September Australia def. Blackpool Borough 39–1 Borough Park, Blackpool 2,7002 1 October Australia def. Cumbria 47–7 Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness 5,9643 4 October Australia def. Great Britain U/24 30–8 Craven Park, Hull 6,4184 8 October Australia def. Bradford Northern 21–11 Odsal Stadium, Bradford 15,7555 11 October Australia def. Warrington 15–12 Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington 10,1436 15 October def. 8–3 St Helens Rugby Ground, Swansea 4,2507 17 October Australia def. Leeds 25–19 Headingley, Leeds 9,7818 21 October def. 15–9 Central Park, Wigan 17,6449 25 October Widnes def. Australia 11–10 Naughton Park, Widnes 12,20210 29 October Australia def. Hull F.C. 34–2 The Boulevard, Hull 10,72311 1 November Australia def. Salford 14–2 The Willows, Salford 6,15512 5 November def. 18–14 Odsal Stadium, Bradford 26,76113 8 November Australia def. Wigan 28–2 Central Park, Wigan 10,64514 12 November Australia def. St Helens 26–4 Knowsley Road, St Helens 16,35215 14 November Australia def. York 29–2 Clarence Street, York 5,15516 18 November def. 23–6 Headingley, Leeds 30,604
References
Sources 1978-79 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website