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
League	Championship
Teams	First 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
← 1989–90 1991–92 →

Season summary

Overview

• First Division:   Wigan
• Second Division:   Salford
• Premiership:   Hull F.C.
• Divisional Premiership:   Salford
• Challenge Cup:   Wigan
• League Cup:   Warrington

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.

game	Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	7 October	Australia def.   St Helens 34–4	Knowsley Road, St Helens	15,219
2	10 October	Australia def.   Wakefield Trinity 36–18	Belle Vue, Wakefield	7,724
3	14 October	Australia def.   Wigan 34–6	Central Park, Wigan	24,814
4	17 October	Australia def.   Cumbria 42–10	Derwent Park, Workington	6,750
5	21 October	Australia def.   Leeds 22–10	Headingley, Leeds	16,037
6	27 October	Great Britain def.   Australia 19–12	Wembley Stadium, London	54,569
7	31 October	Australia def.   Warrington 26–6	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington	10,200
8	4 November	Australia def.   Castleford 28–8	Wheldon Road, Castleford	9,033
9	6 November	Australia def.   Halifax 36–18	Thrum Hall, Halifax	8,730
10	10 November	Australia def.   Great Britain 14–10	Old Trafford, Manchester	46,615
11	14 November	Australia def.   Hull F.C. 34–4	The Boulevard, Hull	13,081
12	18 November	Australia def.   Widnes 15–8	Naughton Park, Widnes	14,666
13	24 November	Australia def.   Great Britain 14–0	Elland Road, Leeds	32,500

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

• 1990–91 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
• Great Britain Competitions 1990-1991 at hunterlink.net.au