1996 Wigan RLFC season

The 1996 Wigan season was the 101st season in the club's rugby league history and the first season in the newly formed Super League. Coached by Graeme West and captained by Shaun Edwards, Wigan competed in Super League I and finished in 2nd place, but went on to win the Premiership Final at Old Trafford against St. Helens. The club also competed in the 1996 Challenge Cup, but were knocked out in the fifth round by First Division side Salford Reds, and was the first time the club had failed to win the trophy since 1987.

1996 Wigan RLFC season
Super League I Rank	2nd
Play-off result	Won Premiership Final
Challenge Cup	5th round
1996 record	Wins: 19; draws: 1; losses: 2
Points scored	For: 902; against: 326
Team information
Chairman	Jack Robinson
Head Coach	Graeme West
Captain	Shaun Edwards Andy Farrell
Stadium	Central Park
< 1995–96 List of seasons 1997 >

In July 1996 Farrell was appointed Wigan's captain.

Background

See also: 1995–96 Rugby Football League season and List of Wigan Warriors seasons

The 1995–96 season was a shortened transitional season ahead of the switch to the Super League, which would see the league become a summer competition. Wigan won the league championship for the seventh consecutive season, and also won the final staging of the League Cup, defeating St Helens 25–16. Wigan's dominance was expected to continue in the summer era, and the club were odds-on favourites to win the inaugural Super League.^[1]

Table

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. Helens	22	20	0	2	950	455	+495	40
2	Wigan	22	19	1	2	902	326	+576	39
3	Bradford Bulls	22	17	0	5	767	409	+358	34
4	London Broncos	22	12	1	9	611	462	+149	25
5	Warrington Wolves	22	12	0	10	569	565	+4	24
6	Halifax Blue Sox	22	10	1	11	667	576	+91	21
7	Sheffield Eagles	22	10	0	12	599	730	-131	20
8	Oldham Bears	22	9	1	12	473	681	-208	19
9	Castleford Tigers	22	9	0	13	548	599	-51	18
10	Leeds	22	6	0	16	555	745	-190	12
11	Paris Saint-Germain	22	3	1	18	398	795	-397	7
12	Workington Town	22	2	1	19	325	1021	-696	5

Champions

Relegated

Match results

Win

Draw

Loss

Super League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
30 March 1996	Oldham Bears	Away	56–16	Connolly (3), Edwards (2), Offiah (2), Radlinski (2), Hall, Paul	Farrell (8)	7,709
5 April 1996	St. Helens	Away	26–41	Hall (2), O'Connor, Smyth, Tuigamala	Paul (3)	15,883
8 April 1996	Warrington	Home	42–12	Edwards (2), Haughton, A. Johnson, Paul, Radlinski, Smyth,	Farrell (6), Paul	14,620
14 April 1996	Castleford Tigers	Away	28–10	Connolly, Farrell, Paul, Robinson, Smyth	Farrell (4)	7,985
19 April 1996	Bradford Bulls	Home	22–6	Craig, Haughton, Murdock, Paul	Farrell (3)	9,872
5 May 1996	Paris Saint-Germain	Home	76–8	Paul (3), Smyth (3), Connolly (2), Haughton (2), Cassidy, Farrell, Murdock, Radlinski	Paul (6), Farrell (4)	10,675
14 May 1996	Halifax Blue Sox	Away	50–4	Robinson (2), Smyth (2), Cassidy, Connolly, Edwards, Haughton, Murdock	Farrell (5), Hall (2)	5,269
18 May 1996	Workington Town	Away	64–16	Farrell (2), Robinson (2), Tuigamala (2), Craig, Edwards, Hall, Murdock, Offiah	Farrell (8), Paul, Tuigamala	3,176
29 May 1996	Sheffield Eagles	Home	50–6	Offiah (3), Cassidy, Connolly, Hall, A.Johnson, Paul, Smyth	Farrell (7)	9,158
1 June 1996	Leeds	Away	40–20	Smyth (2), Murdock, Offiah, Paul, Robinson	Farrell (8)	9,508
9 June 1996	London Broncos	Home	18–18	Murdock, Robinson, Tuigamala	Farrell (3)	9,189
16 June 1996	Oldham Bears	Home	44–16	Robinson (3), Smyth (2), Connolly, Ellison, Haughton, Quinnell	Farrell (2), Edwards, Hall	7,226
21 June 1996	St. Helens	Home	35–19	Robinson (2), Haughton, Murdock, Smyth, Tuigamala	Paul (3), Hall (2), Robinson (DG)	20,429
30 June 1996	Warrington	Away	21–0	Paul (2), Smyth (2)	Connolly (2), Wright (DG)	8,103
5 July 1996	Castleford Tigers	Home	26–25	Robinson (2), A. Johnson, Tuigamala	Farrell (5)	8,180
12 July 1996	Bradford Bulls	Away	12–20	Ellison, Paul	Farrell (2)	17,360
20 July 1996	Paris Saint-Germain	Away	24–20	A. Johnson, Radlinski, Robinson, Tuigamala	Farrell (4)	5,428
26 July 1996	Halifax Blue Sox	Home	34–26	Connolly, Ellison, Murdock, Paul, Radlinski, Tuigamala	Farrell (5)	8,221
3 August 1996	Sheffield Eagles	Away	54–12	Paul (2), Connolly, Edwards, Ellison, Hall, Haughton, Murdock, Robinson	Farrell (9)	5,103
9 August 1996	Leeds	Home	68–14	Robinson (5), Connolly (2), Edwards (2), Cowie, Murdock, Radlinski, Tuigamala	Farrell (8)	7,814
17 August 1996	London Broncos	Away	34–13	Paul (2), Edwards, A. Johnson, Robinson, Tuigamala	Farrell (5)	10,014
24 August 1996	Workington Town	Home	78–4	Barrow (3), Paul (3), Edwards (2), Haughton (2), Robinson (2), Ellison, Farrell	Farrell (9), Tuigamala (2)	6,466

Premiership

Game	Date	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Ref
Semi Final	31 August 1996	Bradford Bulls	Home	42–36	Edwards (4), Ellison (2), Paul, Radlinski	Farrell (5)	9,878	MR
Final	8 September 1996	St. Helens	Neutral	44–14	Ellison (3), Connolly, Edwards, Haughton, Murdock, Paul, Robinson	Farrell (4)	35,013	MR

Challenge Cup

Wigan's fourth round Challenge Cup tie against Second Division side Bramley took place a week after the end of the previous season. Wigan progressed to the next round with a comfortable 74–12 win, and drew Salford Reds in the next round. Wigan lost 16–26 against their First Division opponents, ending the club's unbeaten run of 43 games in the competition, and was the first time they had been knocked out of the Challenge Cup since being defeated by Oldham in February 1987.^[2] The result is considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition.^[3]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Ref
Fourth	28 January 1996	Bramley	Home	74–12	Offiah (4), Farrell (2), Quinnell (2), Radlinski (2), Connolly, Cowie, Robinson, Tuigamala	Hall (5), Paul (4)	4,627	MR
Fifth	11 February 1996	Salford Reds	Away	16–26	Tuigamala (2), Offiah	Farrell, Paul	10,048	MR

Clash of the Codes

Main article: Clash of the Codes (rugby)

In addition to their league and cup exploits, Wigan took part in a special two-game series against Bath, the reigning champions of rugby union's Courage League, with one game being played under the rules of each code. Wigan won the game played under league rules at Maine Road 82-6,^[4] but lost the union game at Twickenham by 44-19.^[5]

Game	Date	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Ref
League	8 May 1996	Bath	Neutral	82–6	Offiah (6), Robinson (2), O'Connor (2), Johnson (2), Paul, Cassidy, Quinnell, Murdock	Hall (5), Farrell (4)	20,148	MR 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
Union	25 May 1996	Bath	Neutral	19–44	Murdock (2), Tuigamala	Farrell (2)	42,000	MR 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine

Squad

^[6]

No	Player	Apps	Tries	Goals	DGs	Points
1	Kris Radlinski	21	10	0	0	40
2	Jason Robinson	25	26	0	1	105
3	Va'aiga Tuigamala	25	13	3	0	58
4	Gary Connolly	25	15	2	0	64
5	Martin Offiah	10	12	0	0	48
6	Henry Paul	23	22	19	0	126
7	Shaun Edwards	24	17	1	0	70
8	Kelvin Skerrett	12	0	0	0	0
9	Martin Hall	26	6	10	0	44
10	Terry O'Connor	26	1	0	0	4
11	Simon Haughton	26	11	0	0	44
12	Mick Cassidy	25	3	0	0	12
13	Andy Farrell	26	7	113	0	254
14	Rob Smyth	17	16	0	0	64
15	Danny Ellison	11	10	0	0	40
16	Scott Quinnell	11	3	0	0	12
17	Andy Johnson	21	5	0	0	20
18	Craig Murdock	21	11	0	0	44
19	Martin Dermott	0	0	0	0	0
20	Daryl Cardiss	1	0	0	0	0
21	Nigel Wright	2	0	0	1	1
21	Andy Craig	11	2	0	0	8
22	Steve Barrow	10	3	0	0	12
22	Paul Johnson	1	0	0	0	0
23	Matt Knowles	3	0	0	0	0
24	Shem Tatupu	3	0	0	0	0
25	Neil Cowie	21	2	0	0	8
26	Sean Long	3	0	0	0	0
27	Neil Baynes	3	0	0	0	0
28	Gaël Tallec	1	0	0	0	0

Transfers

In

Player	Pos	From	Fee	Date	Ref
Stuart Lester	Fullback	Auckland Warriors		August 1996
Stephen Holgate	Second-row	Workington Town	£100,000	December 1996
Ian Sherratt	Prop forward	Oldham Bears	£30,000	December 1996
Doc Murray	Fullback	Auckland Warriors		December 1996

Out

Player	Pos	To	Fee	Date	Ref
Scott Quinnell	Second-row	Richmond (RU)	£250,000	June 1996	^[7]
Shem Tatupu	Prop forward	Northampton Saints (RU)	£80,000	July 1996	^[8]
Martin Offiah	Winger	London Broncos	£300,000	August 1996	^[9]
Martin Dermott	Hooker	Warrington Wolves		September 1996
Andy Craig	Centre	Swinton Lions		December 1996	^[10]

References

1. Irvine, Christopher (29 March 1996). "Stones Super League - Rugby League". The Times. London. p. 46.
2. Hadfield, Dave (12 February 1996). "Wigan wilt at The Willows". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
3. Mordey, Tom (14 May 2015). "Challenge Cup: We look back at some of the biggest upsets". Sky Sports. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
4. Dave Hadfield (1996-05-09). "Bath feel full force of Wigan might". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
5. Chris Hewett (1996-05-26). "The union empire strikes back". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
6. Fletcher, Raymond (1997). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. Headline Book Publishing. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.
7. Huxley, John (26 May 1996). "Wigan's Strife of Bryan". Sunday Mirror. London. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
8. "Warrington pin pounds 1.35m price tag on Harris". The Independent. 24 July 1996. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
9. Richards, Martin (3 August 1996). "Bronco Offiah". The Mirror. London. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
10. Hadfield, Dave (28 December 1996). "Rugby League: Winter games' success". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

External links

• Wigan Warriors Rugby League Fan Site 2014-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
• Wigan - Rugby League Project