Super League VIII

Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League.

Super League VIII
LeagueSuper League
Duration28 Rounds
Teams12
Highest attendance21,784
Bradford Bulls vs Leeds Rhinos (23 May)
Lowest attendance1,276
Halifax vs London Broncos (22 Aug)
Attendance1,336,374
(average 7,955)
Broadcast partners Sky Sports
2003 Season
Champions Bradford Bulls
3rd Super League title
5th English title
League Leaders Bradford Bulls
Man of Steel Jamie Peacock
Top point-scorer(s) Paul Deacon (286)
Top try-scorer(s) Dennis Moran (24)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from National League 1 Salford City Reds
Relegated to National League 1 Halifax

The season culminated in a replay of the 2001 Grand Final between Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors, and again Bradford won, claiming the 2003 premiership, their second in three years.

Rule changes
  • The knock-on rule was modified so that if in the referee's judgement a player did not play at the ball, a knock-on would not be given.[1]
  • Super League coaches voted 12-0 for new interchange and substitution rules for the 2003 season.[2] The number of interchanges, which now included blood bins, increased from 6 to 12 using a pool of 4 substitutes.[1][2] This change aimed to retain the element of wearing down a team's opponents during the game - which was considered part of the character of the sport.[2] Stuart Cummings, the Rugby Football League's technical controller said the changes "bring us into line with the international rules" and ruled out future increases as well as declaring, "We will never see the unlimited interchange introduced into rugby league in Britain," a change that had caused controversy in Australia during its experiment there.[2]

Table
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qual.
1 Bradford Bulls 282206878529+34944Play-off Semi Final
2 Leeds Rhinos 281936751555+19641
3 Wigan Warriors 281927776512+26440Play-off Elimination Final
4 St. Helens 2816111845535+31031[a]
5London Broncos 2814212643696−5330
6 Warrington Wolves 2814113748619+12929
7 Hull F.C. 2813312701577+12427[b]
8 Castleford Tigers 2812115612633−2125
9 Widnes Vikings 2812115640727−8725
10 Huddersfield Giants 2811116628715−8723
11 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 287120505774−26915
12 Halifax 2810273721227−8750[c]Relegated to National League 1

Source: Rugby League Project.
Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

Notes

^ a: St Helens deducted two points for salary cap breaches
^ b: Hull F.C. deducted two points for salary cap breaches
^ c: Halifax deducted two points for salary cap breaches

Play-offs
  Elimination play-offs   Qualifying / Elimination semi-finals   Elimination final   Grand Final
                                 
  QSF:  
1   Bradford Bulls 30  
2   Leeds Rhinos 14         GF:
        Bradford Bulls 25
  EPO1:     EF:       Wigan Warriors 12
  3   Wigan Warriors 25         Leeds Rhinos 22  
  6   Warrington Wolves 12   ESF:       Wigan Warriors 23
      Wigan Warriors 40  
EPO2:       St. Helens 24
  4   St. Helens 24  
  5   London Broncos 6
   
Key:         Losing team progressing     Winning team progressing

Source: Rugby League Project[3]

Grand Final
Main article: 2003 Super League Grand Final

Media

Television

This season was the final year of Sky Sports' contract with the Rugby Football League allowing them to broadcast matches exclusively live, the deal ended in November 2003.[4]

Records

On 2 March, Matt Crowther of Hull F.C. equalled the club record for goals in a match when he was successful 14 times against Sheffield Eagles.[5]

See also

References
  1. BBC Sport (20 February 2003). "Sculthorpe questions rule changes". BBC. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  2. Ray French (16 May 2002). "All change, please". BBC. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  3. "Super League VIII 2003". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  4. Telegraph (3 February 2004). "More money for League from TV deal". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  5. "Hull F.C. History". Retrieved 23 October 2009.
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