1982–83 Rugby Football League season

The 1982–83 Rugby Football League season was the 88th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1982 until May, 1983 for the Slalom Lager Championship.

1982–83 Rugby Football League season
League	Slalom Lager Championship
Teams	16
Champions	Hull
Premiership winners	Widnes
Man of Steel Award	Allan Agar
Top try-scorer(s)	Bob Eccles 37
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division	Fulham Wakefield Trinity Salford Whitehaven
Relegated to Second Division	Barrow Workington Town Halifax Carlisle
Second Division
Champions	Fulham
Top point-scorer(s)	Steve Diamond (Fulham) 308
Top try-scorer(s)	John Crossley (Fulham) 27
← 1981–82 1983–84 →

Season summary

• Slalom Lager League Champions: Hull
• Challenge Cup Winners: Featherstone Rovers (14-12 v Hull)
• Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners: Widnes (22-10 v Hull)
• John Player Special Trophy Winners: Wigan (15-4 v Leeds)
• 2nd Division Champions: Fulham

Hull finished on top of the First Division table to claim their sixth and, to date, last championship, but Widnes won the Rugby League Premiership competition. Fulham, Wakefield Trinity, Salford and Whitehaven were promoted to the First Division.

Warrington beat St. Helens 16–0 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Bradford Northern 18–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

League Tables

Championship Final Standings Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts 1 Hull 30 23 1 6 572 293 +279 47 2 Hull Kingston Rovers 30 21 1 8 496 276 +220 43 3 Wigan 30 20 3 7 482 270 +212 43 4 St. Helens 30 19 1 10 516 395 +121 39 5 Widnes 30 18 2 10 534 357 +177 38 6 Leeds 30 18 2 10 480 443 +27 38 7 Castleford 30 18 1 11 629 458 +171 37 8 Oldham 30 15 2 13 346 320 +26 32 9 Bradford Northern 30 14 2 14 381 314 +67 30 10 Leigh 30 13 3 14 488 374 +114 29 11 Warrington 30 13 2 15 423 410 +13 28 12 Featherstone Rovers 30 10 4 16 350 447 -97 24 13 Barrow 30 11 1 18 472 505 -33 23 14 Workington Town 30 6 2 22 318 696 -378 14 15 Halifax 30 5 1 24 221 651 -430 11 16 Carlisle 30 2 0 28 251 751 -500 4

Second Division Club P W D L PF PA Pts 1 Fulham 32 27 1 4 699 294 55 2 Wakefield Trinity 32 25 2 5 672 381 52 3 Salford 32 24 0 8 686 363 48 4 Whitehaven 32 20 3 9 464 298 43 5 Bramley 32 20 1 11 560 369 41 6 Hunslet 32 17 5 10 553 448 39 7 Swinton 32 19 1 12 549 454 39 8 Cardiff 32 17 2 13 572 444 36 9 Keighley 32 15 5 12 470 423 35 10 York 32 15 0 17 516 455 30 11 Blackpool Borough 32 13 1 18 381 433 27 12 Huddersfield 32 13 1 18 397 524 27 13 Rochdale Hornets 32 10 5 17 361 469 25 14 Dewsbury 32 8 1 23 325 507 17 15 Batley 32 6 1 25 305 719 13 16 Huyton 32 6 0 26 250 687 12 17 Doncaster 32 2 1 29 307 799 5   Champions   Play-offs   Promoted   Relegated

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1982–83 Challenge Cup

The 1982-83 State Express Challenge Cup was won by underdogs Featherstone Rovers after defeating Hull F.C. 14-12 in the final.^[1]

The Final was played at Wembley before a crowd of 84,969.

John Player Trophy

Main article: 1982–83 John Player Trophy

Premiership

Main article: 1982–83 Rugby League Premiership

Kangaroo Tour

Main article: 1982 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 1982 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 3–0 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 9 Championship teams (Hull KR, Wigan, Barrow, St Helens, Leeds, Leigh, Bradford Northern, Hull and Widnes), 1 Second Division side (Fulham) and 1 county side (Cumbria).

The 1982 Kangaroos were coached by Balmain Tigers head coach Frank Stanton who had previously toured as a player in 1963–64 and as coach of the 1978 Kangaroos. The team captain was veteran Manly-Warringah hooker Max Krilich who had also toured in 1978.

South Brisbane centre Mal Meninga, making the first of a record 4 Kangaroo Tours as a player, was the leading point scorer on the tour with 166 from 10 tries and 68 goals including 48 points in the three Tests against Great Britain (2 tries, 21 goals). Manly-Warringah's Queensland winger John Ribot was the leading try scorer on the tour with 25.

The 1982 Kangaroos became known as The Invincibles after becoming the first team to go undefeated on a Kangaroo Tour.

game	Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	10 October	Australia def. Hull Kingston Rovers 30–10	Craven Park, Hull	10,742
2	13 October	Australia def. Wigan 13–9	Central Park, Wigan	12,158
3	15 October	Australia def. Barrow 29–2	Craven Park, Barrow	6,282
4	17 October	Australia def. St Helens 32–0	Knowsley Road, St Helens	8,190
5	20 October	Australia def. Leeds 31–4	Headingley, Leeds	11,570
6	24 October	Australia def.  Wales 37–7	Ninian Park, Cardiff	5,617
7	30 October	Australia def.  Great Britain 40–4	Boothferry Park, Hull	26,771
8	3 November	Australia def. Leigh 44–4	Hilton Park, Leigh	7,680
9	7 November	Australia def. Bradford Northern 13–6	Odsal, Bradford	10,506
10	9 November	Australia def. Cumbria 41–2	Brunton Park, Carlisle	5,748
11	14 November	Australia def. Fulham 22–5	Craven Cottage, London	10,432
12	16 November	Australia def. Hull F.C. 13–7	The Boulevard, Hull	16,049
13	20 November	Australia def.  Great Britain 27–6	Central Park, Wigan	23,126
14	23 November	Australia def. Widnes 19–6	Naughton Park, Widnes	9,790
15	28 November	Australia def.  Great Britain 32–8	Headingley, Leeds	17,318