1999 Super League season

JJB Sports Super League IV was the official name for the year 1999's Super League championship season, the 105th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the fourth championship run by the Super League. The start of Super League IV saw the emergence of a North East based Rugby League Club, Gateshead Thunder as well as newly promoted Wakefield Trinity Wildcats to expand the league to fourteen teams.

Super League IV
League	Super League
Duration	30 Rounds
Teams	14
Highest attendance	24,020 Bradford Bulls vs Leeds Rhinos (3 Sept)
Lowest attendance	1,580 Gateshead Thunder vs Hull Sharks (19 May)
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports
1999 Season
Champions	St. Helens 2nd Super League title 9th British title
League Leaders	Bradford Bulls
Man of Steel	Adrian Vowles
Top point-scorer(s)	Iestyn Harris (325)
Top try-scorer(s)	Toa Kohe-Love (25)
Left League
Merged with Hull FC Merger with Huddersfield Giants	Gateshead Thunder; Sheffield Eagles
← 1998 2000 →

Rule changes

• The 40/20 rule was introduced to reward accurate kicking in general play.^[1][2] The rule, which had been used in Australia since 1997, gave the head and feed at the resulting scrum to a team that kicked the ball from behind their 40-metre line so that it bounced in the field of play before going into touch behind their opponent's 20 metre line.^[3][4]

Teams

Legend
	Reigning Champions
	Promoted

	Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
	Bradford Bulls	Odsal	27,000	Bradford, West Yorkshire
	Castleford Tigers	Wheldon Road	11,750	Castleford, West Yorkshire
	Gateshead Thunder	Gateshead International Stadium	11,800	Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
	Halifax Blue Sox	Thrum Hall	9,832	Halifax, West Yorkshire
	Huddersfield Giants	Galpharm Stadium	24,500	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
	Hull Sharks	The Boulevard	10,500	Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
	Leeds Rhinos	Headingley	21,500	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	London Broncos	The Valley	27,000	Charlton, Greater London
	Salford Reds	The Willows	11,363	Salford, Greater Manchester
	Sheffield Eagles	Don Valley Stadium	25,000	Sheffield, South Yorkshire
	St. Helens	Knowsley Road	17,500	St Helens, Merseyside
	Warrington Wolves	Wilderspool	9,200	Warrington, Cheshire
	Wigan Warriors	Central Park	18,000	Wigan, Greater Manchester

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bradford Bulls (L)	30	25	1	4	897	445	+452	51	Semi Final
2	St Helens (C)	30	23	0	7	1034	561	+473	46	Qualifying Semi Final
3	Leeds Rhinos	30	22	1	7	910	558	+352	45
4	Wigan Warriors	30	21	1	8	877	390	+487	43	Elimination Semi Final
5	Castleford Tigers	30	19	3	8	712	451	+261	41
6	Gateshead Thunder	30	19	1	10	775	576	+199	39
7	Warrington Wolves	30	15	1	14	700	717	−17	31
8	London Broncos	30	13	2	15	644	708	−64	28
9	Halifax Blue Sox	30	11	0	19	573	792	−219	22
10	Sheffield Eagles	30	10	1	19	518	818	−300	21
11	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	30	10	0	20	608	795	−187	20
12	Salford Reds	30	6	1	23	526	916	−390	13
13	Hull Sharks	30	5	0	25	422	921	−499	10
14	Huddersfield Giants	30	5	0	25	463	1011	−548	10

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders

Play-offs

	Qualifying play-off					Qualifying semi-final					Preliminary final					Grand Final
						1	Bradford Bulls	40								Bradford Bulls		6
							St. Helens	4								St. Helens		8
	2	St. Helens	38								St. Helens		36
	3	Leeds Rhinos	14			Elimination semi-final					Castleford Tigers		6
						Leeds Rhinos		16
	4	Wigan Warriors	10			Castleford Tigers		23
	5	Castleford Tigers	14

See also

• 1999 Super League Grand Final