2008 Harlequins Rugby League season

The 2008 Harlequins Rugby League season was the twenty-ninth in the club's history and their thirteenth season in the Super League. The club was coached by Brian McDermott, competing in Super League XIII, finishing in 9th place and reaching the Fifth round of the 2008 Challenge Cup.

2008 Harlequins Rugby League season
Super League XIII Rank	9th
Challenge Cup	Fifth round
2008 record	Wins: 12; losses: 17
Points scored	For: 639; against: 813
Team information
Chairman	David Hughes
Coach	Brian McDermott
Captain	Rob Purdham
Stadium	The Stoop
Avg. attendance	3,566
High attendance	8,041
Top scorers
Tries	Tony Clubb - 10 Matt Gafa - 10
Goals	Rob Purdham - 52
Points	Rob Purdham - 124
Home colours Away colours
← 2007 List of seasons 2009 →

2008 Squad

Squad Number	Name	Representative country	Position	Age	Previous club	Appearances	Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
1	Mark McLinden		Fullback	29	Canberra Raiders	7	1	0	0	4
2	Jon Wells		Wing	29	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	19	2	0	0	8
3	Matt Gafa		Centre	30	Canberra Raiders	14	10	0	0	40
4	David Howell		Centre	24	Canberra Raiders	26	8	0	0	32
5	Rikki Sheriffe		Wing	24	Doncaster	24	8	0	0	32
6	Scott Hill		Stand-off	31	Melbourne Storm	21	7	0	0	28
7	Danny Orr		Scrum-half	30	Wigan Warriors	25	5	0	0	20
8	Karl Temata		Prop	30	New Zealand Warriors	26	1	0	0	4
9	Chad Randall		Hooker	27	Manly Sea Eagles	29	9	0	0	36
10	Daniel Heckenberg		Prop	28	Manly Sea Eagles	12	0	0	0	0
11	Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook		Second-row	22	London Broncos Academy	15	5	0	0	20
13	Rob Purdham		Loose forward	28	Whitehaven	23	5	52	0	124
14	Julien Rinaldi		Hooker	29	Catalans Dragons	23	4	0	0	16
15	Chris Melling		Fullback	23	Wigan Warriors	20	6	0	0	24
16	Gareth Haggerty		Prop	26	Salford City Reds	25	5	0	0	20
17	Danny Ward		Prop	28	Hull Kingston Rovers	28	1	0	0	4
18	Joe Mbu		Second-row	24	Doncaster	23	1	0	0	4
19	Tony Clubb		Centre	21	London Broncos Academy	25	10	0	0	40
20	Jon Grayshon		Prop	25	Huddersfield Giants	21	2	0	0	8
21	David Tootill		Prop	22	Leeds Rhinos	0	0	0	0	0
22	Dwayne Barker		Second-row	23	Castleford Tigers	10	1	0	0	4
23	Henry Paul		Loose forward	34	Gloucester Rugby	27	7	39	1	107
24	Will Sharp		Centre	22	Harlequins Rugby League Academy	15	7	0	0	28
25	Lamont Bryan		Wing	20	Harlequins Rugby League Academy	5	0	0	0	0
26	Joe Walsh		Second-row	19	Leeds Rhinos	2	0	0	0	0
27	Michael Worrincy		Second-row	22	Harlequins Rugby League Academy	18	9	0	0	36
28	Dave Williams		Prop	21	Harlequins Rugby League Academy	1	0	0	0	0
29	Adam Janowski		Prop	20	Harlequins Rugby League Academy	1	0	0	0	0
30	Jamie O'Callaghan		Centre	17	Harlequins Rugby League Academy	3	0	0	0	0
31	Dylan Skee		Stand-off	22	Harlequins Rugby League Academy	1	0	0	0	0

^[1]

2008 Signings & transfers

2008 Signings/Transfers : Gains

Player	Previous club	Years signed	Until the end of
Scott Hill	Melbourne Storm	2	2008
Julien Rinaldi	Catalans Dragons	2	2008
Jon Grayshon	Huddersfield Giants	1	2007
David Tootill	Leeds Rhinos	2	2008
Chris Melling	Wigan Warriors	1	2007
Danny Orr	Wigan Warriors	3	2009
Sione Faumuina	North Queensland Cowboys	3	2009
Joe Walsh	Leeds Rhinos	2	2008
Andy Smith	Bradford Bulls	1	2007
Richard Villasanti	Cronulla Sharks	2	2008
Luke Burgess	Leeds Rhinos	loan	2007
Joe Mbu	Doncaster	1	2007
Rikki Sheriffe	Doncaster	1	2007
Steve Bannister	St. Helens	3	2009

^[2]

2008 Signings/Transfers : Losses

Player	Signed for	When left
Luke Dorn	Salford City Reds	2006
Danny Williams	Retirement	2006
Pat Weisner	Hull Kingston Rovers	2006
Nick Bradley-Qalilawa	Manly Sea Eagles	2006
Neil Budworth	Celtic Crusaders	2006
Thomas Leuluai	Wigan Warriors	2006
Mark Tookey	Manly Sea Eagles coaching position	2006
Filimone Lolohea	Released	2006
Joe Mbu	Doncaster	2006
Rikki Sheriffe	Doncaster	2006
Paul Noone	Widnes Vikings	2006
Ade Adebisi	Doncaster	2006
Anthony Stewart	Leigh Centurions	2006
Tim Hartley	Halifax	2006
Sione Faumuina	North Queensland Cowboys	2006
/ Solomon Haumono	Returned to boxing	2006
Richard Villasanti	Retirement due to injury	2007

^[3]

2008 Gains & losses

2008 Re-Signings

Player	Until the end of
Chris Melling	2009
Matt Gafa	2008
Karl Temata	2008
Jon Grayshon	2008
Rikki Sheriffe	2008
Henry Paul	2008
Chad Randall	2009

2008 Losses^[4]

Player	Signed for	Fee
Lee Hopkins	Retiring	n/a
Paul Sykes	Bradford Bulls	undisclosed
Tyrone Smith	CA Brumbies	released
David Mills	Hull Kingston Rovers	released
Andy Smith	Unknown	released

2008 Gains^[5]

Player	Signed from	Fee
Henry Fa'afili	Warrington Wolves	out of contract
Gareth Haggerty	Salford City Reds	pre-contract agreement
Danny Ward	Hull Kingston Rovers	out of contract

Super League XIII table

Super League XIII

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	St. Helens (L)	27	21	1	5	940	457	+483	43	Semi-final
2	Leeds Rhinos (C)	27	21	0	6	863	413	+450	42
3	Catalans Dragons	27	16	2	9	694	625	+69	34	Elimination semi-finals
4	Wigan Warriors	27	13	3	11	648	698	−50	29
5	Bradford Bulls	27	14	0	13	705	625	+80	28
6	Warrington Wolves	27	14	0	13	690	713	−23	28
7	Hull Kingston Rovers	27	11	1	15	564	713	−149	23
8	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	27	11	0	16	574	760	−186	22
9	Harlequins	27	11	0	16	569	763	−194	22
10	Huddersfield Giants	27	10	1	16	638	681	−43	21
11	Hull F.C.	27	8	1	18	538	699	−161	17
12	Castleford Tigers	27	7	1	19	593	869	−276	15

Source: superleague.co.uk
Rules for classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners

2008 Fixtures/Results

2008 Engage Super League

Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result (W/D/L)	Attendance
1	Harlequins RL	28–47	Wigan Warriors	L	8,041
2	Hull	6–24	Harlequins RL	W	13,313
3	Harlequins RL	34–18	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	W	3,176
4	Castleford Tigers	16–22	Harlequins RL	W	6,268
5	Harlequins RL	24–0	Huddersfield Giants	W	3,284
6		–		.	—
7		–		.	—
CCC4		–		.	—
8		–		.	—
9		–		.	—
10		–		.	—
11		–		.	—
12		–		.	—
13 (a)		–		.	—
14		–		.	—
15		–		.	—
16		–		.	—
17		–		.	—
18		–		.	—
19		–		.	—
20		–		.	—
21		–		.	—
22		–		.	—
23		–		.	—
24		–		.	—
25		–		.	—
26		–		.	—
27		–		.	—
ESL PO1		–		.	—
ESL PO2		–		.	—
ESL PO3		–		.	—
ESL GF		–		.	—

Notes

(a) Round 13 played at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

(b) engage Super League Grand Final to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester.