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1967–68 Northern Rugby Football League season

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1967–68 Rugby Football League season
LeagueNorthern Rugby Football League
Champions Wakefield Trinity
League Leaders Leeds
Top point-scorer(s) Bev Risman 332
Top try-scorer(s) Roger Millward 38

The 1967–68 Rugby Football League season was the 73rd season of rugby league football.

Season summary

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The playing of matches on Sundays was sanctioned for the first time in December 1967.[1] This change was made to avoid competition from association football clubs.

Leeds had ended the regular season as league leaders for the second successive season. Wakefield Trinity won their second Championship, the second in successive seasons, when they beat Hull Kingston Rovers 17-10 in the Championship Final. Gary Cooper was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.

The Challenge Cup winners were Leeds who beat Wakefield Trinity 11-10 in the final.

Clive Sullivan of Hull F.C. set a club record of 7-tries scored in a match against Doncaster on 15 April 1968.[2]

Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League.

Championship

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Team Pld W D L Pts
1 Leeds 34 28 0 6 56
2 Wakefield Trinity 34 24 1 9 49
3 Hull Kingston Rovers 34 24 1 9 49
4 St. Helens 34 24 1 9 49
5 Warrington 34 24 0 10 48
6 Bradford Northern 34 24 0 10 48
7 Leigh 34 22 1 11 45
8 Castleford 34 22 1 11 45
9 Salford 34 22 0 12 44
10 Workington Town 34 21 1 12 43
11 Wigan 34 21 0 13 42
12 Hull 34 21 0 13 42
13 Halifax 34 19 2 13 40
14 Swinton 34 18 1 15 37
15 Huddersfield 34 17 2 15 36
16 Widnes 34 17 1 16 35
17 Dewsbury 34 17 0 17 34
18 Featherstone Rovers 34 16 0 18 32
19 Barrow 34 14 0 20 28
20 Bramley 34 14 0 20 28
21 Hunslet 34 13 0 21 26
22 Oldham 34 13 0 21 26
23 Rochdale Hornets 34 13 0 21 26
24 Liverpool City 34 11 2 21 24
25 Whitehaven 34 10 1 23 21
26 York 34 9 1 24 19
27 Keighley 34 8 0 26 16
28 Blackpool Borough 34 6 1 27 13
29 Doncaster 34 4 2 28 10
30 Batley 34 4 1 29 9

Play-offs

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Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
              
 
 
 
 
Leeds31
 
 
 
Widnes17
 
Leeds7
 
 
 
Wigan11
 
Bradford Northern8
 
 
 
Wigan28
 
Wigan9
 
 
 
Wakefield Trinity17
 
Castleford47
 
 
 
Salford15
 
Catleford14
 
 
 
Wakefield Trinity17
 
Wakefield Trinity20
 
 
 
Huddersfield11
 
Wakefield Trinity17
 
 
 
Hull KR10
 
Warrington12
 
 
 
Hull9
 
Warrington0
 
 
 
St Helens20
 
St Helens31
 
 
 
Halifax2
 
St Helens10
 
 
 
Hull KR23
 
Hull KR17
 
 
 
Swinton2
 
Hull KR22
 
 
 
Leigh3
 
Leigh43
 
 
Workington Town4
 

Final

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4 May 1968
Wakefield Trinity 17 – 10 Hull Kingston Rovers
Tries: N. Fox, Owen, Jeanes
Goals: N. Fox (2), Poynton, D. Fox
Tries: Moore, Longstaff
Goals: Millward (2)
Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 22,586
Referee: D. S. Brown (Preston)
Player of the Match: Gary Cooper

Challenge Cup

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Leeds beat Wakefield 11-10 in the final played at Wembley in front of a crowd of 87,100. This was Leeds’ ninth Cup Final win in eleven Final appearances.[3] The Leeds winning team coached by Roy Francis was; Bev Risman, Alan Smith, Syd Hynes, Bernard Watson, John Atkinson, Mick Shoebottom, Barry Seabourne, Mick Clark (c), Tony Crosby, Ken Eyre, Bill Ramsey, Albert Eyre, Ray Batten subs: John Langley, Mick Joyce.

Dubbed the "Watersplash Final", this match was remembered for the atrocious pitch conditions caused by a torrential downpour that left many large puddles on the playing surface.[4] The conditions contributed to a nail biting finale. Leeds had taken an 11-7 lead with a minute to go, but Wakefield scored a try next to the posts from the kick-off. Don Fox had only to convert to win the Final, but pushed it wide of the posts.[5]

County cups

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St. Helens beat Warrington 2–2 (replay 13–10) to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Hull F.C. 8–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Leigh 8-5 in the final.[6]

Kangaroo Tour

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From September until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1967–68 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played matches against club and county representative sides

The 1967–68 Kangaroos were captain-coached by champion St George Dragons centre Reg Gasnier who was making his third tour following from 1959–60 and 1967–68. While his team achieved success, the tour was a tragedy for Gasnier. He broke his leg during the first test at Headingley that saw him sit out the remainder of the English leg. He returned to the field in France but in a minor game against Les Espoirs in Avignon, he suffered a further break. This would ultimately cause him to announce his retirement from playing at the age of just 28. He later told in an interview that he never regretted his decision to retire, explaining that he had been playing rugby league virtually non-stop including juniors, junior representative games, the Sydney premiership, interstate games and international tours since the early 1950s, and felt it was about time that he started devoting more time to his family.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "First Sunday matches are approved". The Guardian. London. 1 December 1967. p. 21. ProQuest 185308768.
  2. ^ "Hull F.C. History". Retrieved 2009-10-23.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  4. ^ Demsteader, Christine (2000-10-01). "Rugby League's home from home". BBC Sport. UK: BBC. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  5. ^ "Watersplash Final". Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  6. ^ "1967-68 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  7. ^ Legends of Australian sport: The Inside Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. 2003. p. 79. ISBN 9780702234101.

Sources

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