1948–49 Northern Rugby Football League season

1948–49 Rugby Football League season
League Northern Rugby Football League
Champions Huddersfield
League Leaders Warrington
Top point-scorer(s) Ted Ward (Wigan) 312
Top try-scorer(s) Lionel Cooper (Huddersfield) 60
< 1947–48 Seasons 1949–50 >

The 1948–49 Rugby Football League season was the fifty-fourth season of rugby league football.

Contents

Season summary

Warrington finished the regular season as the league leaders. However, Huddersfield won their sixth Championship when they beat Warrington 13-12 in the play-off final. Huddersfield's Australian Fullback, Johnny Hunter scored 16 tries during the season, breaking the record for a fullback set by Jim Sullivan.[1]

The Challenge Cup Winners were Bradford Northern who beat Halifax 12-0 in the final.[2]

Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Huddersfield won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Warrington 14–8 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Castleford 18–9 to win the Yorkshire Cup.

Championship

Team Pld W D L Pts
1 Warrington 36 31 0 5 62
2 Wigan 36 28 1 7 57
3 Huddersfield 36 27 0 9 54
4 Barrow 36 25 1 10 51
5 Widnes 36 24 2 10 50
6 Batley 36 23 0 13 46
7 Salford 36 20 5 11 45
8 Workington Town 36 22 1 13 45
9 Swinton 36 21 3 12 45
10 Bradford Northern 36 22 0 14 44
11 St. Helens 36 20 1 15 41
12 Wakefield Trinity 36 19 1 16 39
13 Hull 36 19 0 17 38
14 Leeds 36 18 1 17 37
15 Keighley 36 17 3 16 37
16 Hunslet 36 17 0 19 34
17 Hull Kingston Rovers 36 17 0 19 34
18 Leigh 36 14 5 17 33
19 Castleford 36 16 0 20 32
20 Dewsbury 36 15 1 20 31
21 Belle Vue Rangers 36 14 1 21 29
22 Rochdale Hornets 36 12 3 21 27
23 Oldham 36 12 3 21 27
24 Bramley Buffaloes 36 12 2 22 26
25 Halifax 36 11 3 22 25
26 Featherstone Rovers 36 9 3 24 21
27 Whitehaven 36 6 2 28 14
28 York 36 5 2 29 12
29 Liverpool Stanley 36 3 2 21 8

Play-offs

  Semi-finals Championship Final
                 
1  Warrington 23  
4  Barrow 8  
     Warrington 12
   Huddersfield 13
2  Wigan 5
3  Huddersfield 14  

Challenge Cup

Bradford beat Halifax 12-0 in the final played at Wembley in front of a world record[3] rugby league crowd of 95,050. Trevor Foster and Eric Batten scored the tries for Bradford and Ernest Ward kicked three goals as well as winning the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.[4]

This was Bradford’s fourth Cup Final win in seven Final appearances including one win and one loss during World War II.[5]

European championship

Main article: 1948–49 European Rugby League Championship

This was ninth European Championship and was won for the second time by France.[6]

Results

22 September
 England  11–5  Wales Wigan
23 October
 Wales  9-12  France Swansea
28 November
 France  5-12  England Bordeaux
5 February
 Wales  14–10  England Swansea
12 March
 England  5-12  France Wembley
10 April
 France  11–0  Wales Marseilles

Final standings

Team Played Won Drew Lost For Against Diff Points
 France 4 3 0 1 40 26 +14 6
 England 4 2 0 2 38 36 +2 4
 Wales 4 1 0 3 28 44 −16 2

Sources

References

  1. ^ "Player Profile - Johnny Hunter". yesterdayshero.com.au. SmartPack International Pty Ltd. http://www.yesterdayshero.com.au/PlayerProfile_Johnny-Hunter_4176.aspx. Retrieved 11 June 2011. 
  2. ^ "1948-49 Season summary". http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=368. Retrieved 2009-08-08. 
  3. ^ "Tom Goodman's League Column". The Sydney Morning Herald: p. 9. 1950-05-04. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=c_kQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EZMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7324,443675. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
  4. ^ "Bradford bulls History". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. http://www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/content/History/3559/1940%20-%201950:%20Wartime%20&%20Wembley. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
  5. ^ "RFL All Time Records". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. http://www.webcitation.org/5jpnxlTKy. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
  6. ^ Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. 1995. p. 424. ISBN 0747278172. 
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