1986–87 Rugby Football League season
LeagueStones Bitter Championship
1986–87 Season
Champions Wigan
Premiership winners Wigan
Man of Steel Award Ellery Hanley
Top point-scorer(s) Paul Loughlin 424
Top try-scorer(s) Ellery Hanley 63
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division Hunslet
Swinton
Relegated to Second Division Oldham
Featherstone Rovers
Barrow
Wakefield Trinity
Second Division
Champions Hunslet
Top try-scorer(s) Derek Bate 31

The 1986–87 Rugby Football League season was the 92nd season of rugby league football. Sixteen clubs competed for the Championship which was determined by League position.

Season summary

The Silk Cut Challenge Cup Winners were Halifax who beat St. Helens 19-18 in the final.

The John Player Special Trophy Winners were Wigan who beat Warrington 18-4 in the final.

The Stones Bitter Premiership Trophy Winners were Wigan who beat Warrington 8-0 in the final.

Wigan beat Oldham 27–6 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Castleford beat Hull F.C. 31–24 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

Stones Bitter League Champions were Wigan for the tenth time in their history, losing only two league games all season - both to Warrington. Oldham, Featherstone Rovers, Barrow and Wakefield Trinity were relegated. A one-off 'two-up, four-down' promotion was used to reduce the top division to 14 clubs.

Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts
1 Wigan30280294119356
2 St. Helens30201983546541
3 Warrington30201972846441
4 Castleford302001063142940
5 Halifax301711255348735
6 Hull Kingston Rovers301601444653132
7 Bradford Northern301511455555031
8 Widnes301401659861328
9 Salford301401650965628
10 Leigh301311654961027
11 Hull301311653865027
12 Leeds301301756557126
13 Oldham301301755467926
14 Featherstone Rovers30812149877617
15 Barrow30722145672516
16 Wakefield Trinity3041253869439
  Champions   Play-offs   Relegated

Second Division

A complicated fixture formula was introduced in the Second Division and continued until the 1991–92 season.[1] 2nd Division Champions were Hunslet, and Swinton were also promoted.

Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts
1Hunslet28250372221850
2Swinton28231471332347
3Whitehaven28211657730443
4Doncaster28201758638841
5Rochdale Hornets28191851936939
6Sheffield Eagles281701162542634
7Bramley281601240744032
8Carlisle281511246344631
9Blackpool Borough281401453047728
10York281101749253722
11Runcorn Highfield281011739153321
12Fulham28821846163218
13Batley28901933552818
14Workington Town28901940565218
15Huddersfield Barracudas28802045667316
16Mansfield Marksman28802036659216
17Dewsbury28802032856316
18Keighley28702136664114
  Champions   Play-offs   Promoted   Relegated

Challenge Cup

Wigan’s 10-8 defeat to Oldham in Round One this season, would be their last Challenge Cup defeat until February 1996.

Halifax and St Helens reached the final with 'Fax coming out victorious with a 19-18 win at Wembley before a crowd of 91,267.[2] A desperate tackle by Halifax's John Pendlebury was seen as instrumental in giving his side the victory,[3] which was their fifth in twelve Final appearances.

Halifax's Australian fullback, Graham Eadie, won the Lance Todd Trophy.

League Cup

Premiership

Kangaroo Tour

The months of October and November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1986 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 (Wigan, Hull KR, Leeds, Halifax, St Helens, Oldham, Widnes, Hull, and Bradford Northern) and one county side (Cumbria).

The 1986 Kangaroos were coached by Don Furner who had toured as a player in 1956–57 while the team captain was Wally Lewis who had been the vice-captain of the 1982 Kangaroos.

Dual-rugby international Michael O'Connor of the St George Dragons was the leading point scorer on the tour with 170 from 13 tries and 59 goals. Canterbury-Bankstown stand-off / loose forward Terry Lamb was the leading try scorer with 19, including scoring 5 against Hull Kingston Rovers at Craven Park on 15 October. Lamb also became the first player to appear in every match of a Kangaroo Tour.

The 1986 Kangaroos became known as The Unbeatables after their second successive unbeaten Kangaroo Tour.

gameDateResultVenueAttendance
112 October Australia def. Wigan 26–18Central Park, Wigan30,622
215 October Australia def. Hull Kingston Rovers 46–10Craven Park, Hull6,868
319 October Australia def. Leeds 40–0Headingley, Leeds11,389
421 October Australia def. Cumbria Cumbria 48–12Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness4,233
525 October Australia def.  Great Britain 38–16Old Trafford, Manchester50,583
629 October Australia def. Halifax 36–2Thrum Hall, Halifax7,193
72 November Australia def. St. Helens 32–8Knowsley Road, St Helens15,381
84 November Australia def. Oldham 22–16The Watersheddings, Oldham5,678
98 November Australia def.  Great Britain 34–4Elland Road, Leeds30,808
1012 November Australia def. Widnes 20–4Naughton Park, Widnes10,268
1116 November Australia def. Hull F.C. 13–7The Boulevard, Hull8,231
1218 November Australia def. Bradford Northern 38–0Odsal Stadium, Bradford10,633
1320 November Australia def.  Great Britain 24–15Central Park, Wigan20,169

References

  1. ↑ "1986-87 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  2. ↑ Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
  3. ↑ news.bbc.co.uk (27 February 2004). "Cup heroes: John Pendlebury". BBC News. UK: BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2011.

Sources

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