1967–68 Northern Rugby Football League season
| 1967–68 Rugby Football League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern 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.
Contents
1 Season summary
2 Championship
2.1 Play-offs
3 Challenge Cup
4 Operational rules
5 Kangaroo Tour
6 References
7 Sources
Season summary
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.
The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Leigh 8-5 in the final.[1]
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. 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.
Championship
| 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
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| Leeds | 31 | |||||||||||||
| Widnes | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Leeds | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Wigan | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Bradford Northern | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Wigan | 28 | |||||||||||||
| Wigan | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Castleford | 47 | |||||||||||||
| Salford | 15 | |||||||||||||
| Catleford | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 20 | |||||||||||||
| Huddersfield | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Warrington | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Hull | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Warrington | 0 | |||||||||||||
| St Helens | 20 | |||||||||||||
| St Helens | ||||||||||||||
| Halifax | ||||||||||||||
| St Helens | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 23 | Third place | ||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Swinton | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 22 | |||||||||||||
| Leigh | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Leigh | 43 | |||||||||||||
| Workington Town | 4 | |||||||||||||
Challenge Cup
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]
Operational rules
The playing of matches on Sundays was sanctioned for the first time in December 1967.[citation needed] This change was made to avoid competition from association football clubs.
Kangaroo Tour
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.[6]
| game | Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 September |  Australia def.  Warrington 17–6 | Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington | 11,642 |
| 2 | 4 October |  Yorkshire def. Australia 15–14 | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 19,370 |
| 3 | 7 October | Hull Kingston Rovers def. Australia 27–15 | Craven Park, Hull | 11,252 |
| 4 | 11 October | Australia def.  Lancashire 14–2 | The Willows, Salford | 9,369 |
| 5 | 13 October |  Wigan def. Australia 12–6 | Central Park, Wigan | 22,770 |
| 6 | 16 October | Australia def.  Rochdale Hornets 25–2 | Athletic Grounds, Rochdale | 2,676 |
| 7 | 21 October |  Great Britain def.  Australia 16–11 | Headingley, Leeds | 22,293 |
| 8 | 24 October |  St Helens def. Australia 8–4 | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 17,275 |
| 9 | 28 October | Australia def. Wakefield Trinity 33–7 | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 10,056 |
| 10 | 3 November | Australia def. Great Britain 17–11 | White City Stadium, London | 17,445 |
| 11 | 9 November |  Castleford def. Australia 22–3 | Wheldon Road, Castleford | 17,275 |
| 12 | 11 November | Australia def.  Oldham 18–8 | The Watersheddings, Oldham | 3,174 |
| 13 | 13 November | Australia def.  Widnes 33–11 | Naughton Park, Widnes | 9,828 |
| 14 | 16 November |  Barrow drew with Australia 10–10 | Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness | 8,418 |
| 15 | 18 November |  Cumberland def. Australia 17–15 | Derwent Park, Workington | 7,545 |
| 16 | 22 November | Australia def.  Swinton 12–9 | Station Road, Swinton | 5,640 |
| 17 | 25 November | Australia def. Leeds 7–4 | Headingley, Leeds | 5,522 |
| 18 | 29 November | Australia def.  Halifax 22–2 | Thrum Hall, Halifax | 5,285 |
| 19 | 2 December | Australia def.  Bradford Northern 7–3 | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 14,173 |
| 20 | 9 December | Australia def. Great Britain 11–3 | Station Road, Swinton | 13,615 |
References
^ "1967-68 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2009-08-08..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Hull F.C. History". Retrieved 2009-10-23.
[permanent dead link]
^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
^ Demsteader, Christine (2000-10-01). "Rugby League's home from home". BBC Sport. UK: BBC. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
^ "Watersplash Final". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
^ Legends of Australian sport: The Inside Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. 2003. p. 79. ISBN 9780702234101.
Sources
- 1967-68 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
- The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website
