Super League IV
| League | Super League | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 30 Rounds | |||
| Number of teams | 14 | |||
| Highest attendance | 24,020 Bradford Bulls vs Leeds Rhinos (3 Sept) | |||
| Lowest attendance | 1,580 Gateshead Thunder vs Hull Sharks (19 May) | |||
| Broadcast partners | | |||
| 1999 Season | ||||
| Champions | 2nd Super League title 9th English title | |||
| League Leaders | | |||
| Man of Steel | | |||
| Top point-scorer(s) | | |||
| Top try-scorer(s) | | |||
| Left League | ||||
| Merger with Hull Merger with Huddersfield |
| |||
| ||||
JJB Sports Super League IV was the official name for the year 1999's Super League championship season, the 105th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the fourth championship run by Super League. The start of Super League IV saw the emergence of a North East based Rugby League Club, Gateshead Thunder as well as newly promoted Wakefield Trinity Wildcats to expand the league to fourteen teams.
Rule changes
- The 40/20 rule was introduced to reward accurate kicking in general play.[1][2] The rule, which had been used in Australia since 1997, gave the head and feed at the resulting scrum to a team that kicked the ball from behind their 40-metre line so that it bounced in the field of play before going into touch behind their opponent's 20 metre line.[3][4]
Season summary
The season finished with a grand final between 1997 champions Bradford Bulls and the inaugural Super League champions St. Helens in which the Saints triumphed in a closely contested game.[5]
Super League IV Table
Regular Season Final Standings
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 897 | 445 | +452 | 51 | |
| 2 | 30 | 23 | 0 | 7 | 1034 | 561 | +473 | 46 | |
| 3 | 30 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 910 | 558 | +352 | 45 | |
| 4 | 30 | 21 | 1 | 8 | 877 | 390 | +487 | 43 | |
| 5 | 30 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 712 | 451 | +261 | 41 | |
| 6 | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 775 | 576 | +199 | 39 | |
| 7 | 30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 700 | 717 | -17 | 31 | |
| 8 | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 644 | 708 | -64 | 28 | |
| 9 | 30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 573 | 792 | -219 | 22 | |
| 10 | 30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 518 | 818 | -300 | 21 | |
| 11 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 608 | 795 | -187 | 20 | |
| 12 | 30 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 526 | 916 | -390 | 13 | |
| 13 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 422 | 921 | -499 | 10 | |
| 14 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 463 | 1011 | -548 | 10 |
| Play-offs |
Play-offs
| Qualifying / Elimination play-offs | Qualifying / Elimination semi-finals | Final eliminator | Grand Final | |||||||||||||||||||
| QSF: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | |
40 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |
4 | GF: 9 October 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |
6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QPO: | FE: | |
8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | |
38 | |
36 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | |
14 | ESF: | |
6 | |||||||||||||||||
| |
16 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EPO: | |
23 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | |
10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | |
14 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
End of season mergers
Huddersfield managed to avoid relegation again despite finishing bottom due to the merger with Sheffield Eagles to form Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants. Also at the end of this season Gateshead Thunder and Hull Sharks were merged to form Hull F.C. with no attempt made to maintain any association with Gateshead, a new Gateshead Thunder would be formed for the 2001 Premiership season.
See also
References
- ↑ Andy Wilson (2004-08-09). "Moran leaves Vikings with a sinking feeling". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
- ↑ Dave Hadfield (1999-05-24). "Saints restore faith in game with emphasis on attack". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
- ↑ de la Riviere, Richard, ed. (2009). Top ten: Rugby league rules. Rugby League World. Brighouse, UK: League Publications (published August 2009). p. 61. ISSN 1466-0105.
- ↑ BBC Sport (2005-09-12). "The 40/20 kick". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "St. Helens 8-6 Bradford". Rugby League World. 1999-10-09. Retrieved 2007-08-09.