Super League IV
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 the 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.
| Super League IV | |
|---|---|
| League | Super League |
| Duration | 30 Rounds |
| 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 |  Sky Sports |
| 1999 Season | |
| Champions |  St. Helens2nd Super League title 9th English title |
| League Leaders |  Bradford Bulls |
| Man of Steel |  Adrian Vowles |
| Top point-scorer(s) |  Iestyn Harris (325) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |  Toa Kohe-Love (25) |
| Left League | |
| Merger with Hull Merger with Huddersfield |  Gateshead Thunder;  Sheffield Eagles |
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]
Teams
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Reigning Champions | |
| Promoted | |
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford Bulls |
Odsal | 27,000 | Bradford, West Yorkshire | |
| Castleford Tigers |
Wheldon Road | 11,750 | Castleford, West Yorkshire | |
 Halifax Blue Sox |
Thrum Hall | 9,832 | Halifax, West Yorkshire | |
 Huddersfield Giants |
Galpharm Stadium | 24,500 | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire | |
 Hull Sharks |
The Boulevard | 10,500 | Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire | |
| Leeds Rhinos |
Headingley | 21,500 | Leeds, West Yorkshire | |
 London Broncos |
The Valley | 27,000 | Charlton, Greater London | |
 Salford Reds |
The Willows | 11,363 | Salford, Greater Manchester | |
| Sheffield Eagles |
Don Valley Stadium | 25,000 | Sheffield, South Yorkshire | |
| St. Helens |
Knowsley Road | 17,500 | St Helens, Mersyside | |
| Warrington Wolves |
Wilderspool | 9,200 | Warrington, Cheshire | |
 Wigan Warriors |
Central Park | 18,000 | Wigan, Greater Manchester |
Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bradford Bulls |
30 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 897 | 445 | +452 | 51 | Play-off Semi Final |
| 2 | St Helens |
30 | 23 | 0 | 7 | 1034 | 561 | +473 | 46 | Play-off Qualifying Final |
| 3 | Leeds Rhinos |
30 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 910 | 558 | +352 | 45 | |
| 4 | Wigan Warriors |
30 | 21 | 1 | 8 | 877 | 390 | +487 | 43 | Play-off Eliminator Final |
| 5 |  Castleford Tigers |
30 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 712 | 451 | +261 | 41 | |
| 6 | Gateshead Thunder |
30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 775 | 576 | +199 | 39 | |
| 7 | Warrington Wolves |
30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 700 | 717 | -17 | 31 | |
| 8 | London Broncos |
30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 644 | 708 | -64 | 28 | |
| 9 | Halifax Blue Sox |
30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 573 | 792 | -219 | 22 | |
| 10 | Sheffield Eagles |
30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 518 | 818 | -300 | 21 | |
| 11 |  Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 608 | 795 | -187 | 20 | |
| 12 | Salford City Reds |
30 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 526 | 916 | -390 | 13 | |
| 13 | Hull Sharks |
30 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 422 | 921 | -499 | 10 | |
| 14 | Huddersfield Giants |
30 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 463 | 1011 | -548 | 10 |
Play-offs
| Qualifying / Elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary final | Grand Final | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Bradford Bulls |
40 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens |
4 | 9 October 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bradford Bulls |
6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens |
8 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | St. Helens |
38 | St. Helens |
36 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Leeds Rhinos |
14 | Castleford Tigers |
6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leeds Rhinos |
16 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Castleford Tigers |
23 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Wigan Warriors |
10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Castleford Tigers |
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.
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