2003 Super League season

Super League VIII
League	Super League
Duration	28 Rounds
Teams	12
Highest attendance	21,784 Bradford Bulls vs Leeds Rhinos (23 May)
Lowest attendance	1,276 Halifax vs London Broncos (22 Aug)
Attendance	1,336,374 (average 7,955)
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports
2003 Season
Champions	Bradford Bulls 3rd Super League title 5th British title
League Leaders	Bradford Bulls
Man of Steel	Jamie Peacock
Top point-scorer(s)	Paul Deacon (286)
Top try-scorer(s)	Dennis Moran (24)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from National League One	Salford City Reds
Relegated to National League One	Halifax
← 2002 2004 →

Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League.

The season culminated in a replay of the 2001 Grand Final between Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors, and again Bradford won, claiming the 2003 Championship, their second in three years.

Rule changes

• The knock-on rule was modified so that if in the referee's judgement a player did not play at the ball, a knock-on would not be given. ^[1]
• Super League coaches voted 12-0 for new interchange and substitution rules for the 2003 season. ^[2] The number of interchanges, which now included blood bins, increased from 6 to 12 using a pool of 4 substitutes. ^{[1] [2]} This change aimed to retain the element of wearing down a team's opponents during the game – which was considered part of the character of the sport. ^[2] Stuart Cummings, the Rugby Football League's technical controller said the changes "bring us into line with the international rules" and ruled out future increases as well as declaring, "We will never see the unlimited interchange introduced into rugby league in Britain," a change that had caused controversy in Australia during its experiment there. ^[2]

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bradford Bulls (L, C)	28	22	0	6	878	529	+349	44	Semi Final
2	Leeds Rhinos	28	19	3	6	751	555	+196	41
3	Wigan Warriors	28	19	2	7	776	512	+264	40	Elimination Semi Final
4	St Helens	28	16	1	11	845	535	+310	31 [a]
5	London Broncos	28	14	2	12	643	696	−53	30
6	Warrington Wolves	28	14	1	13	748	619	+129	29
7	Hull F.C.	28	13	3	12	701	577	+124	27 [b]
8	Castleford Tigers	28	12	1	15	612	633	−21	25
9	Widnes Vikings	28	12	1	15	640	727	−87	25
10	Huddersfield Giants	28	11	1	16	628	715	−87	23
11	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	28	7	1	20	505	774	−269	15
12	Halifax (R)	28	1	0	27	372	1227	−855	0 [c]	Relegation to National League One

Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. St Helens deducted 2 points for salary cap breaches.
2. Hull FC deducted 2 points for salary cap breaches.
3. Halifax deducted 2 points for salary cap breaches.

Play-offs

	Elimination play-offs					Qualifying / Elimination semifinal					Elimination final					Grand Final
						1	Bradford Bulls	30								Bradford Bulls		25
						2	Leeds Rhinos	14								Wigan Warriors		12
											Leeds Rhinos		22
	3	Wigan Warriors	25
											Wigan Warriors		23
	6	Warrington Wolves	12
						Wigan Warriors		40
						St. Helens		24
	4	St. Helens	24
	5	London Broncos	6

Source: Rugby League Project ^[3]

Grand Final

Main article: 2003 Super League Grand Final

Media

Television

This season was the final year of Sky Sports' contract with the Rugby Football League allowing them to broadcast matches exclusively live, the deal ended in November 2003. ^[4]

Records

On 2 March, Matt Crowther of Hull F.C. equalled the club record for goals in a match when he was successful 14 times against Sheffield Eagles. ^[5]

2003 Transfers

Players

Player	2002 Club	2003 Club
Brandon Costin	Bradford Bulls	Huddersfield Giants
Brian McDermott	Bradford Bulls	Retirement
Richard Gay	Castleford Tigers	Retirement
Barrie-Jon Mather	Castleford Tigers	Kubota Spears (Japanese rugby union)
Gary Mercer	Castleford Tigers	Retirement
Kyle Warren	Castleford Tigers	Retirement
Jon Wells	Castleford Tigers	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Robbie Beckett	Halifax Blue Sox	NRL: Wests Tigers
Jamie Bloem	Halifax Blue Sox	Huddersfield Giants
Gavin Clinch	Halifax Blue Sox	Salford City Reds (National League One)
Andrew Dunemann	Halifax Blue Sox	Leeds Rhinos
Jason Flowers	Halifax Blue Sox	Salford City Reds (National League One)
Jim Gannon	Halifax Blue Sox	Huddersfield Giants
Brett Goldspink	Halifax Blue Sox	Retirement
Karle Hammond	Halifax Blue Sox	Retirement
Jamie Thackray	Halifax Blue Sox	Castleford Tigers
David Woods	Halifax Blue Sox	Retirement
Lee Jackson	Hull F.C.	York City Knights
Graham Mackay	Hull F.C.	Retirement
Tonie Carroll	Leeds Rhinos	NRL: Brisbane Broncos
Darren Fleary	Leeds Rhinos	Huddersfield Giants
Andy Hay	Leeds Rhinos	Widnes Vikings
Karl Pratt	Leeds Rhinos	Bradford Bulls
Ryan Sheridan	Leeds Rhinos	Widnes Vikings
Marcus St Hilaire	Leeds Rhinos	Huddersfield Giants
Adrian Vowles	Leeds Rhinos	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Ben Walker	Leeds Rhinos	NRL: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Richie Barnett	London Broncos	Hull F.C.
Wayne Evans	London Broncos	Retirement
Michael Gillett	London Broncos	Retirement
Jason Hetherington	London Broncos	Retirement
Mark Corvo	Salford City Reds	Retirement
Damian Gibson	Salford City Reds	Castleford Tigers
Michael Hancock	Salford City Reds	Retirement
Graham Holroyd	Salford City Reds	Huddersfield Giants
Warren Jowitt	Salford City Reds	Hull F.C.
Francis Maloney	Salford City Reds	Castleford Tigers
Jason Nicol	Salford City Reds	Retirement
Nick Pinkney	Salford City Reds	Hull Kingston Rovers (National League One)
Darren Shaw	Salford City Reds	Oldham (National League One)
Darren Treacy	Salford City Reds	NRL: Parramatta Eels
Mike Wainwright	Salford City Reds	Warrington Wolves
Darren Britt	St. Helens	Retirement
Sean Hoppe	St. Helens	Retirement
Sonny Nickle	St. Helens	Leigh Centurions (National League One)
Peter Shiels	St. Helens	Retirement
Deon Bird	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Widnes Vikings
Paul Broadbent	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	York City Knights
Chris Feather	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Leeds Rhinos
Andrew Frew	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Halifax
Phil Hassan	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Swinton Lions
Paul Jackson	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Castleford Tigers
Neil Law	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	York City Knights
Martin Moana	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Halifax
Kris Tassell	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Swinton Lions
Nathan Wood	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Warrington Wolves
Dean Busby	Warrington Wolves	Hull Kingston Rovers (National League One)
Dale Laughton	Warrington Wolves	Retirement
Paul Marquet	Warrington Wolves	Retirement
Matthew Rodwell	Warrington Wolves	Retirement
Steve Carter	Widnes Vikings	Retirement
Troy Stone	Widnes Vikings	Retirement
Craig Weston	Widnes Vikings	Hiatus
Gary Connolly	Wigan Warriors	Leeds Rhinos
David Furner	Wigan Warriors	Leeds Rhinos
Harvey Howard	Wigan Warriors	Hull Kingston Rovers (National League One)
Marvin Golden	Doncaster Dragons (Northern Ford Premiership)	Widnes Vikings
Chris Thorman	Huddersfield Giants (Northern Ford Premiership)	London Broncos
Matt Calland	Rochdale Hornets (Northern Ford Premiership)	Huddersfield Giants
Darren Smith	NRL: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	St. Helens
Colin Best	NRL: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Hull F.C.
Nick Graham	NRL: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Wigan Warriors
Chris McKenna	NRL: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Leeds Rhinos
Paul Mellor	NRL: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Castleford Tigers
Dean Treister	NRL: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Hull F.C.
Ian Sibbit	NRL: Melbourne Storm	Warrington Wolves
Julian Bailey	NRL: Newcastle Knights	Huddersfield Giants
Clinton O'Brien	NRL: Newcastle Knights	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Bill Peden	NRL: Newcastle Knights	London Broncos
Shontayne Hape	NRL: New Zealand Warriors	Bradford Bulls
Anthony Colella	NRL: South Sydney Rabbitohs	Huddersfield Giants
Brent Grose	NRL: South Sydney Rabbitohs	Warrington Wolves
Jason Hooper	NRL: St. George Illawarra Dragons	St. Helens
Shane Millard	NRL: St. George Illawarra Dragons	Widnes Vikings
Dallas Hood	NRL: Sydney Roosters	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Ben Jeffries	NRL: Wests Tigers	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Matt Seers	NRL: Wests Tigers	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Quentin Pongia	Villeneuve Leopards (Elite One Championship)	Wigan Warriors
Neil Harmon	N/A	Halifax
Damian Kennedy	N/A	London Broncos

See also

• 2003 Super League Grand Final
• 2003 World Club Challenge

References

1. "Sculthorpe questions rule changes". BBC Sport. 20 February 2003. Archived from the original on 27 February 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
2. Ray French (16 May 2002). "All change, please". BBC. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
3. "Super League VIII 2003". Rugby League Project. 31 December 2012. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
4. "More money for League from TV deal". The Telegraph. 3 February 2004. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
5. "Hull F.C. History" . Retrieved 23 October 2009.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}

External links

• Super League VIII at wigan.rlfans.com
• Super League VIII at rugbyleagueproject.com