2010 RFL Championship

Last updated

Co-operative Championship 2010
2010 and 2011 RFL Championship Logo.jpg
The Co-operative Championship logo
League Co-operative Championship
Duration22 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs)
Teams11
Highest attendance3,686
Widnes vs. Halifax (18 Mar)
Lowest attendance835
Sheffield vs. Dewsbury (19 Mar)
Average attendance1,771 Increase2.svg
Attendance53,130 Increase2.svg
Broadcast partners Sky Sports
2010 Season
Champions Faxcolours.svg Halifax
League leaders Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers
Runners-up Faxcolours.svg Halifax
Promotion and relegation
Relegated to Championship 1 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven
Cougscolours.svg Keighley Cougars

The 2010 Rugby Football League Championship is known as Co-operative Championship due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group.

Contents

The 2010 Co-operative Championship is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom and France one tier below the first tier Super League. The two worst performing teams during the season, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique, will be relegated to Championship 1.

There is no automatic promotion from this league to Super League, which uses a licensing system renewed every three years. Qualifying for the grand final or winning the Northern Rail Cup is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for license in the next round of applications for the 2012–14 period.

All of the teams in the 2010 Co-operative Championship will also compete in the 2010 Challenge Cup where they will enter in the third round. All of the teams, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique will compete in the 2010 Northern Rail Cup which starts before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.

Featherstone Rovers finished the league in first place after the regular season but were beaten by Halifax in the grand final 23-22

Teams

This competition features mostly the same teams as it did in 2009. The Dewsbury Rams and Keighley Cougars were promoted from the 2009 Championship One. The Leigh Centurions and Doncaster were meant to be relegated. However, the chairman of Gateshead Thunder wound up the club and they were reformed by the community. This breach of insolvency laws caused them to be relegated and allowed Leigh to stay in the Co-operative Championship.

Legend
 Reigning champions
 Defending Northern Rail Cup Champions
Team & Current SeasonStadiumCapacityLocation
Barrow Raiders Craven Park 7,600 Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Batley Bulldogs Mount Pleasant 6,000 Batley, West Yorkshire
Dewsbury Rams Tetley's Stadium 3,500 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Featherstone Rovers Bigfellas Stadium 6,750 Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Halifax The Shay Stadium 6,561 Halifax, West Yorkshire
Keighley Cougars RLFC Cougar Park 6,800 Keighley, West Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,700 Leigh, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Eagles Bramall Lane 32,702 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Toulouse Olympique XIII (2010 Toulouse Olympique season ) Stade des Minimes 4,066 Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Whitehaven Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria
Widnes Vikings (2010 Widnes Vikings season) Stobart Stadium Halton 13,500 Widnes, Cheshire

Rule changes

Player safety in tackle

The RFL announced two new rule interpretations intended to increase player safety in the tackle: [1]

Salary cap

Fair Play Index

The Fair Play Index was launched in 2007 as part of The RFL's new Official partnership with Frontline Bathrooms. The Fair Play Index (known as the Frontline Fair Play Index through sponsorship) will be putting standards of discipline under the spotlight throughout the 2010 Co-operative Championship campaign.

At the end of the regular season the teams that finish top of the Frontline Fair Play Index will be presented with a specially engraved trophy and £5,000 prize from Frontline Bathrooms.

2010 Fair Play Index

2010 Frontline Fair Play Index
#TeamPenSinOffBanPts
1 Widnes colours.svg Widnes 4500045
2 Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 4600046
3 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 4420050
4 Cougscolours.svg Keighley Cougars 5300053
4 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 5010053
6 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven 5701061
7 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 6110065
7 Faxcolours.svg Halifax 5920065
7 Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 6210065
10 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 6600171
11 Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders 6110484
Source: "2010 Co-Operative Championship Fairplay Index". The RFL. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2010. Note: Stats are correct as of Round 7 of the Co-Operative Championship on 16 April 2010.

Disciplinary record

The following table lists all incidents that were reviewed by the Rugby Football League during 2010 Co-Operative Championship, which were later deemed guilty and resulted in disciplinary action. The offenses were graded, depending on severity, in alphabetical order, "A" being less severe than "B".

Disc dateName of playerGradeOffenseSuspensionFineSource
23 March 2010 Gareth Haggerty CUse of forearm on player not in possession of the ball in 56th minute (Barlow).4 matches £50 Report [ permanent dead link ]
31 March 2010 Brendan Worth BHead butting in 20th minute.1 match£50 Report [ permanent dead link ]

Notable moments

December 2009

February 2010

March 2010

May 2010

League table

2010 Co-operative Championship
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDBPPtsQualification or relegation
1 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 201802735334+401256Qualified for the Play-offs
2 Faxcolours.svg Halifax 201604684509+175250
3 Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 201217580403+177543
4 Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders 201217607449+158139
5 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 201109619488+131538
6 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 20101950355552133
7 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 2070134794889829
8 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 208012486649163327
9 Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 20601445450349826
10 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven (R)204016281707426416Relegation position
11 Cougscolours.svg Keighley Cougars (R)204115362703341410 [a]
Updated to match(es) played on 25 August 2010 (1:12pm). Source: [12] [13]
Rules for classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1.
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Keighley had 5 bonus points, but started the season on −9 points for going into administration.

Play-offs

The 2010 Co-Operative Championship play-off structure. Championship-Play-Off-Structure.png
The 2010 Co-Operative Championship play-off structure.

The play-offs commence following the conclusion of 22 round regular season and include the top six sides from the league.

The 2010 play-offs culminate in a grand final to be held at Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, home of Super League side Warrington Wolves.

The Co-operative Championship uses a top-6 play-off system.

Preliminary semi-finals

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
Date and timeVenueRefereeAttendance
Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 24 – 26 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 2 September, 19:30 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,516
Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders 38 – 0 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 5 September, 15:00 GMT Craven Park 2,434

Qualifying and minor semi-final

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
Date and timeVenueRefereeAttendance
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 46 – 16 Faxcolours.svg Halifax 9 September, 19:30 BST Post Office Road Robert Hicks2,553
Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders 14 – 21 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 10 September, 20:00 BST Craven Park Gareth Hewer2,231

Major semi-final

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
Date and timeVenueRefereeAttendance
Faxcolours.svg Halifax 42 – 16 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 16 September 2010, 19:30 BST The Shay Robert Hicks1,490

Grand final

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
Date and timeVenueRefereeAttendance
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 22 – 23* Faxcolours.svg Halifax 26 September, 17:30 BST Halliwell Jones Stadium Robert Hicks9,443
*Halifax won in extra time via the golden point rule.

Attendances

TeamPlayedHighestLowestTotalAverage
1 Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings 103,6862,65930,2053,021
2 Faxcolours.svg Halifax 104,7951,72525,0902,509
3 Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions 103,3921,26520,1802,018
4 Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 102,3531,35319,1201,912
5 Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders 102,0721,32817,1701,717
6 ToulouseRLcolours.png Toulouse Olympique 102,50085014,3801,438
7 Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles 102,87183513,0801,308
8 Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury Rams 101,93585011,9501,195
9 Cougscolours.svg Keighley Cougars 101,60273610,8301,083
10 Batley colours.svg Batley Bulldogs 101,83768910,5801,058
11 Haven colours.svg Whitehaven 101,5805049990999
Playoffs69,4431,49019,6673,278
Total1169,443504202,2421,743

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "New rule interpretations for 2010". rugbyleague.com. 2010-01-15. Archived from the original on 19 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  2. "Co-operative Championship salary cap to be lowered for 2010". Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  3. "Administration is confirmed for Cougars". Keighley News. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  4. "Soap girls add splash of glamour to Championship launch". Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  5. "Cougars hit with nine-point deduction". Telegraph & Argus. 20 February 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-28. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  6. "Official Match Report - Round 1 - Widnes vs Keighley". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-03-28. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  7. "Co-operative Championship clubs offer Easter deal". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  8. "The Rugby Football League". Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  9. "Official Match Report - Round 3 - Widnes vs Halifax". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-03-28. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  10. "Official Match Report - Round 3 - Sheffield vs Doncaster". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-03-28. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  11. http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary_item.php?id=1678%5B‍%5D
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20150717201708/http://www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/match_day/league_table
  13. "Co-Operative Championship Table". RFL. Retrieved 2010-08-25.