1984–85 Rugby Football League season

1984–85 Rugby Football League season
LeagueSlalom Lager Championship
TeamsFirst Division: 16
Second Division: 20
First Division
ChampionsHull Kingston Rovers (5th title)
Premiership winnersSt. Helens
Man of Steel Ellery Hanley
Top point-scorer Sean Day (362)
Top try-scorer Ellery Hanley (55)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division
Relegated to Second Division
Second Division
ChampionsSwinton
Runners-upSalford
Top try-scorer Vince Gribbin (27)
Joined leagueMansfield Marksmen
Sheffield Eagles

The 1984–85 Rugby Football League season was the 90th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams played each other from August 1984 until May 1985 for the Slalom Lager Championship. Also these 16 teams plus several more competed for the Challenge Cup.

Season summary

Aside from retaining the Championship Hull Kingston Rovers won the John Player Special Trophy and reached the finals of both the Premiership and Yorkshire Cup, they were beaten in the Semi-Final of the Challenge Cup meaning they played in every possible game of the season bar one.

On 21 October 1984 Peter Wood kicked a record-equalling five drop goals for Runcorn Highfield in a match against Batley. On 28 October, two tries by Mal Meninga inspire St. Helens, to beat Wigan 26–18, and win the Lancashire County Cup for the first time in 16 years.

The 1985 Man of Steel Award went to Bradford Northern utility back, Ellery Hanley. He also became the first man to score more than 50 tries in a season since Billy Boston, and the first non-winger to reach this figure for 70 years.

The increase of the Second Division to 20 teams meant that it would have taken 38 rounds to play out a full double round robin, which was considered too many matches, so a complicated fixture formula was used to reduce it to 28. For this season, Huyton relocated and were renamed Runcorn Highfield, Cardiff City Blue Dragons relocated and were renamed Bridgend Blue Dragons, and Kent Invicta relocated and were renamed were Southend Invicta, Huddersfield were renamed Huddersfield Barracudas, and Mansfield Marksman, and Sheffield Eagles joined the Second Division. As of 2025, 11th in the Second Division is the lowest position that Wakefield Trinity have ever finished.

St. Helens beat Wigan 26–18 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Hull Kingston Rovers 29–12 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PP Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hull Kingston Rovers (C) 30 24 0 6 778 391 199.0 48 Qualification for Premiership first round
2 St Helens 30 22 1 7 920 508 181.1 45
3 Wigan 30 21 1 8 720 459 156.9 43
4 Leeds 30 20 1 9 650 377 172.4 41
5 Oldham 30 18 1 11 563 439 128.2 37
6 Hull 30 17 1 12 733 550 133.3 35
7 Widnes 30 17 0 13 580 517 112.2 34
8 Bradford Northern 30 16 1 13 600 500 120.0 33
9 Featherstone Rovers 30 15 0 15 461 475 97.1 30
10 Halifax 30 12 2 16 513 565 90.8 26
11 Warrington 30 13 0 17 530 620 85.5 26
12 Castleford 30 12 1 17 552 518 106.6 25
13 Barrow (R) 30 9 1 20 483 843 57.3 19 Relegated to Second Division
14 Leigh (R) 30 8 2 20 549 743 73.9 18
15 Hunslet (R) 30 7 1 22 463 952 48.6 15
16 Workington Town (R) 30 2 1 27 297 935 31.8 5
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PP Pts Promotion
1 Swinton (C, P) 28 24 1 3 727 343 212.0 49 Promoted to First Division
2 Salford (P) 28 20 3 5 787 333 236.3 43
3 Dewsbury (P) 28 21 1 6 539 320 168.4 43
4 York (P) 28 21 1 6 717 430 166.7 43
5 Carlisle 28 18 0 10 547 437 125.2 36
6 Whitehaven 28 16 3 9 496 385 128.8 35
7 Batley 28 17 0 11 489 402 121.6 34
8 Fulham 28 16 1 11 521 526 99.0 33
9 Mansfield Marksman 28 15 0 13 525 398 131.9 30
10 Blackpool Borough 28 15 0 13 486 434 112.0 30
11 Wakefield Trinity 28 12 2 14 450 459 98.0 26
12 Rochdale Hornets 28 12 2 14 436 466 93.6 26
13 Huddersfield Barracudas 28 12 1 15 476 476 100.0 25
14 Keighley 28 12 0 16 495 567 87.3 24
15 Runcorn Highfield 28 11 1 16 462 538 85.9 23
16 Bramley 28 9 2 17 439 492 89.2 20
17 Sheffield Eagles 28 8 0 20 424 582 72.9 16
18 Doncaster 28 6 2 20 353 730 48.4 14
19 Southend 28 4 0 24 347 690 50.3 8
20 Bridgend Blue Dragons 28 1 0 27 258 966 26.7 2
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Premiership

Main article: 1984–85 Rugby League Premiership
11 May 1985
St Helens (2) 36-16 Hull Kingston Rovers (1)
T-Veivers, Ledger (2), Meninga (2), Ainsworth, Pinner
G-Day (4) 		T-Fairbairn, Robinson, Laws
G-Fairbairn (2)
Elland Road
Attendance: 15,518
Referee: Stan Wall
Player of the Match: Harry Pinner

References

  1. ^ "Championship 1984/85". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  2. ^ "Second Division 1984/85". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 19 March 2026.

Sources

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