1996 Leeds RLFC season

1996 Leeds RLFC season
1996 Leeds RLFC season
Super League I Rank	10th
Challenge Cup	Semi final
1996 record	Wins: 9; draws: 0; losses: 17
Points scored	For: 555; against: 745
Team information
Head Coach	Dean Bell
Captain	Garry Schofield (until March); Neil Harmon (from March);
Stadium	Headingley Rugby Stadium

The 1996 Leeds RLFC season was the club's first season in the newly formed Super League. Coached by Dean Bell, the club competed in Super League I and finished in 10th place. The club also competed in the 1996 Challenge Cup, and were knocked out in the semi-finals by Bradford Bulls. At the end of the season, the club changed its name to Leeds Rhinos.^[1]

Challenge Cup

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
4 February; 15:00^[a]	Round 4	Swinton Lions	A	Gigg Lane	W	27–22	Fallon, Hall, Holroyd, Morley, Tait	Holroyd (3/5) Drop Goals: Holroyd	2,000	Not televised	^[3]
10 February	Round 5	Warrington Wolves	A	Wilderspool Stadium	W	30–10	Hall (2), Innes, Howard, Holroyd, Cummins	Holroyd (3/6)	3,886	Not televised	^[4]
25 February	Quarter-finals	Halifax Blue Sox	A	Thrum Hall	W	35–24	Mann (2), Cummins, A. Gibbons, Hassan, Morley, Iro	Holroyd (3/7) Drop Goals: Holroyd	7,451	Not televised	^[5]
23 March	Semi-finals	Bradford Bulls	N	Kirklees Stadium	L	6–28	Cummins	Holroyd (0/1 + 1 pen.)	17,139	BBC 1	^[6]

Super League

Table

Super League I
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	St Helens (C)	22	20	0	2	950	455	+495	40	Qualified for Premiership semi final
2	Wigan	22	19	1	2	902	326	+576	39	Qualified for Premiership semi final
3	Bradford Bulls	22	17	0	5	767	409	+358	34
4	London Broncos	22	12	1	9	611	462	+149	25
5	Warrington Wolves	22	12	0	10	569	565	+4	24
6	Halifax Blue Sox	22	10	1	11	667	576	+91	21
7	Sheffield Eagles	22	10	0	12	599	730	−131	20
8	Oldham Bears	22	9	1	12	473	681	−208	19
9	Castleford Tigers	22	9	0	13	548	599	−51	18
10	Leeds	22	6	0	16	555	745	−190	12
11	Paris Saint-Germain	22	3	1	18	398	795	−397	7
12	Workington Town (R)	22	2	1	19	325	1021	−696	5	Relegated to Division One

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

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Date
Nathan Picchi	Hawke's Bay	April 1996
Dean Clark	Counties Manukau Heroes	May 1996
Sateki Tuipulotu		May 1996
Daivd Hulme	Widnes Vikings	June 1996
Marcus St Hilaire	Huddersfield Giants	July 1996

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Craig Innes	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles		February 1996
James Lowes	Bradford Bulls		February 1996
Garry Schofield	Huddersfield Giants	4 years	February 1996^[7]

Squad

1996 Leeds RLFC squad
First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Francis Cummins – FB, CE, WG, HB 2 Jim Fallon – WG 3 Kevin Iro – CE 4 Carl Hall – CE 5 Marvin Golden – WG 6 Tony Kemp – SO 7 Graham Holroyd – HB, SO (gk) 8 Neil Harmon (c) – PR 9 Mick Shaw – HK 10 Harvey Howard – PR 11 George Mann – SR, HB, PR 12 Adrian Morley – SR, LF 13 Mike Forshaw – LF, SR		14 Gary Mercer – LF, SR, PR 15 Barrie McDermott – PR 16 Nick Fozzard – SR, PR 18 Phil Hassan – WG, CE 20 Marcus Vassilakopoulos – HK 21 Matt Schultz – SR, LF 22 David Gibbons – SO, HB 23 Anthony Gibbons – FB, SO 25 Alan Tait – FB, WG 27 Paul Gleadhill – WG 28 Nathan Picchi – LF 29 Terry Newton – HK, SR 30 Dean Clark – HB, LF, CE, SO		33 Lee Maher – FB 35 Daivd Hulme – HK, LF Dean Bell – CE (Player-coach) Gavin Brown – SO, SH Esene Faimalo – PR Jamie Field – SR, LF Patrick Handley – HK Adam Hughes – CE Craig Innes – CE Leroy Rivett – WG Garry Schofield – SO Marcus St Hilaire – SO Sateki Tuipulotu – SO, CE				Head coach Dean Bell Assistant coach Hugh McGahan Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) (gk) = Goal kicker Updated: 1997 Source(s): Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook^[8]

Notes

^ Postponed from 28 January due to heavy snow.^[2]

References

^ "Twin coup for Leeds". Liverpool Daily Post. 27 November 1996. p. 33. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Watson, Trevor (29 January 1996). "Leeds fail in bid for Canberra scrum-half". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 21. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive. Swinton and Leeds have agreed to play their Silk Cut Challenge Cup fourth round tie on Sunday (3.00). The match was one of 12 hit by the snow yesterday and the League have relaxed bye-laws to enable the matches next weekend.
^ Watson, Trevor (5 February 1996). "Holroyd to the rescue". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 21. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Watson, Trevor (10 February 1996). "Leeds are a cut above the Wire". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 1. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Watson, Trevor (26 February 1996). "'The Beast' lands a blitz". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 19. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Hadfield, Dave (25 March 1996). "Leeds trampled upon by stampeding Bulls". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
^ Richards, Martin (27 February 1996). "Scho's Huddy heights". The Mirror. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
^ Fletcher, Raymond (1997). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. Headline Book Publishing. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.

External links

[3] Postponed from 28 January due to heavy snow.^[2]

[1] "Twin coup for Leeds". Liverpool Daily Post. 27 November 1996. p. 33. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Watson, Trevor (29 January 1996). "Leeds fail in bid for Canberra scrum-half". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 21. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive. Swinton and Leeds have agreed to play their Silk Cut Challenge Cup fourth round tie on Sunday (3.00). The match was one of 12 hit by the snow yesterday and the League have relaxed bye-laws to enable the matches next weekend.

[4] Watson, Trevor (5 February 1996). "Holroyd to the rescue". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 21. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] Watson, Trevor (10 February 1996). "Leeds are a cut above the Wire". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 1. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] Watson, Trevor (26 February 1996). "'The Beast' lands a blitz". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. p. 19. Retrieved 20 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] Hadfield, Dave (25 March 1996). "Leeds trampled upon by stampeding Bulls". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 March 2026.

[8] Richards, Martin (27 February 1996). "Scho's Huddy heights". The Mirror. Retrieved 18 February 2014.

[9] Fletcher, Raymond (1997). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. Headline Book Publishing. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.

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Leeds Rhinos
Founded 1870 in Leeds, West Yorkshire
The Club	International representative players Players (with honours) Coaches Seasons
Home ground	Headingley Rugby Stadium
Hall of Fame	Andy Gregory Ellery Hanley Lewis Jones Adrian Morley Jamie Peacock Garry Schofield
League	Super League
World Club Challenge (3)	2005 2008 2012
Championships (11)	1960-61 1968-69 1971-72 2004 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2015 2017
Challenge Cup (14)	1909-10 1922-23 1931-32 1935-36 1940-41 1941-42 1956-57 1967-68 1976-77 1977-78 1999 2014 2015 2020
Other honours	Two-time Premiership Champions 17-time Yorkshire County Cup Champions 14-time Yorkshire League Champions Two-time Regal Trophy Champions One-time BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Champions
Seasons	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Culture	NRFU Founder Super League Founding Member West Yorkshire derbies Rivalry with Wigan Festive Challenge Harry Jepson OBE Memorial Cup
Affiliation	Rugby Football League (1895) Leeds Rhinos Women Leeds Rhinos Netball Wheelchair RL