1967–68 Northern Rugby Football League season


The 1967–68 Rugby Football League season was the 73rd season of rugby league football.

Season summary

had ended the regular season as league leaders for the second successive season.
Wakefield Trinity won their second Championship, the second in successive seasons, when they beat Hull Kingston Rovers 17-10 in the Championship Final. Gary Cooper was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.
The Challenge Cup winners were Leeds who beat Wakefield Trinity 11-10 in the final.
The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Leigh 8-5 in the final.
Clive Sullivan of Hull F.C. set a club record of 7-tries scored in a match against Doncaster on 15 April 1968.
Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. St. Helens beat Warrington 2–2 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Hull F.C. 8–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

TeamPldWDLPts
1Leeds34280656
2Wakefield Trinity34241949
3Hull Kingston Rovers34241949
4St. Helens34241949
5Warrington342401048
6Bradford Northern342401048
7Leigh342211145
8Castleford342211145
9Salford342201244
10Workington Town342111243
11Wigan342101342
12Hull342101342
13Halifax341921340
14Swinton341811537
15Huddersfield341721536
16Widnes341711635
17Dewsbury341701734
18Featherstone Rovers341601832
19Barrow341402028
20Bramley341402028
21Hunslet341302126
22Oldham341302126
23Rochdale Hornets341302126
24Liverpool City341122124
25Whitehaven341012321
26York34912419
27Keighley34802616
28Blackpool Borough34612713
29Doncaster34422810
30Batley3441299

Play-offs

Challenge Cup

Leeds beat Wakefield 11-10 in the final played at Wembley in front of a crowd of 87,100. This was Leeds’ ninth Cup Final win in eleven Final appearances. The Leeds winning team coached by Roy Francis was; Bev Risman, Alan Smith, Syd Hynes, Bernard Watson, John Atkinson, Mick Shoebottom, Barry Seabourne, Mick Clark, Tony Crosby, Ken Eyre, Bill Ramsey, Albert Eyre, Ray Batten subs: John Langley, Mick Joyce.
Dubbed the "Watersplash Final", this match was remembered for the atrocious pitch conditions caused by a torrential downpour that left many large puddles on the playing surface. The conditions contributed to a nail biting finale. Leeds had taken an 11-7 lead with a minute to go, but Wakefield scored a try next to the posts from the kick-off. Don Fox had only to convert to win the Final, but pushed it wide of the posts.

Operational rules

The playing of matches on Sundays was sanctioned for the first time in December 1967. This change was made to avoid competition from association football clubs.

Kangaroo Tour

From September until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1967–68 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain, The Kangaroos played matches against club and county representative sides
The 1967–68 Kangaroos were captain-coached by champion St George Dragons centre Reg Gasnier who was making his third tour following from 1959–60 and 1967–68. While his team achieved success, the tour was a tragedy for Gasnier. He broke his leg during the first test at Headingley that saw him sit out the remainder of the English leg. He returned to the field in France but in a minor game against Les Espoirs in Avignon, he suffered a further break. This would ultimately cause him to announce his retirement from playing at the age of just 28. He later told in an interview that he never regretted his decision to retire, explaining that he had been playing rugby league virtually non-stop including juniors, junior representative games, the Sydney premiership, interstate games and international tours since the early 1950s, and felt it was about time that he started devoting more time to his family.
gameDateResultVenueAttendance
130 September Australia def. Warrington 17–6Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington11,642
24 October Yorkshire def. Australia 15–14Belle Vue, Wakefield19,370
37 October Hull Kingston Rovers def. Australia 27–15Craven Park, Hull11,252
411 October Australia def. Lancashire 14–2The Willows, Salford9,369
513 October Wigan def. Australia 12–6Central Park, Wigan22,770
616 October Australia def. Rochdale Hornets 25–2Athletic Grounds, Rochdale2,676
721 October def. 16–11Headingley, Leeds22,293
824 October St Helens def. Australia 8–4Knowsley Road, St Helens17,275
928 October Australia def. Wakefield Trinity 33–7Belle Vue, Wakefield10,056
103 November def. 17–11White City Stadium, London17,445
119 November Castleford def. Australia 22–3Wheldon Road, Castleford17,275
1211 November Australia def. Oldham 18–8The Watersheddings, Oldham3,174
1313 November Australia def. Widnes 33–11Naughton Park, Widnes9,828
1416 November Barrow drew with Australia 10–10Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness8,418
1518 November Cumberland def. Australia 17–15Derwent Park, Workington7,545
1622 November Australia def. Swinton 12–9Station Road, Swinton5,640
1725 November Australia def. Leeds 7–4Headingley, Leeds5,522
1829 November Australia def. Halifax 22–2Thrum Hall, Halifax5,285
192 December Australia def. Bradford Northern 7–3Odsal Stadium, Bradford14,173
209 December def. 11–3Station Road, Swinton13,615