1996 Wigan RLFC season
Super League I Rank2nd
Play-off resultWon Premiership Final
Challenge Cup5th round
1996 recordWins: 19; draws: 1; losses: 2
Points scoredFor: 902; against: 326
Team information
ChairmanJack Robinson
Head CoachGraeme West
Captain
StadiumCentral Park
< 1995–96 List of seasons 1997 >

The 1996 Wigan season was the 101st season in the club's rugby league history and the first season in the newly formed Super League. Coached by Graeme West and captained by Shaun Edwards, Wigan competed in Super League I and finished in 2nd place, but went on to win the Premiership Final at Old Trafford against St. Helens. The club also competed in the 1996 Challenge Cup, but were knocked out in the fifth round by First Division side Salford Reds, and was the first time the club had failed to win the trophy since 1987.

In July 1996 Farrell was appointed Wigan's captain.

Background

See also: 1995–96 Rugby Football League season and List of Wigan Warriors seasons

The 1995–96 season was a shortened transitional season ahead of the switch to the Super League, which would see the league become a summer competition. Wigan won the league championship for the seventh consecutive season, and also won the final staging of the League Cup, defeating St Helens 25–16. Wigan's dominance was expected to continue in the summer era, and the club were odds-on favourites to win the inaugural Super League.[1]

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 Champions and 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

Match results

Win Draw Loss

Super League

Date Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
30 March 1996 Oldham Bears Away 56–16 Connolly (3), Edwards (2), Offiah (2), Radlinski (2), Hall, Paul Farrell (8) 7,709
5 April 1996 St. Helens Away 26–41 Hall (2), O'Connor, Smyth, Tuigamala Paul (3) 15,883
8 April 1996 Warrington Home 42–12 Edwards (2), Haughton, A. Johnson, Paul, Radlinski, Smyth, Farrell (6), Paul 14,620
14 April 1996 Castleford Tigers Away 28–10 Connolly, Farrell, Paul, Robinson, Smyth Farrell (4) 7,985
19 April 1996 Bradford Bulls Home 22–6 Craig, Haughton, Murdock, Paul Farrell (3) 9,872
5 May 1996 Paris Saint-Germain Home 76–8 Paul (3), Smyth (3), Connolly (2), Haughton (2), Cassidy, Farrell, Murdock, Radlinski Paul (6), Farrell (4) 10,675
14 May 1996 Halifax Blue Sox Away 50–4 Robinson (2), Smyth (2), Cassidy, Connolly, Edwards, Haughton, Murdock Farrell (5), Hall (2) 5,269
18 May 1996 Workington Town Away 64–16 Farrell (2), Robinson (2), Tuigamala (2), Craig, Edwards, Hall, Murdock, Offiah Farrell (8), Paul, Tuigamala 3,176
29 May 1996 Sheffield Eagles Home 50–6 Offiah (3), Cassidy, Connolly, Hall, A.Johnson, Paul, Smyth Farrell (7) 9,158
1 June 1996 Leeds Away 40–20 Smyth (2), Murdock, Offiah, Paul, Robinson Farrell (8) 9,508
9 June 1996 London Broncos Home 18–18 Murdock, Robinson, Tuigamala Farrell (3) 9,189
16 June 1996 Oldham Bears Home 44–16 Robinson (3), Smyth (2), Connolly, Ellison, Haughton, Quinnell Farrell (2), Edwards, Hall 7,226
21 June 1996 St. Helens Home 35–19 Robinson (2), Haughton, Murdock, Smyth, Tuigamala Paul (3), Hall (2), Robinson (DG) 20,429
30 June 1996 Warrington Away 21–0 Paul (2), Smyth (2) Connolly (2), Wright (DG) 8,103
5 July 1996 Castleford Tigers Home 26–25 Robinson (2), A. Johnson, Tuigamala Farrell (5) 8,180
12 July 1996 Bradford Bulls Away 12–20 Ellison, Paul Farrell (2) 17,360
20 July 1996 Paris Saint-Germain Away 24–20 A. Johnson, Radlinski, Robinson, Tuigamala Farrell (4) 5,428
26 July 1996 Halifax Blue Sox Home 34–26 Connolly, Ellison, Murdock, Paul, Radlinski, Tuigamala Farrell (5) 8,221
3 August 1996 Sheffield Eagles Away 54–12 Paul (2), Connolly, Edwards, Ellison, Hall, Haughton, Murdock, Robinson Farrell (9) 5,103
9 August 1996 Leeds Home 68–14 Robinson (5), Connolly (2), Edwards (2), Cowie, Murdock, Radlinski, Tuigamala Farrell (8) 7,814
17 August 1996 London Broncos Away 34–13 Paul (2), Edwards, A. Johnson, Robinson, Tuigamala Farrell (5) 10,014
24 August 1996 Workington Town Home 78–4 Barrow (3), Paul (3), Edwards (2), Haughton (2), Robinson (2), Ellison, Farrell Farrell (9), Tuigamala (2) 6,466

Premiership

Game Date Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance Ref
Semi Final 31 August 1996 Bradford Bulls Home 42–36 Edwards (4), Ellison (2), Paul, Radlinski Farrell (5) 9,878 MR
Final 8 September 1996 St. Helens Neutral 44–14 Ellison (3), Connolly, Edwards, Haughton, Murdock, Paul, Robinson Farrell (4) 35,013 MR

Challenge Cup

Wigan's fourth round Challenge Cup tie against Second Division side Bramley took place a week after the end of the previous season. Wigan progressed to the next round with a comfortable 74–12 win, and drew Salford Reds in the next round. Wigan lost 16–26 against their First Division opponents, ending the club's unbeaten run of 43 games in the competition, and was the first time they had been knocked out of the Challenge Cup since being defeated by Oldham in February 1987.[2] The result is considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition.[3]

Round Date Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance Ref
Fourth 28 January 1996 Bramley Home 74–12 Offiah (4), Farrell (2), Quinnell (2), Radlinski (2), Connolly, Cowie, Robinson, Tuigamala Hall (5), Paul (4) 4,627 MR
Fifth 11 February 1996 Salford Reds Away 16–26 Tuigamala (2), Offiah Farrell, Paul 10,048 MR

Clash of the Codes

Main article: Clash of the Codes (rugby)

In addition to their league and cup exploits, Wigan took part in a special two-game series against Bath, the reigning champions of rugby union's Courage League, with one game being played under the rules of each code. Wigan won the game played under league rules at Maine Road 82-6,[4] but lost the union game at Twickenham by 44-19.[5]

Game Date Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance Ref
League 8 May 1996 Bath Neutral 82–6 Offiah (6), Robinson (2), O'Connor (2), Johnson (2), Paul, Cassidy, Quinnell, Murdock Hall (5), Farrell (4) 20,148 MR Archived 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
Union 25 May 1996 Bath Neutral 19–44 Murdock (2), Tuigamala Farrell (2) 42,000 MR Archived 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine

Squad

[6]

No Player Apps Tries Goals DGs Points
1 Kris Radlinski 21 10 0 0 40
2 Jason Robinson 25 26 0 1 105
3 Va'aiga Tuigamala 25 13 3 0 58
4 Gary Connolly 25 15 2 0 64
5 Martin Offiah 10 12 0 0 48
6 Henry Paul 23 22 19 0 126
7 Shaun Edwards 24 17 1 0 70
8 Kelvin Skerrett 12 0 0 0 0
9 Martin Hall 26 6 10 0 44
10 Terry O'Connor 26 1 0 0 4
11 Simon Haughton 26 11 0 0 44
12 Mick Cassidy 25 3 0 0 12
13 Andy Farrell 26 7 113 0 254
14 Rob Smyth 17 16 0 0 64
15 Danny Ellison 11 10 0 0 40
16 Scott Quinnell 11 3 0 0 12
17 Andy Johnson 21 5 0 0 20
18 Craig Murdock 21 11 0 0 44
19 Martin Dermott 0 0 0 0 0
20 Daryl Cardiss 1 0 0 0 0
21 Nigel Wright 2 0 0 1 1
21 Andy Craig 11 2 0 0 8
22 Steve Barrow 10 3 0 0 12
22 Paul Johnson 1 0 0 0 0
23 Matt Knowles 3 0 0 0 0
24 Shem Tatupu 3 0 0 0 0
25 Neil Cowie 21 2 0 0 8
26 Sean Long 3 0 0 0 0
27 Neil Baynes 3 0 0 0 0
28 Gaël Tallec 1 0 0 0 0

Transfers

In

Player Pos From Fee Date Ref
Stuart Lester Fullback Auckland Warriors August 1996
Stephen Holgate Second-row Workington Town £100,000 December 1996
Ian Sherratt Prop forward Oldham Bears £30,000 December 1996
Doc Murray Fullback Auckland Warriors December 1996

Out

Player Pos To Fee Date Ref
Scott Quinnell Second-row Richmond (RU) £250,000 June 1996 [7]
Shem Tatupu Prop forward Northampton Saints (RU) £80,000 July 1996 [8]
Martin Offiah Winger London Broncos £300,000 August 1996 [9]
Martin Dermott Hooker Warrington Wolves September 1996
Andy Craig Centre Swinton Lions December 1996 [10]

References

  1. ^ Irvine, Christopher (29 March 1996). "Stones Super League - Rugby League". The Times. London. p. 46.
  2. ^ Hadfield, Dave (12 February 1996). "Wigan wilt at The Willows". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  3. ^ Mordey, Tom (14 May 2015). "Challenge Cup: We look back at some of the biggest upsets". Sky Sports. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  4. ^ Dave Hadfield (1996-05-09). "Bath feel full force of Wigan might". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  5. ^ Chris Hewett (1996-05-26). "The union empire strikes back". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  6. ^ Fletcher, Raymond (1997). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. Headline Book Publishing. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.
  7. ^ Huxley, John (26 May 1996). "Wigan's Strife of Bryan". Sunday Mirror. London. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Warrington pin pounds 1.35m price tag on Harris". The Independent. 24 July 1996. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  9. ^ Richards, Martin (3 August 1996). "Bronco Offiah". The Mirror. London. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  10. ^ Hadfield, Dave (28 December 1996). "Rugby League: Winter games' success". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

External links

Wigan Warriors
1996 in rugby league
Categories