2009 Super League season

British rugby league season Super League XIV Super League 27 Rounds 14 22,337 Hull F.C. vs Hull Kingston Rovers (10 April) 1,988 Celtic Crusaders vs Huddersfield Giants (5 Sep) 1,799,413 (average 8,864) Sky Sports Nine Network 2009 Season Leeds Rhinos4th Super League title7th British title Champions Leeds Rhinos League Leaders AUS Brett Hodgson Man of Steel AwardsMan of Steel IRE Pat Richards (252) ENG Ryan Hall http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php?season=2009&stat=tries Super League Super League statistics: 2009 Tries Super League 2009-09-28(29) Super League XIII 2008 Super League XV 2010 The Engage Super League XIV was the official name for the 2009 season of Super League.http://www.engagesl.com/pressreleases/jul08-deal.php engage extends Super League deal engagesl.com Engage Mutual Assurance 2009-04-20 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110710192620/http://www.engagesl.com/pressreleases/jul08-deal.php 2011-07-10 Fourteen teams competed over 27 rounds (including the Magic Weekend at Murrayfield Stadium) after which, the highest finishing teams entered the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win the Super League Trophy.January 2020 The previous Top six play-offs were extended to eight teams. Salford City Reds and Crusaders join the twelve teams from Super League XIII, following the implementation of a licensing system.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7516692.stm Crusaders & Salford win licences BBC Sport 2009-04-20 2008-07-22 Additionally, it was the Crusaders' first ever Super League season.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/2446378/Celtic-Crusaders-become-first-team-in-Wales-to-join-Engage-Super-League.html Celtic Crusaders became first team in Wales to join Engage Super League The Daily Telegraph 2009-04-20 Burke David London 2008-07-22 The Catalans Dragons played at least one game in Barcelona, Spain, to try to expand their fan base in Catalonia region.http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/search/3871266.Warrington_Wolves__2009_Super_League_fixtures_include_trip_to_Barcelona/ Warrington Wolves' 2009 Super League fixtures include trip to Barcelona The Warrington Guardian 2009-04-20 The season officially kicked off on 6 February, with a Leeds Rhinos defeat of the Celtic Crusaders.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7866936.stm Leeds 28-6 Celtic Crusaders BBC Sport 2009-04-20 2009-02-06 It came to a conclusion with Leeds Rhinos beating St. Helens in the Super League Grand Final on 10 October.http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/clientdocs/CASH%20BACK%20TICKET%20OFFER.pdf engage Super League Grand Final 2009 therfl.co.uk Rugby Football League PDF 2009-04-20 Teams Super League XIV saw the introduction of a licensed Super League. Under this new system, promotion and relegation between Super League and National League One was abolished, and 14 teams were granted licences subject to certain criteria. All twelve teams from Super League XIII were given places, as well as former Super League team Salford City Reds and Crusaders, for whom it was their début season in top-flight European rugby league. Geographically, the vast majority of teams in Super League are based in the north of England, four teams – Warrington, St. Helens, Salford and Wigan – to the west of the Pennines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and seven teams to the east in Yorkshire – Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. Catalans Dragons are the only team outside of the United Kingdom, Crusaders are the only team in Wales, and Harlequins are the only team to be based in a capital city (London). thumb|center|800px|The locations of the teams that will contest Super League XIV. TeamStadiumCapacityCity/Area 16px Bradford Bulls (2009 season) Grattan Stadium, Odsal 27,000 Bradford, West Yorkshire 16px Castleford Tigers (2009 season) The Jungle 11,750 Castleford, West Yorkshire 16px Catalans Dragons (2009 season) Stade Gilbert Brutus 10,000 Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France 16px Crusaders (2009 season) Brewery Field 12,000 Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales 16px Harlequins (2009 season) Twickenham Stoop 12,700 Twickenham, London 16px Huddersfield Giants (2009 season) Galpharm Stadium 24,544 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 16px Hull F.C. (2009 season) Kingston Communications Stadium 25,404 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire 16px Hull Kingston Rovers (2009 season) "New" Craven Park 9,471 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire 16px Leeds Rhinos (2009 season) Headingley Carnegie Stadium 22,250 Leeds, West Yorkshire 16px Salford City Reds (2009 season) The Willows 11,363 Salford, Greater Manchester 16px St Helens R.F.C. (2009 season) The GPW Recruitment Stadium 17,500 St Helens, Merseyside 16px Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (2009 season) Belle Vue 12,600 Wakefield, West Yorkshire 16px Warrington Wolves (2009 season) Halliwell Jones Stadium 14,206 Warrington, Cheshire 16px Wigan Warriors (2009 season) DW Stadium 25,138 Wigan, Greater Manchester Reigning champions Promoted via licence Rule changes Changes to the play-off system: This season an eight-team play-off system was introduced to replace the previous six-team system. One feature of this system, known as "Club Call", is that the highest ranked team from the regular season table winning a match in the first week of the play-offs will be able to select their opponents for their next game in Week Three. This selection opportunity is only possible for teams finishing in the top three during the regular season to achieve. http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=15276 Super League All to play for as Super League gears up for Club Call Super League 2009-09-09 2009-09-11 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120825214845/http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=15276 2012-08-25 Table 2009 Super League season results Play-offs 2009 Super League season results#Play-offs Super League play-offs The play-offs commence following the conclusion of 27 round regular season and involve the eight sides finishing highest. The play-offs open on Friday 18 September, with the Week 1 fixtures being completed over the weekend. A media conference is scheduled for Sunday 27 September following the conclusion of Week 2's preliminary semi-finals the day before. During the conference the highest ranked winning team from the qualifying play-offs in Week 1 will in announce which team they have chosen to play in Week 3, the next week. The play-offs will conclude with the 2009 Super League Grand Final on 10 October. Club statistics FLP Final League PositionTeamPTS PointsTRS TriesGLS GoalsDGLS Drop goalsMET MetersCAR CarriesTACK TacklesOFFL Off LoadsATKI Attacking kicksRFDH Runs from dummy halfTACKB Tackle breaksMTAC Marker tacklesCBRE Clean breaksFOTW Forty twentyKIGP Kicks in general playMGLS Missed goalsMITAC Missed tacklesERR ErrorsPEN PenaltiesRCAR Red cardsYCAR Yellow cards 1Leeds8491481273380075536811138627387484610421998506323233821503 2St Helens748142884406245800870829129775090410881826504565637116901 3Wigan707130931381645402859539729982385011911734555474834719005 4Wakefield7011181125356255191803824439393172410141431581343529619812 5Huddersfield698121107037761542892823613249447289361695573232637323803 6Hull KR6741181002379545469906319833279370312341409630303335117202 7Catalans65812088236555517586272482767506179091387524404035525301 8Castleford65711793336128545777862833579107429831483537373832520604 9Bradford6531111033351095299795736528076274310191483460323236020103 10Warrington649118881363555069785532528070675211151532472373836717301 11Harlequins591102911355905350861829431580867910251264549202231917111 12Hull5028679035322513981373593367727389721194556222430214001 13Salford460807003097248498827320258638575861987571191926922314 14Celtic Crusaders357635213022250018397311249747511962940554161734020403 Source: superleague.co.uk. Notable moments Friday 6 February - The season kicks off at Headingley, with the defending champions Leeds Rhinos taking on Super League newcomers Crusaders. Leeds eventually win the game 28–6. Sunday 15 February - The first draw of the season is played out at the Grattan Stadium, as Bradford Bulls and Hull Kingston Rovers draw 13-13. Friday 27 February - The first game in the season to be decided by a single point is won by Hull Kingston Rovers, who beat St. Helens 19 – 20 away from home. Saturday 7 March - St. Helens win 4–0 at Crusaders RL in the lowest scoring match in the Super League history. Friday 20 March - Hull FC and Leeds both lose, breaking the two remaining 100% records in the league. Sunday 22 March - Wakefield's match away at Celtic is postponed due to the death of Leon Walker in the corresponding reserves fixture earlier in the day. Sunday 19 April - St Helens become the first team to score 60 points or more in a single game, against Castleford. Friday 24-Sunday 26 April - The top four teams in the league before this round; St Helens, Leeds, Huddersfield and Wakefield, all lose their fixtures. Sunday 26 April - Chris Hicks scores a hat-trick for the second successive weekend, this time against Huddersfield. Saturday 2-Sunday 3 May - The Magic Weekend fixtures, held over the May Day bank holiday weekend at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh attract an aggregate attendance of approximately 60,000 attendees over the two days. Over 6,000 of these were estimated to be Scottish.http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_5276000,00.html RFL hail magic weekend skysports.com Sky Sports 2009-05-04 2009-05-03 Sunday 17 May - Celtic beat Bradford to win their first ever Super League match, ending an 11-match losing sequence. Saturday 23 May - Celtic host Catalans in the first ever Super League match not to feature an English side. Saturday 20 June - Catalans Dragons host the first Super League game to take place in Spain, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the venue for the 1992 Summer Olympics. Friday 3 July - David Howell of Harlequins becomes the first player of the season to be sent off, in Quins' match against Wigan at the JJB. Saturday 4 July - Keith Senior, who holds the record for most Super League appearances, plays and scores in his 500th professional match.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/8130730.stm Hull 30-43 Leeds news.bbc.co.uk 2009-07-04 2009-07-04 Awards Awards were presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs:http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=15588 Man of Steel on SLTV 2009-10-06 Super League 2009-10-06 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120825215346/http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=15588 2012-08-25 Man of Steel: Brett Hodgson (Huddersfield Giants) Coach of the year: Nathan Brown (Huddersfield Giants) Engage Super League club of the year: Huddersfield Giants Young player of the year: Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors) Carnegie community player of the year: Lee Radford (Hull FC) Frontline Fairplay Index winners: Hull FC Metre-maker: James Graham (St Helens), 4,752 metres Hit Man: Malcolm Alker (Salford City Reds), 981 tackles Mike Gregory Spirit of Rugby League Award: Steve Prescott Disciplinary record The following table lists all incidents that were reviewed by the Rugby Football League during Super League XIV, 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". Name of PlayerRndOffenseGradeSuspensionFineSource Chev Walker 1 Striking C 1 match £300 Report Michael McIlorum 2 Dangerous throw C 1 match £200 Report Jamal Fakir 2 High tackle C 1 match £300 Report Ben Westwood 2 High tackle D 5 matches £300 Report Maurie Fa'asavalu 4 "Chicken wing" C 1 match £300 https://archive.today/20100129205812/http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary_item.php?id=791 Report Keith Mason 7 Striking C None £300 Report Ian Sibbitt 10 High tackle C 1 match £300 Report Darrell Griffin 17 Grapple tackle C None £300 Report Jamal Fakir 17 High tackle C 2 matches £300 Report Operational rules Salary cap: For the 2009 season, Super League clubs agreed to operate within a £1.7 million salary cap for their 25 first tier players. http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080728/FREE/210381473/1166/-/-/licence-is-wilkinsons-reward-for-years-of-support Crain's Manchester Business Licence is Wilkinson's reward for years of support James Chapelard 2008-07-28 2009-07-26 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150923210957/http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080728/FREE/210381473/1166/-/-/licence-is-wilkinsons-reward-for-years-of-support 2015-09-23 The 'club trained player rule' entered its second year and made a planned adjustment:http://www.superleague.co.uk/page.php?id=346 Super League Competition structure Super League 2009-07-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20100121105506/http://www.superleague.co.uk/page.php?id=346 2010-01-21 dead Clubs would be required to include a minimum of six players, an increase from five players, who have come through their academy or are under 21 years old in their 25-player first team squads. Clubs were required to have eleven United Kingdom-trained players, an increase from ten, and no more than eight overseas-trained players, a decrease from ten. Media Television 2009 was the first of a new three-year broadcasting agreement between the RFL and BSkyB for Sky Sports to screen matches exclusively live within the United Kingdom. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12198_2923034,00.html Sky Sports Super League deal Sky Sports 2007-11-26 2009-07-26 The deal for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 season was worth in excess of £50 million, with media speculation that each Super League club would receive £0.9-£1.2 million in 2009. http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/Super-League-cashes-in.3524810.jp Sky Sports Super League cashes in John Ledger 2007-11-27 2009-07-26 Sky Sports' continued coverage in the UK sees two live matches broadcast each week - one on Friday Night at 7:30pm and another at 6pm on Saturdays. Regular commentators are Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Highlights are shown on Boots N' All which is shown on Sky Sports and is rebroadcast on the Internet. BBC Sport broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, usually presented by Harry Gration. The BBC have elected to broadcast this only to the North West, Yorkshire & North Midlands, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on a Sunday. A national repeat is broadcast overnight during the week, the BBC Director of Sport, Richard Moseley, commented that this move was in response to the growing popularity and awareness of the sport, and the large number of requests from people who want to watch it elsewhere in the UK. End of season play-offs are shown across the whole country in a highlights package. Super League Show is available for streaming or downloaded using the BBC iPlayer in the UK. Orange Sport TV in France shows every Catalans Dragons home match live and also some other matches which are broadcast in the UK live on Sky. Internationally Super League is shown live on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), NTV+ (Russia), SportKlub (Eastern Europe) and Setanta Sports (USA and Canada) show Super League matches live or delayed each week. 2009 was the first of a three-year deal in which the Nine Network in Australia will show up to 70 live games from Super League over the season.RLeague.com Channel Nine to show English Super League and Challenge Cup engage Super League (Press Release) http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=31935 2008-11-15 2008-11-16 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20141016151025/http://rleague.com/db/article.php?id=31935 2014-10-16 Glendinning Matthew 2008-11-17 Channel Nine inks RFL deals http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/168294/channel-nine-inks-rfl-deals dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100526184021/http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/168294/channel-nine-inks-rfl-deals 2010-05-26 2009-07-26 SportsBusiness Radio Super League XIV is covered extensively by BBC Local Radio: BBC Radio Manchester cover Wigan, Salford and Warrington. BBC Radio Humberside cover Hull KR and Hull FC. BBC Radio Leeds cover Bradford, Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield. BBC Radio Merseyside (AM/DAB only) cover St Helens and Warrington. The competition is also covered on commercial radio coverage: BCB 106.6 (Bradford Community Broadcasting) cover Bradford Bulls home and away. Radio Aire cover Leeds Rhinos. KCFM Hull cover Hull KR and Hull. Radio Marseillette covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (in French). Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (in French). Yorkshire Radio cover all Yorkshire clubs and have one commentary per round which is not covered by either BBC or SKY. All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming. Internet ESPN360 has worldwide broadband rights. Starting from Thursday 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports will also be available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand. List of Super League games available on Livestation.com In the United Kingdom, BBC London 94.9, BBC Radio Wales and Radio Warrington cover Harlequins, Celtic Crusaders (home games) and Warrington (home games) respectively. References 40em