Super League VIII
Encyclopedia
Tetley's Super League
VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league
held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League.
The season culminated in a replay of the 2001 Grand Final
between Bradford Bulls
and Wigan Warriors
, and again Bradford won, claiming the 2003 premiership, their second in three years.
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League.
The season culminated in a replay of the 2001 Grand Final
2001 Super League Grand Final
The 2001 Super League Grand Final was held on Saturday 13 October 2001, at Old Trafford, Manchester, UK. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors.Referee: Stuart Cummings Attendance: 60,164...
between Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....
and Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
, and again Bradford won, claiming the 2003 premiership, their second in three years.
Rule changes
- The knock-on rule was modified so that if in the referee's judgement a player did not play at the ball, a knock-on would not be given.
- Super League coaches voted 12-0 for new interchange and substitution rules for the 2003 season. The number of interchanges, which now included blood binsBlood replacementIn both rugby union and rugby league, a blood replacement is a special kind of substitution which can be used in the case of a player having to leave the field of play temporarily to have a wound attended to.- Rugby union :In rugby union, blood replacements are provided for by Law 3.10 of the...
, increased from 6 to 12 using a pool of 4 substitutes. This change aimed to retain the element of wearing down a team's opponents during the game - which was considered part of the character of the sport. Stuart CummingsStuart Cummings (rugby league)Stuart Cummings is the current Match Officials Director of the Rugby Football League.He qualified as a Rugby League referee in 1988 and was awarded senior referee status in 1991...
, the Rugby Football LeagueRugby Football LeagueThe Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
's technical controller said the changes "bring us into line with the international rules" and ruled out future increases as well as declaring, "We will never see the unlimited interchange introduced into rugby league in Britain," a change that had caused controversy in Australia during its experiment there.