2005 Super League season

Super League X is the official name of 2005's Super League season. It was the 10th season of the Super League and saw twelve teams from across England compete for the premiership. The season kicked off in early February, culminating in a six team play-off series

Super League X
LeagueSuper League
Duration28 Rounds
Teams12
Highest attendance25,004
Wigan Warriors vs St. Helens (25 March)
Lowest attendance2,682
Salford City Reds vs Huddersfield Giants (2 July)
Attendance1,492,464 Increase
(average 8,884)
Broadcast partnersSky Sports
2005 Season
ChampionsBradford Bulls
4th Super League title
6th British title
League LeadersSt. Helens
Man of SteelAustralia Jamie Lyon
Top point-scorer(s)England Paul Deacon (322)
Top try-scorer(s)England Mark Calderwood (27)
New franchise
Awarded toCatalans Dragons
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from National League OneCastleford Tigers
Relegated to National League OneLeigh Centurions
Widnes Vikings

The Grand Final, held at Old Trafford on 15 October, saw Bradford Bulls crowned Champions. The Grand Final was the final match of a which itself was the climax of a league season that kicked off in early February.

Season summary

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Either one or two teams were to be relegated from the league at the end of the season in order to make way for new entrants. The bottom team were certain to be relegated, in order to allow in French club Catalans Dragons. The second bottom team would only be relegated if the winner of National League One met the criteria for Super League entry. On the 3 October the Rugby Football League announced that both finalists in this competition, Castleford Tigers and Whitehaven were eligible for promotion, hence two teams were relegated.

The season was a commercial success, with a rise in average crowd size for the regular rounds of 8,887, continuing the trend of rises every year since 2001.[1] This is the first time in the history of Super League the Grand Final has not included the league leader at the end of the regular season: St Helens were knocked out by Bradford Bulls in the semi-final.

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   St Helens (L) 28 23 1 4 1028 537 +491 47 Semi Final
2   Leeds Rhinos 28 22 0 6 1152 505 +647 44
3   Bradford Bulls (C) 28 18 1 9 1038 684 +354 37 Elimination Semi Final
4   Warrington Wolves 28 18 0 10 792 702 +90 36
5   Hull F.C. 28 15 2 11 756 670 +86 32
6   London Broncos 28 13 2 13 800 718 +82 28
7   Wigan Warriors 28 14 0 14 698 718 −20 28
8   Huddersfield Giants 28 12 0 16 742 791 −49 24
9   Salford City Reds 28 11 0 17 549 732 −183 22
10   Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 28 10 0 18 716 999 −283 20
11   Widnes Vikings (R) 28 6 1 21 598 1048 −450 13 Relegation to National League One
12   Leigh Centurions (R) 28 2 1 25 445 1210 −765 5
Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners; (R) Relegated

Play-off

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Grand final

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  • 15 October: Leeds Rhinos 6-15 Bradford Bulls

2005 Transfers

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Players

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Player 2004 Club 2005 Club
Paul Anderson   Bradford Bulls   St. Helens
Toa Kohe-Love   Bradford Bulls   Warrington Wolves
Logan Swann   Bradford Bulls   Warrington Wolves
Tevita Vaikona   Bradford Bulls Saracens F.C. (English rugby union)
Ryan Clayton   Castleford Tigers   Huddersfield Giants
Damian Gibson   Castleford Tigers   Halifax (National League One)
Wayne Godwin   Castleford Tigers   Wigan Warriors
Craig Greenhill   Castleford Tigers Retirement
Lee Harland   Castleford Tigers   Doncaster Dragons (National League One)
Paul Jackson   Castleford Tigers   Huddersfield Giants
Andy Lynch   Castleford Tigers   Bradford Bulls
Paul Mellor   Castleford Tigers   NRL: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Paul Newlove   Castleford Tigers Retirement
Sean Ryan   Castleford Tigers Retirement
Tommy Saxton   Castleford Tigers   Hull F.C.
Ryan Sheridan   Castleford Tigers Retirement
Michael Smith   Castleford Tigers   Hull Kingston Rovers (National League One)
Nathan Sykes   Castleford Tigers   Featherstone Rovers (National League One)
Jamie Thackray   Castleford Tigers   Hull F.C.
Mark Tookey   Castleford Tigers   London Broncos
Ben Cooper   Huddersfield Giants   Leigh Centurions
Brandon Costin   Huddersfield Giants Retirement
Darren Fleary   Huddersfield Giants   Leigh Centurions
Darren Turner   Huddersfield Giants Retirement
Richie Barnett   Hull F.C. Retirement
Colin Best   Hull F.C.   NRL: St. George Illawarra Dragons
Jason Smith   Hull F.C.   NRL: Canberra Raiders
Matt Adamson   Leeds Rhinos   NRL: Canberra Raiders
David Furner   Leeds Rhinos Retirement
Russell Bawden   London Broncos Retirement
Jim Dymock   London Broncos Retirement
Rob Jackson   London Broncos   Leigh Centurions
Dennis Moran   London Broncos   Wigan Warriors
Steele Retchless   London Broncos Retirement
Nigel Roy   London Broncos Retirement
Mat Toshack   London Broncos Retirement
Joel Caine   Salford City Reds Retirement
Gavin Clinch   Salford City Reds Retirement
Jason Flowers   Salford City Reds Retirement
Martin Moana   Salford City Reds   Doncaster Dragons (National League One)
Scott Naylor   Salford City Reds Retirement
Martin Gleeson   St. Helens   Warrington Wolves
Chris Joynt   St. Helens Retirement
John Stankevitch   St. Helens   Widnes Vikings
Gareth Ellis   Wakefield Trinity Wildcats   Leeds Rhinos
Darren Burns   Warrington Wolves Retirement
Mike Forshaw   Warrington Wolves Retirement
Jérôme Guisset   Warrington Wolves   Wigan Warriors
Gary Hulse   Warrington Wolves   Widnes Vikings
Ian Sibbit   Warrington Wolves   Salford City Reds
Paul Atcheson   Widnes Vikings Retirement
Deon Bird   Widnes Vikings   Castleford Tigers (National League One)
Andy Hay   Widnes Vikings   Doncaster Dragons (National League One)
Steve McCurrie   Widnes Vikings   Leigh Centurions
Robert Relf   Widnes Vikings Retirement
Mick Cassidy   Wigan Warriors   Widnes Vikings
Gary Connolly   Wigan Warriors   Widnes Vikings
Andy Farrell   Wigan Warriors Saracens F.C. (English rugby union)
David Hodgson   Wigan Warriors   Salford City Reds
Adrian Lam   Wigan Warriors Retirement
Terry O'Connor   Wigan Warriors   Widnes Vikings
Quentin Pongia   Wigan Warriors Retirement
Luke Robinson   Wigan Warriors   Salford City Reds
Craig Smith   Wigan Warriors   NRL: Newcastle Knights
Mark Smith   Wigan Warriors   Widnes Vikings
Michael De Vere   NRL: Brisbane Broncos   Huddersfield Giants
Brad Meyers   NRL: Brisbane Broncos   Bradford Bulls
Brad Drew   NRL: Canberra Raiders   Huddersfield Giants
Mark McLinden   NRL: Canberra Raiders   London Broncos
Ben Harris   NRL: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs   Bradford Bulls
Jason Kent   NRL: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks   Leigh Centurions
Nick Bradley-Qalilawa   NRL: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles   London Broncos
Solomon Haumono   NRL: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles   London Broncos
Stephen Kearney   NRL: Melbourne Storm   Hull F.C.
Danny Williams   NRL: Melbourne Storm   London Broncos
Vinnie Anderson   NRL: New Zealand Warriors   St. Helens
Henry Fa'afili   NRL: New Zealand Warriors   Warrington Wolves
Jerry Seuseu   NRL: New Zealand Warriors   Wigan Warriors
Lee Hopkins   NRL: Parramatta Eels   London Broncos
Junior Langi   NRL: Parramatta Eels   Salford City Reds
Jamie Lyon   NRL: Parramatta Eels   St. Helens
Craig Stapleton   NRL: Parramatta Eels   Leigh Centurions
Chris Thorman   NRL: Parramatta Eels   Huddersfield Giants
David Vaealiki   NRL: Parramatta Eels   Wigan Warriors
Owen Craigie   NRL: South Sydney Rabbitohs   Widnes Vikings
Brad Watts   NRL: South Sydney Rabbitohs   Widnes Vikings
Nathan Blacklock   NRL: St. George Illawarra Dragons   Hull F.C.
Luke Dorn   NRL: Sydney Roosters   London Broncos
Robert Mears   NRL: Wests Tigers   Leigh Centurions
Jason Ferris N/A   Leigh Centurions

References

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  1. ^ "engage Super League sets attendance record". Archived from the original on 2007-03-13.
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