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Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League.
| Super League VIII | |
|---|---|
| League | Super League |
| Duration | 28 Rounds |
| Teams | 12 |
| Highest attendance | 21,784 Bradford Bulls vs Leeds Rhinos (23 May) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,276 Halifax vs London Broncos (22 Aug) |
| Attendance | 1,336,374  (average 7,955) |
| Broadcast partners | Sky Sports |
| 2003 Season | |
| Champions | Bradford Bulls 3rd Super League title 5th British title |
| League Leaders | Bradford Bulls |
| Man of Steel |  Jamie Peacock |
| Top point-scorer(s) | Paul Deacon (286) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |  Dennis Moran (24) |
| Promotion and relegation | |
| Promoted from National League One | Salford City Reds |
| Relegated to National League One | Halifax |
The season culminated in a replay of the 2001 Grand Final between Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors, and again Bradford won, claiming the 2003 Championship, their second in three years.
- 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.[1]
- Super League coaches voted 12-0 for new interchange and substitution rules for the 2003 season.[2] The number of interchanges, which now included blood bins, increased from 6 to 12 using a pool of 4 substitutes.[1][2] 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.[2] Stuart Cummings, the Rugby Football League'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.[2]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bradford Bulls (L, C) |
28 | 22 | 0 | 6 | 878 | 529 | +349 | 44 | Semi Final |
| 2 |  Leeds Rhinos |
28 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 751 | 555 | +196 | 41 | |
| 3 |  Wigan Warriors |
28 | 19 | 2 | 7 | 776 | 512 | +264 | 40 | Elimination Semi Final |
| 4 |  St Helens |
28 | 16 | 1 | 11 | 845 | 535 | +310 | 31[a] | |
| 5 |  London Broncos |
28 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 643 | 696 | −53 | 30 | |
| 6 |  Warrington Wolves |
28 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 748 | 619 | +129 | 29 | |
| 7 |  Hull F.C. |
28 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 701 | 577 | +124 | 27[b] | |
| 8 |  Castleford Tigers |
28 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 612 | 633 | −21 | 25 | |
| 9 |  Widnes Vikings |
28 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 640 | 727 | −87 | 25 | |
| 10 |  Huddersfield Giants |
28 | 11 | 1 | 16 | 628 | 715 | −87 | 23 | |
| 11 |  Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
28 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 505 | 774 | −269 | 15 | |
| 12 |  Halifax (R) |
28 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 372 | 1227 | −855 | 0[c] | Relegation to National League One |
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
Notes:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
| Elimination play-offs | Qualifying / Elimination semifinal | Elimination final | Grand Final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Bradford Bulls | 30 | Bradford Bulls | 25 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Leeds Rhinos | 14 | Wigan Warriors | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Leeds Rhinos | 22 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Wigan Warriors | 25 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wigan Warriors | 23 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Warrington Wolves | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wigan Warriors | 40 | |||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 24 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Helens | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | London Broncos | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
Source: Rugby League Project[3]
Grand Final
Television
This season was the final year of Sky Sports' contract with the Rugby Football League allowing them to broadcast matches exclusively live, the deal ended in November 2003.[4]
On 2 March, Matt Crowther of Hull F.C. equalled the club record for goals in a match when he was successful 14 times against Sheffield Eagles.[5]
Players
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