2011 RFL Championship

The 2011 Rugby Football League Championship is known as Co-operative Championship due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group.

Co-operative Championship 2011
The Co-operative Championship logo
League	Co-operative Championship
Duration	22 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs)
Teams	10
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports
2011 Season
Grand Final winners	Featherstone Rovers
League leaders	Featherstone Rovers
Top point-scorer(s)	Mick Nanyn (296)
Top try-scorer(s)	Jamie Ellis, Mick Nanyn (22)
← 2010 2012 →

The 2011 Co-operative Championship is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the UK and France one tier below the first tier Super League. The two worst performing teams during the season, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique, will be relegated to Championship 1.

There is no automatic promotion from this league to Super League, which uses a licensing system renewed every three years. Qualifying for the Grand Final or winning the Northern Rail Cup is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for a licence in the next round of applications for the 2012–14 period.

All of the teams in the 2011 Co-operative Championship will also compete in the 2011 Challenge Cup where they will enter in the third round. All of the teams will also compete in the 2011 National League Cup which starts before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.

Teams

This competition features mostly the same teams as it did in 2010. The Hunslet Hawks and York City Knights were promoted from the 2010 Championship 1 while the Keighley Cougars and Whitehaven were relegated.

Legend
	Reigning champions
	Defending Northern Rail Cup Champions
	Promoted

	Team & Current Season	Stadium	Capacity	Location
	Barrow Raiders	Craven Park	7,600	Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
	Batley Bulldogs	Mount Pleasant	6,000	Batley, West Yorkshire
	Dewsbury Rams	Tetley's Stadium	3,500	Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
	Featherstone Rovers	Bigfellas Stadium	6,750	Featherstone, West Yorkshire
	Halifax	The Shay Stadium	6,561	Halifax, West Yorkshire
	Hunslet Hawks	South Leeds Stadium	4,000	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	Leigh Centurions	Leigh Sports Village	12,700	Leigh, Greater Manchester
	Sheffield Eagles	Bramall Lane	32,702	Sheffield, South Yorkshire
	Toulouse Olympique XIII	Stade des Minimes	4,066	Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France
	Widnes Vikings	Stobart Stadium Halton	13,500	Widnes, Cheshire
	York City Knights	Huntington Stadium	3,428	York, North Yorkshire

Season standings

2011 Co-operative Championship
#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Bns	Pts
1	Featherstone Rovers	20	18	1	1	840	348	+492	0	56
2	Leigh Centurions	20	18	1	1	776	368	+408	1	53
3	Batley Bulldogs	20	12	0	8	498	406	+92	0	41
4	Sheffield Eagles	20	12	0	8	577	488	+89	0	39
5	Widnes Vikings	20	11	1	8	555	532	+23	0	38
6	Halifax	20	10	0	10	569	543	+26	1	36
7	Hunslet Hawks	20	4	1	15	395	630	-235	3	20
8	York City Knights	20	5	1	14	416	788	-372	3	19
9	Dewsbury Rams	20	4	1	15	413	618	−205	0	18
10	Toulouse Olympique(R)	20	4	0	16	358	663	−305	0	15
11	Barrow Raiders (R)	20	9	0	11	527	540	-13	1	0

	Teams qualifying for the Play-offs
	Teams in relegation position

This table is correct as of 25 August 2010 (1:12pm).

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20110322190230/http://www.cooperativechampionship.co.uk/table_nl1.php

Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.

Competition points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1.

Season results

Regular season

Main article: 2011 RFL Championship Results

Play-offs

Elimination play-offs

8 September 2011	Batley Bulldogs	22–32	Halifax	Batley
	Tries: Preece (2), Daley Williams, Manning Goals: Handforth 2/3, Mennell 1/3		Tries: Haley, Bannister, Worrincy, Penkywicz, Beswick Goals: Jones 6/6	Stadium: Mount Pleasant Attendance: 1,179 Referee: Clint Sharrad

9 September 2011	Sheffield Eagles	36–20	Widnes Vikings	Sheffield
	Tries: Laulu-Togagae (2), McDonald (2), Taulapapa Goals: Brown 8/9		Tries: Flynn (2), Ropati, Craven Goals: Craven 2/4	Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 564 Referee: Matthew Thomason

Qualifying semi-final

15 September 2011	Featherstone Rovers	35–20	Leigh Centurions	Featherstone
	Tries: Cockayne, Finn, Saxton (3), Bostock Goals: Finn 5/7 Drop goals: Finn		Tries: Maden, Mills, Ridyard, Nanyn Goals: Nanyn 2/4	Stadium: Post Office Road Attendance: 2,031 Referee: Tim Roby

Elimination semi-final

18 September 2011	Sheffield Eagles	50–12	Halifax	Sheffield
	Tries: Laulu-Togagae, Hirst, Henderson (2), McDonald (2), Taulapapa, Woodcock Goals: Brown 9/11		Tries: Goddard, Penkywicz Goals: Jones 2/2	Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 1,233 Referee: Matthew Thomason

Elimination final

22 September 2011	Leigh Centurions	10–20	Sheffield Eagles	Leigh
	Tries: Donlan, Nanyn Goals: Nanyn 1/2		Tries: S. Scott, Finigan, Laulu-Togagae Goals: Brown 4/4	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 1,818 Referee: Ben Thaler

Grand Final

Featherstone Rovers	40–4	Sheffield Eagles
Tries: Spears, Finn (2), Hardman, Cockayne, Hepworth, Saxton Goals: Finn 6/7		Tries: McDonald Goals: Brown 0/1

2 October 2011

Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 7,263 Referee: Matthew Thomason

	Elimination play-offs					Qualifying/Elimination semifinal					Elimination final					Grand Final
						15 September 2011										2 October 2011
						1	Featherstone Rovers	35								Featherstone Rovers		40
						2	Leigh Centurions	20			22 September 2011					' Sheffield Eagles		4
	8 September 2011
											Leigh Centurions		10
	3	Batley Bulldogs	22
						18 September 2011					Sheffield Eagles		20
	6	Halifax	32
						Halifax		12
	9 September 2011
						Sheffield Eagles		50
	4	Sheffield Eagles	36
	5	Widnes Vikings	20

Statistics

The following are the top points scorers in the Championship during the 2011 season. Statistics also include tries and goals scored in the play-offs.^[1]

Most tries Player Team Tries Jamie Ellis Leigh Centurions 22 Mick Nanyn Leigh Centurions 22 Andy Ballard Barrow Raiders 20 Bryn Powell Featherstone Rovers 20 Tom Saxton Featherstone Rovers 18 Paul White Halifax 17 Martyn Ridyard Leigh Centurions 17 Quentin Laulu-Togagae Sheffield Eagles 17 Menzie Yere Sheffield Eagles 16 Jon Hepworth Featherstone Rovers 15

Most goals Player Team Goals Liam Finn Featherstone Rovers 115 Mick Nanyn Leigh Centurions 104 Simon Brown Sheffield Eagles 95 Steve Tyrer Widnes Vikings 69 Danny Jones Halifax 65 Jamie Rooney Barrow Raiders 63 Paul Handforth Batley Bulldogs 59 Darren Nicholls Toulouse Olympique 40 Dominic Brambani Dewsbury Rams 39 Pat Walker Dewsbury Rams 29

Most points

Player	Team	Tries	Goals	DGs	Points
Mick Nanyn	Leigh Centurions	22	104	0	296
Liam Finn	Featherstone Rovers	14	115	1	287
Simon Brown	Sheffield Eagles	2	95	1	199
Steve Tyrer	Widnes Vikings	12	69	0	186
Danny Jones	Halifax	6	65	0	154
Jamie Rooney	Barrow Raiders	6	63	1	151
Paul Handforth	Batley Bulldogs	4	59	0	134
Darren Nicholls	Toulouse Olympique	13	40	0	132
Dominic Brambani	Dewsbury Rams	6	39	1	103
Jamie Ellis	Leigh Centurions	22	7	0	102

See also

• Co-operative Championship
• 2011 Championship 1
• British rugby league system
• Super League
• Rugby League Conference
• Northern Ford Premiership
• National League Cup

References

1. Tim Butcher; Daniel Spencer (November 2011). Gillette Rugby League Yearbook 2011-12. League Publications Limited. ISBN 978-1-901347-24-1.