# 1990–91 Rugby Football League season

The 1990–91 Rugby Football League season was the 96th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Fourteen teams competed from August, 1990 until May, 1991 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

## Season summary
### Overview

* First Division: Wigan
* Second Division: Salford
* Premiership: Hull F.C.
* Divisional Premiership: Salford
* Challenge Cup: Wigan
* League Cup: Warrington

### Summary

Bradford Northern player Simon Tuffs tested positive for amphetamines, and was the first time a failed drugs test involving a rugby league player had been made public since random testing had been introduced by the RFL in 1987. He received a two-year suspension, but the ban was lifted following an appeal.
Due to a fixture backlog, Wigan, who were challenging for the league championship title, were forced to play their final eight league games within 19 days, a task described as "Mission Impossible" by coach John Monie. The club managed to win seven out of eight games to retain the title.
In April 1991, clubs approved a new three division format to be used from the start of the 1991–92 season. The Championship would remain a 14 team league, while the Second Division would consist of eight teams and the new Third Division would have 14 teams.

## League tables

Wigan retained their title this season, relegated were Oldham, Sheffield Eagles and Rochdale Hornets, to date this is Rochdale Hornets's last appearance in the top flight.

### First Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Wigan (C) | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 652 | 313 | +339 | 42 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 2 | Widnes | 26 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 635 | 340 | +295 | 40 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 3 | Hull F.C. | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 513 | 367 | +146 | 34 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 4 | Castleford | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 578 | 442 | +136 | 34 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 5 | Leeds | 26 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 602 | 448 | +154 | 30 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 6 | St Helens | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 628 | 533 | +95 | 29 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 7 | Bradford Northern | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 434 | 492 | −58 | 27 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 8 | Featherstone Rovers | 26 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 533 | 592 | −59 | 25 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 9 | Warrington | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 404 | 436 | −32 | 22 | |
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 356 | 409 | −53 | 22 | |
| 11 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 452 | 615 | −163 | 21 | |
| 12 | Oldham (R) | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 481 | 562 | −81 | 20 | Relegated to Second Division |
| 13 | Sheffield Eagles (R) | 26 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 459 | 583 | −124 | 16 | Relegated to Second Division |
| 14 | Rochdale Hornets (R) | 26 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 317 | 912 | −595 | 2 | Relegated to Second Division |

### Second Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Salford (C, P) | 28 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 856 | 219 | +637 | 53 | Promoted to First Division Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 2 | Halifax (P) | 28 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 941 | 311 | +630 | 48 | Promoted to First Division Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 3 | Swinton (P) | 28 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 523 | 370 | +153 | 44 | Promoted to First Division Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 4 | Ryedale-York | 28 | 20 | 2 | 6 | 559 | 294 | +265 | 42 | Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 5 | Leigh | 28 | 18 | 1 | 9 | 698 | 372 | +326 | 37 | Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 6 | Workington Town | 28 | 18 | 1 | 9 | 497 | 323 | +174 | 37 | Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 7 | Fulham | 28 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 450 | 338 | +112 | 36 | Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 8 | Carlisle | 28 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 613 | 425 | +188 | 34 | Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round |
| 9 | Doncaster (R) | 28 | 16 | 0 | 12 | 507 | 434 | +73 | 32 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 10 | Hunslet (R) | 28 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 519 | 438 | +81 | 28 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 11 | Huddersfield (R) | 28 | 13 | 1 | 14 | 493 | 477 | +16 | 27 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 12 | Whitehaven (R) | 28 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 412 | 592 | −180 | 26 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 13 | Keighley (R) | 28 | 12 | 0 | 16 | 456 | 588 | −132 | 24 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 14 | Dewsbury (R) | 28 | 10 | 1 | 17 | 410 | 455 | −45 | 21 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 15 | Trafford Borough (R) | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 508 | 618 | −110 | 20 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 16 | Batley (R) | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 337 | 466 | −129 | 20 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 17 | Barrow (R) | 28 | 8 | 2 | 18 | 415 | 705 | −290 | 18 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 18 | Chorley Borough (R) | 28 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 388 | 721 | −333 | 15 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 19 | Bramley (R) | 28 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 379 | 726 | −347 | 15 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 20 | Runcorn Highfield | 28 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 351 | 779 | −428 | 7 | Relegated to Third Division |
| 21 | Nottingham City (R) | 28 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 284 | 945 | −661 | 4 | Relegated to Third Division |

## Kangaroo Tour

The months of October and November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1990 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 8 Championship teams (St Helens, Wakefield Trinity, Wigan, Leeds, Warrington, Castleford, Hull and Widnes), 1 Second Division side (Halifax) and one county side (Cumbria). The team was coached by 1973 tourist and 1978 tour captain Bob Fulton and was captained by Mal Meninga who was making his third Kangaroo Tour as a player.
Penrith Panthers halfback Greg Alexander (who played most of the tour as the backup fullback to Gary Belcher), was the leading point scorer on the tour with 156 from 14 tries and 50 goals. Like Terry Lamb on the 1986 tour, Alexander was selected for every match on the tour, but he did not get off the bench in the 2nd Ashes Test at Old Trafford. Cronulla-Sutherland outside back Andrew Ettingshausen was the leading try scorer with 15 including hat-tricks against St Helens in the tour opener and Wigan a week later.
Great Britain's win in the first test at Wembley was the Lions first test win on home soil over Australia since 5 November 1978. It was the Kangaroos only loss of the tour. Wembley also saw the largest ever rugby league test attendance in Great Britain with 54,569 on hand. This beat the opening test of the 1986 Tour at Old Trafford that had attracted a crowd of 50,523.
| game | Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 7 October | Australia def. St Helens 34–4 | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 15,219 |
| 2 | 10 October | Australia def. Wakefield Trinity 36–18 | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 7,724 |
| 3 | 14 October | Australia def. Wigan 34–6 | Central Park, Wigan | 24,814 |
| 4 | 17 October | Australia def. Cumbria 42–10 | Derwent Park, Workington | 6,750 |
| 5 | 21 October | Australia def. Leeds 22–10 | Headingley, Leeds | 16,037 |
| 6 | 27 October | Great Britain def. Australia 19–12 | Wembley Stadium, London | 54,569 |
| 7 | 31 October | Australia def. Warrington 26–6 | Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington | 10,200 |
| 8 | 4 November | Australia def. Castleford 28–8 | Wheldon Road, Castleford | 9,033 |
| 9 | 6 November | Australia def. Halifax 36–18 | Thrum Hall, Halifax | 8,730 |
| 10 | 10 November | Australia def. Great Britain 14–10 | Old Trafford, Manchester | 46,615 |
| 11 | 14 November | Australia def. Hull F.C. 34–4 | The Boulevard, Hull | 13,081 |
| 12 | 18 November | Australia def. Widnes 15–8 | Naughton Park, Widnes | 14,666 |
| 13 | 24 November | Australia def. Great Britain 14–0 | Elland Road, Leeds | 32,500 |