# 2011 RFL Championship

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

## Season results
### Play-offs

Elimination play-offs
Qualifying semi-final
Elimination semi-final
Elimination final
Grand Final
* 2 October 2011
| Featherstone Rovers | 40–4 | Sheffield Eagles |
| Tries: Spears, Finn (2), Hardman, Cockayne, Hepworth, Saxton Goals: Finn 6/7 | | Tries: McDonald Goals: Brown 0/1 |
* Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 7,263 Referee: Matthew Thomason
| Elimination play-offs | Elimination play-offs | Elimination play-offs | Qualifying/Elimination semifinal | Qualifying/Elimination semifinal | Qualifying/Elimination semifinal | Elimination final | Elimination final | Elimination final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 15 September 2011 | 15 September 2011 | 15 September 2011 | | | | 2 October 2011 | 2 October 2011 | 2 October 2011 |
| | | | 1 | Featherstone Rovers | 35 | | | | Featherstone Rovers | 40 |
| | | | 2 | Leigh Centurions | 20 | 22 September 2011 | 22 September 2011 | 22 September 2011 | ' Sheffield Eagles | ' Sheffield Eagles | 4 |
| 8 September 2011 | 8 September 2011 | 8 September 2011 | 2 | Leigh Centurions | 20 | 22 September 2011 | 22 September 2011 | 22 September 2011 | ' Sheffield Eagles | ' Sheffield Eagles | 4 |
| 8 September 2011 | 8 September 2011 | 8 September 2011 | | | | Leigh Centurions | 10 | | | |
| 3 | Batley Bulldogs | 22 | | | | Leigh Centurions | 10 | | | |
| 3 | Batley Bulldogs | 22 | 18 September 2011 | 18 September 2011 | 18 September 2011 | Sheffield Eagles | Sheffield Eagles | | 20 | | |
| 6 | Halifax | 32 | 18 September 2011 | 18 September 2011 | 18 September 2011 | Sheffield Eagles | Sheffield Eagles | | 20 | | |
| 6 | Halifax | 32 | Halifax | Halifax | 12 | | | | | | |
| 9 September 2011 | 9 September 2011 | 9 September 2011 | Halifax | Halifax | 12 | | | | | | |
| 9 September 2011 | 9 September 2011 | 9 September 2011 | Sheffield Eagles | Sheffield Eagles | 50 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Sheffield Eagles | 36 | Sheffield Eagles | Sheffield Eagles | 50 | | | | | | |
| 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |