# 1956–57 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1956–57 Rugby Football League season was the 62nd season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

Oldham finished the regular season as the league leaders and then won their fourth Rugby Football League Championship when they beat Hull F.C. 15-14 in the play-off final.
The Challenge Cup winners were Leeds who beat Barrow 9-7 in the final.
Oldham won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Oldham beat St. Helens 10–3 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Hunslet 23–5 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
Lewis Jones' record total of 496 points was only bettered in 2024 by Max Jowitt, who scored 500 in Wakefield Trinity's successful Championship campaign.

## Championship

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Oldham | 38 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 66 |
| 2 | Hull | 38 | 29 | 2 | 7 | 60 |
| 3 | Barrow | 38 | 29 | 0 | 9 | 58 |
| 4 | Leeds | 38 | 28 | 0 | 10 | 56 |
| 5 | St. Helens | 38 | 25 | 3 | 10 | 53 |
| 6 | Wigan | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 52 |
| 7 | Hunslet | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 52 |
| 8 | Wakefield Trinity | 38 | 23 | 1 | 14 | 47 |
| 9 | Huddersfield | 38 | 23 | 0 | 15 | 46 |
| 10 | Warrington | 38 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 43 |
| 11 | York | 38 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 42 |
| 12 | Halifax | 38 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 42 |
| 13 | Salford | 38 | 19 | 2 | 17 | 40 |
| 14 | Workington Town | 38 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 40 |
| 15 | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 38 |
| 16 | Rochdale Hornets | 38 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 38 |
| 17 | Leigh | 38 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 37 |
| 18 | Whitehaven | 38 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 37 |
| 19 | Swinton | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 36 |
| 20 | Keighley | 38 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 35 |
| 21 | Bradford Northern | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 34 |
| 22 | Bramley | 38 | 14 | 2 | 22 | 30 |
| 23 | Widnes | 38 | 15 | 0 | 23 | 30 |
| 24 | Blackpool Borough | 38 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 28 |
| 25 | Castleford | 38 | 11 | 2 | 25 | 24 |
| 26 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 38 | 11 | 2 | 25 | 24 |
| 27 | Liverpool City | 38 | 9 | 1 | 28 | 19 |
| 28 | Batley | 38 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 16 |
| 29 | Dewsbury | 38 | 5 | 1 | 32 | 11 |
| 30 | Doncaster | 38 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 6 |
* Play-offs

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| 1 | Oldham | 22 | | | |
| 4 | Leeds | 12 | | | |
| 4 | Leeds | 12 | Oldham | Oldham | 15 |
| | | | Hull | Hull | 14 |
| 2 | Barrow | 14 | Hull | Hull | 14 |
| 3 | Hull | 45 | | | |

## Challenge Cup

Leeds beat Barrow 9-7 in the Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 76,318.
This was Leeds’ eighth Challenge Cup Final win in ten Final appearances. Jeff Stevenson, their scrum half back, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.

## Kangaroo Tour

October until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1956–57 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played 16 matches against club and county representative sides.
The Kangaroos were captain-coached by St George Dragons hooker Ken Kearney.
| game | Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 10 October | Australia def. Liverpool City 40–12 | Knotty Ash Stadium, Liverpool | 4,712 |
| 2 | 13 October | Leeds def. Australia 18–13 | Headingley, Leeds | 24,459 |
| 3 | 15 October | Australia def. Hull F.C. / Hull KR XIII 37–14 | The Boulevard, Hull | 17,172 |
| 4 | 18 October | Australia def. Barrow 25–11 | Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness | 9,988 |
| 5 | 20 October | Whitehaven def. Australia 14–11 | Recreation Ground, Whitehaven | 10,840 |
| 6 | 24 October | Australia def. Bradford Northern 23–11 | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 2,743 |
| 7 | 27 October | Warrington def. Australia 21–17 | Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington | 15,613 |
| 8 | 29 October | Australia def. English League XIII 19–15 | Hilton Park, Leigh | 7,811 |
| 9 | 3 November | Australia def. York 20–18 | Clarence Street, York | 6,842 |
| 10 | 7 November | Oldham def. Australia 15–2 | The Watersheddings, Oldham | 8,458 |
| 11 | 10 November | Australia def. Huddersfield 20–10 | Fartown Ground, Huddersfield | 12,127 |
| 12 | 17 November | Great Britain def. Australia 21–10 | Central Park, Wigan | 22,473 |
| 13 | 21 November | Australia def. Hunslet 27–11 | Parkside, Hunslet | 4,451 |
| 14 | 24 November | St Helens def. Australia 44–2 | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 15,579 |
| 15 | 1 December | Australia def. Great Britain 22–9 | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 23,634 |
| 16 | 5 December | Halifax def. Australia 6–3 | Thrum Hall, Halifax | 2,254 |
| 17 | 8 December | Australia def. Wigan 32–4 | Central Park, Wigan | 15,854 |
| 18 | 10 December | Wakefield Trinity def. Australia 17–12 | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 3,381 |
| 19 | 15 December | Great Britain def. Australia 19–0 | Station Road, Swinton | 17,542 |