# 1996 Workington Town season

The 1996 Workington Town season was the club's first season in the newly formed Super League. Coached by Ross O'Reilly, who replaced Kurt Sorensen in March 1996, and captained by Billy McGinty, Workington competed in Super League I and finished in 12th place, resulting in relegation to the First Division. The club also competed in the 1996 Challenge Cup, but were knocked out in the fourth round by First Division side Widnes.

## Table

Super League I :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | St Helens (C) | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 950 | 455 | +495 | 40 | Qualified for Premiership semi final |
| 2 | Wigan | 22 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 902 | 326 | +576 | 39 | Qualified for Premiership semi final |
| 3 | Bradford Bulls | 22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 767 | 409 | +358 | 34 | Qualified for Premiership semi final |
| 4 | London Broncos | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 611 | 462 | +149 | 25 | Qualified for Premiership semi final |
| 5 | Warrington Wolves | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 569 | 565 | +4 | 24 | |
| 6 | Halifax Blue Sox | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 667 | 576 | +91 | 21 | |
| 7 | Sheffield Eagles | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 599 | 730 | −131 | 20 | |
| 8 | Oldham Bears | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 473 | 681 | −208 | 19 | |
| 9 | Castleford Tigers | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 548 | 599 | −51 | 18 | |
| 10 | Leeds | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 555 | 745 | −190 | 12 | |
| 11 | Paris Saint-Germain | 22 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 398 | 795 | −397 | 7 | |
| 12 | Workington Town (R) | 22 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 325 | 1021 | −696 | 5 | Relegated to Division One |

## Match results

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Super League

| Game | Date | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Ref |
| 1 | 31 March 1996 | St. Helens | Home | 0–62 | | | 3,461 | MR |
| 2 | 5 April 1996 | Warrington Wolves | Away | 30–45 | Armstrong, Palmada, Chilton (2), Campbell | Marwood (5) | 4,511 | MR |
| 3 | 8 April 1996 | Sheffield Eagles | Home | 22–54 | Allen, L. Smith, Phillips | Marwood (5) | 1,904 | MR |
| 4 | 13 April 1996 | Paris Saint-Germain | Away | 12–34 | Burns, Wallace | Marwood (2) | 6,534 | MR |
| 5 | 21 April 1996 | London Broncos | Away | 0–58 | | | 4,138 | MR |
| 6 | 6 May 1996 | Halifax Blue Sox | Home | 18–18 | L. Smith, Wallace, Kitchin | Marwood (3) | 2,215 | MR |
| 7 | 12 May 1996 | Castleford Tigers | Away | 16–50 | Nairn, Penrice, Kitchin | Marwood (2) | 3,605 | MR |
| 8 | 18 May 1996 | Wigan Warriors | Home | 16–64 | Allen, Holgate, L. Smith | Marwood (2) | 3,176 | MR |
| 9 | 26 May 1996 | Oldham Bears | Away | 29–27 | Palmada, L. Smith, Wallace, Filipo | Marwood (3), Kitchin (3) + 1 DG | 2,228 | MR |
| 10 | 2 June 1996 | Bradford Bulls | Away | 4–52 | Allen | | 8,658 | MR |
| 11 | 9 June 1996 | Leeds Rhinos | Home | 18–48 | Johnson, Chilton, Filipo | Kitchin (3) | 2,949 | MR |
| 12 | 16 June 1996 | St. Helens | Away | 16–60 | Allen, Holgate, Keenan | Carter, J. Smith | 7,237 | MR |
| 13 | 23 June 1996 | London Broncos | Home | 6–34 | Chilton | Kitchin | 1,400 | MR |
| 14 | 29 June 1996 | Sheffield Eagles | Away | 16–32 | Nairn, T. Smith | Kitchin (4) | 3,468 | MR |
| 15 | 7 July 1996 | Paris Saint-Germain | Home | 14–10 | Filipo | Kitchin (5) | 2,173 | MR |
| 16 | 14 July 1996 | Warrington Wolves | Home | 4–49 | Allen | | 2,269 | MR |
| 17 | 21 July 1996 | Halifax Blue Sox | Away | 14–74 | Chilton, Kitchin, Armswood | Kitchin | 4,374 | MR |
| 18 | 28 July 1996 | Castleford Tigers | Home | 20–46 | Allen, Grima, Johnson | Watson (4) | 1,622 | MR |
| 19 | 4 August 1996 | Oldham Bears | Home | 24–30 | Holgate, Nairn, Penrice, Watson | Watson (4) | 1,759 | MR |
| 20 | 11 August 1996 | Bradford Bulls | Home | 14–28 | Bethwaite, Chilton | Watson (3) | 2,430 | MR |
| 21 | 18 August 1996 | Leeds Rhinos | Away | 28–68 | Fatnowna (2), Grima, Johnson, Nairn | Watson (4) | 4,956 | MR |
| 22 | 24 August 1996 | Wigan Warriors | Away | 4–78 | Johnson | | 6,466 | MR |

### Challenge Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Ref |
| Fourth | 28 January 1996 | Widnes | Home | 10–17 | L. Smith, Wallace | Marwood | 2,339 | MR |

## Squad

| Player | Apps | Tries | Goals | DGs | Points |
| John Allen | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Colin Armstrong | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Richard Armswood | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Craig Barker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Bethwaite | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Paul Burns | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Logan Campbell | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Darren Carter | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Lee Chilton | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Nicky Crellin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abraham Fatnowna | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Lafaele Filipo | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| David Fraisse | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonathan Gorley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrew Grima | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Stephen Holgate | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Stuart Howarth | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Johnson | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Mark Keenan | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Wayne Kitchin | 17 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 47 |
| Peter Livett | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy McGinty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary McGuirk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil McKenzie | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dean Marwood | 16 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 46 |
| Jason Moore | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brad Nairn | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Jason Palmada | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Paul Penrice | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Adrian Petrie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rowland Phillips | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Lee Prest | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter Riley | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garry Schubert | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Smith | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Leigh Smith | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Tony Smith | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Dylan Stainton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Stamper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Wallace | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Ian Watson | 5 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 34 |
| Andrew Whalley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Transfers
### In

| Player | Pos | From | Fee | Date | Ref |
| Tony Smith | Stand-off | St. George Dragons | | April 1996 | |
| Brad Nairn | Loose forward | Parramatta Eels | | April 1996 | |

### Out

| Player | Pos | To | Fee | Date | Ref |
| Stephen Holgate | Second-row | Wigan Warriors | £100,000 | December 1996 | |