2008 Round Up
2008 saw the Reds begin life in National League 1 after a disastrous 2007 campaign that led to the sacking of Head Coach Karl Harrison.
Former Super League winner Shaun McRae was now at the helm at the Reds expected to sweep all before them and hopefully be awarded one of the 14 new Super League Licences for the new-look competition in 2009.
On July 22, they were granted their wish and the Reds became a Super League team once more, after an absence of just one season - during which they finished comfortable League Leaders, won the Northern Rail Cup and remained unbeaten at home throughout the regular League Season.
Alarm bells had started to ring after a comprehensive home defeat in the Grand Final Qualifying Playoff at home to Celtic Crusaders but finishing top of the pile had allowed them the comfort of a second roll of the dice, this time agianst surprise package Whitehaven, who were comprehensively dispatched as the Reds ran riot scoring another 60 points in the process.
On to the grand final and a third game in a month against the Crusaders. Everybody expected a tough encounter but few expected the classic it turned out ot be with the Reds' John Wilshere converting a penalty with the last kick of the game to force the Final into Extra Time for the first time in the history of the sport. From there the Reds ran out comfortable victores 36-18 to complete the Grand Slam and bring the curtain down on a memorable year of rugby league for the club
2008 will also a season where young stars like Richie Myler who was named National League 1 Young Player of the Year and even won a call up to the England team, Jordan Turner and Stefan Ratchford came to the fore and stole the limelight. to top it all off Coach McRae was awarded the National League 1 Coach of the Year award at the ceremony in Leeds.
|
230 |
Total Number of Tries scored in 2008 by the Reds |
|
185 |
Total Number of Goals kicked in 2008 by the Reds |
|
0 |
Total Number of Drop Goals kicked in 2008 by the Reds |
|
561 |
Total Number of Player Appearances in 2008 by the Reds |
|
26 |
Total Number of Players used in 2008 by the Reds |
|
1290 |
Total Number of Points Scored in 2008 by the Reds |
Co-Operative National League 2008
Team P W D L F A PTS
1 Salford 18 12 3 3 614 302 45
2 Celtic Crusaders 18 12 0 6 511 391 40
3 Halifax 18 11 1 6 634 514 38
4 Leigh 18 10 0 8 448 448 34
5 Whitehaven 18 10 0 8 420 399 32
6 Widnes 18 10 2 6 453 410 30
7 Sheffield 18 8 1 9 425 530 29
8 Featherstone 18 6 1 11 452 515 26
9 Batley 18 5 0 13 387 538 23
10 Dewsbury 18 2 0 16 315 612 13
Northern Rail Cup Group 4
Team P W D L F A PTS
1 Salford 6 5 0 1 294 56 16
2 Oldham 6 4 0 2 164 124 13
3 Rochdale 6 2 0 4 122 254 7
4 Swinton 6 1 0 5 116 262 5
And Now for the highlights..
