| 1933–34 Northern Rugby Football League season | |
| League: | Championship |
| Duration: | 38 Rounds |
| No Of Teams: | 28 |
| Season Champs: | Wigan (4th title) |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| League Leaders: | Salford |
| League Leaders Name: | League Leaders |
| Second Place: | Salford |
| Top Scorer: | Jim Sullivan (Wigan) (406) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Brown (Salford) (45) |
| Prevseason Link: | 1932–33 Northern Rugby Football League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1932–33 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1934–35 Northern Rugby Football League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1934–35 |
The 1933–34 Rugby Football League season was the 39th season of rugby league football. The first rugby league club in London, London Highfield competed in its inaugural season.[1]
Wigan won their fourth Championship when they beat Salford 15-3 in the play-off final.
Salford had ended the regular season as league leaders.[2]
The Challenge Cup winners were Hunslet who beat Widnes 11-5.
Work begins at a former quarry that was being used as a waste dump at Odsal Top in Bradford after Bradford Northern sign a ten-year lease with the local council. This was to become the site of their current home ground, Odsal Stadium.[3]
Salford won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Oldham beat St Helens Recs 12–0 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and York beat Hull Kingston Rovers 10–4 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
| width=175 | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salford | 38 | 31 | 1 | 6 | 715 | 281 | 63 | |
| 2 | Wigan | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 739 | 334 | 52 | |
| 3 | Leeds | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 597 | 376 | 52 | |
| 4 | Halifax | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 457 | 340 | 52 | |
| 5 | York | 38 | 24 | 1 | 13 | 481 | 370 | 49 | |
| 6 | Hunslet | 38 | 23 | 1 | 14 | 608 | 441 | 47 | |
| 7 | Widnes | 38 | 21 | 4 | 13 | 393 | 324 | 46 | |
| 8 | Warrington | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 508 | 370 | 45 | |
| 9 | Swinton | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 418 | 322 | 45 | |
| 10 | Hull | 38 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 553 | 438 | 45 | |
| 11 | Keighley | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 429 | 367 | 45 | |
| 12 | Huddersfield | 38 | 20 | 1 | 17 | 500 | 330 | 41 | |
| 13 | St. Helens | 38 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 550 | 500 | 40 | |
| 14 | London Highfield | 38 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 509 | 489 | 40 | |
| 15 | Oldham | 38 | 17 | 3 | 18 | 400 | 520 | 37 | |
| 16 | Castleford | 38 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 476 | 468 | 35 | |
| 17 | Rochdale Hornets | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 442 | 524 | 34 | |
| 18 | St Helens Recs | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 455 | 477 | 33 | |
| 19 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 444 | 482 | 33 | |
| 20 | Batley | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 390 | 436 | 33 | |
| 21 | Leigh | 38 | 15 | 2 | 21 | 479 | 537 | 32 | |
| 22 | Wakefield Trinity | 38 | 15 | 2 | 21 | 332 | 404 | 32 | |
| 23 | Broughton Rangers | 38 | 15 | 1 | 22 | 415 | 495 | 31 | |
| 24 | Barrow | 38 | 15 | 0 | 23 | 375 | 464 | 30 | |
| 25 | Dewsbury | 38 | 12 | 1 | 25 | 313 | 587 | 25 | |
| 26 | Bramley | 38 | 11 | 1 | 26 | 367 | 790 | 23 | |
| 27 | Bradford Northern | 38 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 337 | 714 | 16 | |
| 28 | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | 4 | 0 | 34 | 232 | 734 | 8 |
See main article: 1933–34 Challenge Cup.
Hunslet defeated Widnes 11-5 in the final at Wembley before a crowd of 41,280.
This was Hunslet’s second Cup Final win, the first being in 1907–08, in their third Cup Final appearance.[4]
See main article: 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. August until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1933–34 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (who played under the name of England), The Kangaroos played matches against club and county representative sides as well as a non-test international against Wales and two internationals against England, the first of which was held at the Stade Pershing in Paris, the first rugby league match played in France.
The Kangaroos were captain-coach by Frank McMillan.
| game | Date | Result | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 August | Australia def. St Helens Recs 13–9 | 8,880 | ||
| 2 | 30 August | Australia def. Leigh 16–7 | 4,590 | ||
| 3 | 2 September | Australia def. Hull Kingston Rovers 20–0 | 7,831 | ||
| 4 | 6 September | Australia def. Bramley RLFC 53–6 | 1,902 | ||
| 5 | 9 September | Australia def. Oldham 38–6 | 15,281 | ||
| 6 | 13 September | Yorkshire def. Australia 13–0 | 10,309 | ||
| 7 | 16 September | Australia def. Barrow 24–5 | 12,221 | ||
| 8 | 20 September | Australia def. Lancashire 33–7 | 16,576 | ||
| 9 | 23 September | Australia def. Wigan 18–17 | 15,712 | ||
| 10 | 27 September | Australia def. Castleford 15–2 | 4,250 | ||
| 11 | 30 September | Australia def. Halifax 16–5 | 10,358 | ||
| 12 | 7 October | England def. 22–14 | 34,000 | ||
| 13 | 11 October | Australia def. Bradford Northern 7–5 | 3,328 | ||
| 14 | 14 October | Australia def. Warrington 15–2 | 16,431 | ||
| 15 | 18 October | Australia def. Hunslet 22–18 | 6,227 | ||
| 16 | 21 October | Salford def. Australia 16–9 | 15,761 | ||
| 17 | 26 October | Australia def. Widnes 31–0 | 6,691 | ||
| 18 | 28 October | Australia def. Wakefield Trinity 17–6 | 5,596 | ||
| 19 | 30 October | Australia def. Bradford Northern 10–7 | 3,328 | ||
| 20 | 1 November | English League XIII def. Australia 16–9 | 3,158 | ||
| 21 | 4 November | Swinton def. Australia 10–4 | 13,341 | ||
| 22 | 11 November | England def. 7–5 | 29,618 | ||
| 23 | 14 November | Australia def. Keighley 10–7 | 3,800 | ||
| 24 | 18 November | Australia def. Huddersfield 13–5 | 7,522 | ||
| 25 | 22 November | Australia def. London Highfield 20–5 | 10,541 | ||
| 26 | 25 November | Australia def. Broughton Rangers 19–0 | 5,527 | ||
| 27 | 29 November | Australia def. Leeds 15–7 | 5,295 | ||
| 28 | 2 December | Australia def. St Helens 20–11 | 5,735 | ||
| 29 | 2 December | Australia def. Rochdale Hornets 26–4 | 3,603 | ||
| 30 | 9 December | Cumberland def. Australia 17–16 | 5,800 | ||
| 31 | 16 December | England def. 19–16 | 10,900 | ||
| 32 | 23 December | Australia def. York 15–7 | 6,500 | ||
| 33 | 25 December | Australia def. Hull F.C. 9–5 | 16,341 | ||
| 34 | 30 December | def. 51–19 | 10,000 | ||
| 35 | 31 December | def. 63–13 | 5,000 | ||
| 36 | 10 January | Australia def. Oldham 38–5 | 4,000 | ||
| 37 | 13 January | def. 19–14 | 15,576 |