Wigan Album

This image is already on the site. Put on in November. Which you commented on Why put it on again??

So what. Most of the news is the same everyday never mind from last November. You picked an appropriate name Scaramouche. 12

Exactly Jack. Great to see a photo of two great players even if we have seen it before.

Broadly. I wonder what he says when someone gets the old family photo album out?

Although I too have seen this photo several times I can never get enough of Bevan. He is the player I most regret not having seen play live. He was lightening quick and he still holds the world record (by any Rugby player League or Union) number of 796 tries !!! scored in competitive matches.

For those who don't know - He was Australian and only 22 when he arrived in the UK in 1946 on an Australian Royal Navy ship (having signed up in 1939). He had never played in England but had a letter of introduction to Leeds RL. When he turned up at Leeds they refused to give him a trial as they thought he looked too frail and advised him to try Hunslet who also turned him down for the same reason. he then went to Warrington who did give him a trial and the rest is history.

He was probably the most unusual looking rugby player in history, From a young age he was very thin, had few teeth ( as you can see in the picture he played without his false teeth and usually had his knees and legs covered in bandages, and bald. He looked remarkably like Wilfred Bramble as Harold's dad in Steptoe and son even though he was only a young man. In the photo above he is still probably only in his early 30s at the most. He was simply a star.

Whilst Bevan was a prolific try scorer and very quick on his feet, he didn't much like getting tackled. Probably due to his physical stature ? My old Dad told me of one incident where Bevan had the ball on the attack. This incident was close to the touchline and the player who was coming in to tackle Bevan, was Billy Boston. Rather than be tackled by 'Billy', Brian Bevan threw the ball into touch !

Further to Pete Barker's comment, I remember seeing Brian Bevan play for Blackpool Borough at Central Park in 1963, a game which Wigan won 77-8. Bevan got the ball a few yards from the Wigan line down at the scoreboard end. Billy came thundering across and everyone shuddered at the thought of Billy tackling Bevan into touch, probably snapping him in two. But Billy held off and allowed Bevan to score in the corner. It was a great gesture, even though Wigan were trouncing Blackpool by then, but it showed the tremendous respect Billy had for another great winger.

Remember that game well. My Mum knew Syd Abram and he gave her a ticket in the directors box for me. A long time ago. Punchy played full back and kicked quite a few goals.

Wigan scored 17 tries and Punchy Griffiths kicked 13 goals in that match. With today's 4 point tries the score would be 94-10.

Sorry, John and Broady, but it wasn't Punchy Griffiths who kicked 13 goals that day - it was Laurie Gilfedder. Punchy had left Wigan by then to join North Sydney as player-coach. Wigan struggled with full backs for a while after he left, which was why David Bolton ended up playing full back at Wembley a few months before the Blackpool game.

Of course Alan. I should have checked. I remember Laurie Gilfedder kicking a goal at Wembley off the centre spot right at the start of the match, after the Hunslet player had sent the kick-off out on the full. No "Wembley nerves" for Laurie.

My first Wembley, John! I remember when Gilfedder started digging out the turf for that first kick at goal, we all groaned! He was known to be an erratic goalkicker at times, and we all thought a kick for touch [followed by a scrum deep in the Hunslet half] was the more sensible option. But Gilfedder, probably under Eric Ashton's instructions, decided to go for goal. It was a cracker of a kick, and from that moment we never looked back. Great game, great team, and my abiding memory is of Trevor Lake scoring his second try, hurtling towards all us Wiganers in section C11 to dive over for a fabulous try!