Shaun Edwards. Today’s Sunday Times.

Shaun

Walked past Shaun at the top of Wigan about two week ago.

Brilliant article on two truly Wigan, and rugby, legends

I agree...No one from the Rugby league has ever received a knight-hood. Andy Farrell in my opinion deserves it for his services to rugby league...rugby union and coaching Ireland...Shaun hasn't done bad either...it looks well that a CBE should be awarded to Rob and Kev for all their efforts . Surely a knight-hood is in the waiting for one or both.

I wonder if that now that Wigan Rugby have a wealthy owner, will that attract more management and player talent to the club ?

Reading the article, I remember Woodhouse Stadium, it used to be a Greyhound Track and then it became a Sports Stadium, the old greyhound track being made into a running track

Thanks to the hypocrasy of the Rugby Union code who for a hundred years comdemmed the paying of players until Sky Television daggled a big fat carrot in front of them in returned for a contract far in excess of any that has been offered to Rugby League, two of the greatest players ever to wear the Cherry and White of the Wigan club along with others like Joe Lydon, Mick Ford etc and the son of Farrell, who was at school age destained to play for Wigan and be a future Rugby League International deserted Wigan for the infamous thirty pieces of silver.

Thank goodness, most rugby players brought up in the rugby towns of the North of England like Kris Radlinski etc have not only remained loyal to the Rugby League code, but continued to spread the code to other parts of the country including bastions of Union.

p.s. And unlike Rugby Union players, never invited to participate in any television programmes other than 'A Question of Sport' on odd occasions.

Correct OC…I only ever played RU in the Royal Navy late 60’s early 70’s…always us v Doctors and Dentists…I got ribbed about coming from Wigan..I don’t think Eddie Waring unbeknowing helped our cause in those days
Martin Offiah was always quite a regular on A Question of Sport ( he has a posh voice and upbringing)

Eddie Waring was on Its a Knockout,did RL no favours.Jason Robinson did Question of Sport quite a few times.I agree RL does need more recognition but is too late?

You are missing out the fact that professional Rugby League is basically a niche sport, played in only a few areas, those being mainly in the north of England, and mainly in the Northwest of England along with a few clubs from Yorkshire, Rugby Yoonion on the other hand is played the length and breadth of the UK in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, has well as in the Irish republic, France, Italy etc.

So rugby league cannot compete with Rugby Union

Tommy Two Stroke

It was more in the national news during the time of eighties until the mid nighties when thanks to a certain Maurice Lindsay, it was still attracting many of the top players from Union, especially from South Wales and Wigan even won the team of the year award on the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year show.

That is until Rugby Union committed the biggest bit of hypocracy ever seen in the world of sport by selling its image of the upper class game played by gentlemen for money.

And judging by the level of general knowledge shown by many of the former players from Union and Football etc on quiz shows like Pointless and The Chase etc, league players might not be as bad if given the chance of appearing on them which they are not to keep Rugby League in the shadow of Union.

Finally, talking of keeping League in the shadow of Union, why do think that the BBC has outbid Channel Four for the showing of some Super League games on Freeview and will no doubt have a presentation which will not show the family image of the game's supporters like what was shown on Channel Four with presenters like Adam Hills, Kyle Amor and Helen Skelton.

While on the subject of rugby leadeth is one point that I don't understand , when I was a lot younger I never missed an home game at Wigan but then work commitments stopped me going,but getting to the point , when there was a scrum down it was a fight with the feet to get the ball but now the sidecputting the ball in feed their the own feet, I would like to know why the rule has changed,

Bent legs. a lot of sports have changed since we played watch the old games on you tube also you can watch rugby league flights and interviews with old players they tell you it's a different game now watch the old test matches brilliant

OC

There has always been a class element between the two rugby codes. Rugby union was effectively forced to go professional with the introduction of Sky tv in the UK. When the players saw the amount of money players in other sports were getting from televised matches RU player power started to campaign for professionalism. You may recall Will Carling’s speech when he described the English RU management as a bunch of ‘old farts’.
Historically rugby union clubs recruited from the grammar and public schools where union was part of
school life, including grammar schools in working class areas. Des Seabrook was a working class lad educated at Wigan Grammar school who reached the top in rugby union. He became part of the England coaching set up and masterminded the historic win of the North of England team he coached against an All Blacks test side.

Your right gaffer,money has had a big impact in the sporting world whether it is too much money or sometimes too little.

Owd Codger

I am not sure what your point is, I can see that you like your rugby, but I have always thought that Rugby League has always punched well above it's weight in terms of popularity in this country, by that I mean that when you have such few big rugby league clubs, such has Wigan, St Helens, Warrington etc, which are attracting nationwide and national TV audiences, and the TV crown jewels which include the FA Cup Final, British Grand Prix, Grand National etc which must be shown on free to air TV channels, and one of the TV sport crown jewels is the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.

I have been in Cornwall and on a chalkboard outside of a pub it said.

Friday Night Rugby League

Wigan v St Helens"



And it should be remembered that it was Rugby League which changed everything in the early 1990's with the change to Superleague and Summer Rugby, with American style audience entertainment, cheer leaders and mascots, and changing the name of the clubs to stupid showbiz names, there are people like me who miss the winter rugby, I used to love going to Central Park on a freezing cold foggy Saturday afternoon in the 1960s, when the fog was so thick that you couldn't see what was happening at the other side of the pitch.
I adored the dank, gloom and doom of those days, after the match walking back to the car with me dad, with owd fellas who were shuffling along, in their baggy trousers and flat caps, coughing their guts up, whilst smoking a Woodbine, they were happy days for me

Ray french first game for st Helen 2 minutes before kick off Alex started to comb his hair in mirror in dressing room. Ray said what you doing Alex. He said listen ray 28000 people have come to watch me there's only 2 watching you that's your man and dad

That is funny, that is a crackin reply

Alex was always at the old Russian baths in Wigan. Told me a story about estyn Harris at Warrington he refused to play he wanted a move. They were having a photo shoot Alex told him to be there Harris said no I have no tracksuit he was after new one. Alex said no chance you will have to stand at the back on the photo they will only see
Your head

Tommy Two Stroke

A few years ago, a few of us in Wigan were invited to a wedding of a former Wigan resident in Teignmouth. On the Friday night prior to the wedding which was on the following day, we visted a local pub in the evening and to our amazement found Wigan v St Helens on the telvision and along with locals we watched the game. The following night we were at the Teignmouth Rugby Union club where the evening reception of the wedding was being held. I got talking to the club President while another league game was on the television in the games room being watched by members of the club. In the course of the conversation, he told me that the members loved watching Rugby League and each year, they had two trips to London, one to Twickenham for a England Union game and the other to Wembley for the Challenge Cup Final.

On the wall of the Teignmouth club games room was a picture of Jim Fallon who prior to being signed from Bath by Leeds Rhinos was a member of the club.

Apparently, Rugby League is well liked in Cornwall and might explain the emergence of the new Cornwall Rugby League Club who shortly will being moving to a new Stadium in Truro.

The very best of luck to them!

The last rugby league I watch live was Harlequins v Bradford Northern at the Stoop,only because I was visiting family and there was a good lively crowd.I did think it would become more popular and a few other clubs did try to promote it but most gave up.

Still not got my question answered about the scrum down , does anyone actually know,

I have no idea Bentlegs it just seems to restart the game.Scrums were a battle and a good part of the game and a good hooker was an asset.RL to me is nowhere the game it was.

Wasn't it to do with scrums being considered too dangerous with too many players getting injured and some ending up with broken backs if not packed down properly, especially at junior level?

In the old 'scrums' the players would get down and lock horns and 'fight' fot the ball

Bentlegs
Don't think the rules have been changed the scrum half
supposedly to put the ball in straight but they never do always feeding there own team. refs let it go no contest any more good question

Chatty
In rugby union at scrums the ref tells the packs to
crouch. hold Bind engage suppose to stop serious injurys if they ignore ref will penalise offender

Does it matter if the ball is fed to your own hooker as long as a Hooker does the job of heeling it backwards.

Now, the ball is fed between the feet of the hooker and the prop forward to the loose forward to make the quicker which has resulted in scrums in our code becoming a farce with even backs now packing down and the loose forward on occasions having to be told by the referee to put his head into the scrum.

Might explain why the hooker is now described as a dummy half!

No point in having a scrum in modern rl. They keep the scrum because it's an historic part of the rugby league game

It also opens up the field for the “backs” to exploit

Roylew
It seems anybody can go into the scrum in rl even the backs because the forwards are now fast as the backs they can switch positions they dont in union. When there is a scrum

Well I will stick with futbaw as master Plumb would say

Surfer Tom…it still opens up space in the field…tactics may change but the space doesn’t

Roylew
Your right space is all important In rl but you got to play what's in front of you

Roylew
Sorry it was predicted text