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Frank Myler


ornit4ever

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The stand off in my all time Hornets 13. An outstanding rugby player who brought a great era to the club. Whenever he played you knew you could beat the opposition irrespective of who we were playing. I've never seen anyone with a better hand off, when he handed you off you knew all about it.

He made the game look easy even at the end of his career.

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The stand off in my all time Hornets 13. An outstanding rugby player who brought a great era to the club. Whenever he played you knew you could beat the opposition irrespective of who we were playing. I've never seen anyone with a better hand off, when he handed you off you knew all about it.

He made the game look easy even at the end of his career.

 

A truly great player and our best ever coach. He brought John Butler in at stand off and what a transformation from an average loose forward at Keighley to international tourist. Those backs....Myler, Crellin, Aspinall, Brophy, Taylor, Brelsford, Butler, Gartland, Hammond,  before we get to the forwards.

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As Arthur Daley says,what a great time to follow Hornets,though as with Dale,the people of Rochdale still didn`t give the club the recognition and support they undoubtedly deserved. I seem to recall that Hornets had a good side in the late sixties too,Eddie Tees,Joe Chamberlain,Bill Sheffield and Bob Welding to name a few,or am I getting mixed up with the Myler era?

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I remember John Butler making his first appearance for Hornets " A " team. My pal and I went up to the old Athletic Grounds to see our new signing.. In the first half he played loose forward and didn't really impress much. Our stand off , it could have been Harry Wood , got injured near half time so John played there in the second half.

What a revelation he was in his new position. He more or less won the game on his own. After that he never looked back and went on to become an Hornets legend.

I've often wondered if the intention was for him to eventually play at out half or was it just a lucky break. He was certainly devasting at out half. He was bigger and stronger than most stand offs and had a fair turn of speed. His backing up was excellent and he had the happy knack of running into the gaps and not the tacklers.

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As Arthur Daley says,what a great time to follow Hornets,though as with Dale,the people of Rochdale still didn`t give the club the recognition and support they undoubtedly deserved. I seem to recall that Hornets had a good side in the late sixties too,Eddie Tees,Joe Chamberlain,Bill Sheffield and Bob Welding to name a few,or am I getting mixed up with the Myler era?

Hi Dave, Eddie Tees was pre the Myler era. He would have been an asset in that team though, a class player.

Joe, Bill and Bob all played in the Myler team.

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I remember John Butler making his first appearance for Hornets " A " team. My pal and I went up to the old Athletic Grounds to see our new signing.. In the first half he played loose forward and didn't really impress much. Our stand off , it could have been Harry Wood , got injured near half time so John played there in the second half.

What a revelation he was in his new position. He more or less won the game on his own. After that he never looked back and went on to become an Hornets legend.

I've often wondered if the intention was for him to eventually play at out half or was it just a lucky break. He was certainly devasting at out half. He was bigger and stronger than most stand offs and had a fair turn of speed. His backing up was excellent and he had the happy knack of running into the gaps and not the tacklers.

 

He had the ability and guts to go for the gaps and was strong enough to break most tackles with an amazing surge.

 

Another was Alan Robinson. If he hadn't have had to retire through injury, he could have been up there with his brother, Dave. The list goes on....Bill Holiday, Bill Sheffield, Wally Jones, Tony Cooke, Terry Fogerty, Tony Halmshaw, Stuart Whitehead....and a certain young Hodgkinson signed from Salford.   

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He had the ability and guts to go for the gaps and was strong enough to break most tackles with an amazing surge.

Another was Alan Robinson. If he hadn't have had to retire through injury, he could have been up there with his brother, Dave. The list goes on....Bill Holiday, Bill Sheffield, Wally Jones, Tony Cooke, Terry Fogerty, Tony Halmshaw, Stuart Whitehead....and a certain young Hodgkinson signed from Salford.

The injury to Robbo was a tragedy for the player and the club. I was at that game at Featherstone. We'd played Dewsbury the week before and Robbo had made two lung bursting breaks from his own 25 to the other 25 before putting John Kucuve in for two tries in a 10-10 draw.

Featherstone had obviously seen he was the danger man and had targeted him. In the first tackle he was involved in a Featherstone player flopped down onto his legs while he was on the ground being held by other players. It was no accident. They meant to put him out of the game and they did.

He was never the same player again even though he came back after the broken leg. He'd lost that vital yard of pace that set him apart from other loose forwards.

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I remember going to Whitehaven which, together with Workington, was a graveyard for most club.

Myler played centre to Norman Brelsford and Brelly scored either three or four tries and missed doubling his total due to poor handling. The man, Frank Myler, made centre play look so simple and easy. Brelly would never get so many simple walk ins without the help of the great man.

RUGBY LEAGUE WITHOUT ROCHDALE HORNETS IS LIKE AN UNSHARPENED PENCIL, THERES NO POINT?

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I remember going to Whitehaven which, together with Workington, was a graveyard for most club.

Myler played centre to Norman Brelsford and Brelly scored either three or four tries and missed doubling his total due to poor handling. The man, Frank Myler, made centre play look so simple and easy. Brelly would never get so many simple walk ins without the help of the great man.

I didn't go that game but a pal of mine did. He reckoned Myler got so frustrated with Brelly dropping the ball that day that for one of the tries he actually ran towards Brelly put the ball in his hands. I think he got four tries.

I liked Brelly, he was pretty quick, wholehearted and a good tackler for a small guy. The weak part of his game was his handling though. Your heart was in your mouth until he'd got a firm grip on the ball.

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  • 2 weeks later...

1972-3 season Lancs Cup first round won 24-19 at Whitehaven.

Brelsford scored a club record 5 (five!) tries and his centre partner (myler) scored the other try...obviously he decided to take things into his own hands! Obviously we didnt have a goalkicker that day!

Merry Christmas everyone

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Thanks for posting this, it really has jogged my memory. I was only a kid when I watched this team play, but Alan Robinson would have turned into a very good player, he was faster than a lot of the backs who have represented  Hornets over the years.

 

Is he the best player to have played for Hornets, who had their career blighted by injury ?

 

I was at that game and it was a horrible tackle, everyone knew he was badly hurt as soon as it happened.

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1972-3 season Lancs Cup first round won 24-19 at Whitehaven.

Brelsford scored a club record 5 (five!) tries and his centre partner (myler) scored the other try...obviously he decided to take things into his own hands! Obviously we didnt have a goalkicker that day!

Merry Christmas everyone

 

Was Bill Holliday the kicker at that time? I would guess that as Brelsford (a winger) scored 5 tries the conversion attempts may have been from the touchline and 3 goals isn't too bad. A try was only 3 points then.

 

Like Tyrone I was at the Featherstone game when Alan Robinson's leg was broken. He had the ability to become a GB player.

 

Merry Christmas to all.

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