ONE of the men behind a forthcoming book about Rugby League legend Dave Valentine wants to hear from any League Express readers who have information on or memories of the Huddersfield and Great Britain loose-forward.

The 1954 inaugural World Cup-winning captain’s life and career, including his ‘side job’ as a professional wrestler, will be recalled in the biography which is being written by Mick O’Hare with the help of Graham Williams, who is focussing on his time in rugby union with hometown club Hawick and Scotland.

Signed by Huddersfield in 1947, Valentine helped them win the league title in 1948-49 and then the Challenge Cup in 1952-53 during more than 350 appearances for the West Riding club.

Later as a coach, he took the then Fartowners to another league title in 1961-62 – a week after they had returned to Wembley in the Challenge Cup.

After Valentine sadly developed a brain tumour and died just short of his 50th birthday in 1976, supporters lined the route of the funeral cortege to show respect.

“Dave was a superb player, one of our game’s greats, and had a really interesting life,” says O’Hare.

“In fact the more you delve into it, the more interesting it gets.

“People rightly think of south Wales as being a hotbed of talented union players who turned professional.

“But the Scottish borders, with well-known clubs like Gala, Jed-Forest, Kelso and Melrose as well as Hawick, was also a rich recruiting ground, and one where Huddersfield appear to have had a good scouting network and contacts, which I will go into in the book.

“They found a real gem in Dave Valentine. He was powerful, pacy, dynamic, dependable and consistent.

“But I suppose his key attribute was that he was a leader, the kind of player you could build a team around, like a latter-day Sean O’Loughlin perhaps.”

Email mrohare1964@gmail.com to contact the author.