Jinking Jimmy

I remember “The Jimmy Birts Crisis” well.

Yes they did but I wouldn’t change my opinion of the current Wigan pack.

Havard, Partington, Byrne, Shorrocks and Smithies in another era would have been playing in the A team with one of them getting a game every few weeks. Now they are among the mainstays in the current pack and they are going to be found out in this type of game. Wigan lack an “enforcer” and also an impact player such as a Ben Murdoch-Masila. Smithies has got to learn that it’s not macho to be hitting players late and giving away penalties. Hull, like Leeds last year, played the conditions well and deserved to win.

Both Edwards and Hampson played their first game for Wigan against York at Central Park, 6th November, 1983.

Goodway must have had smelling salts on his boots because Cullen’s recovery was remarkable!

That sort of humour was commonplace in the eighties and of course still is today. It’s beyond belief that someone would react like that instead of laughing it off. Absolutely nothing wrong with it; give some, take some and enjoy the banter.

Substitutes were first used, I think, in the 64-65 season and the Wigan-Hunslet CCF was the first time at Wembley. The game was in many ways much harder then.

He was knocked unconscious and taken off in the 1963 CCF against Wakefield Trinity.

He was moved to full-back by coach Griff Jenkins who preferred Stan McLeod at stand-off. He played full back in the 1963 CCF against Wakefield Trinity; one of my favourite players.

Ray French again; “good ball” for a simple pass, followed by “better ball” for another simple pass.

Henderson Gill was a special player and a great character.

I think that was Green Vigo in 1977.

This was tried in 1995 with the South Queensland Crushers with some involvement by former Warrington coach, Darryl van der Velde. I think they lasted 3 seasons. This doesn’t mean to say it couldn’t work now with a larger population.

A fantastic achievement!

All our game needs is another 10 teams as good or nearly as good as these two.