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Brian Bevan


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17 hours ago, latchford albion said:

Not that it matters but Mac ran that time for metres not yards. Arthur Rowe, the British record holder in the shot, had a very brief rugby career.  Was that also with Leigh?

No that was with Oldham about 1961 after the Rome Olympic Games.

I don't think he ever played for the first team,but his debut for the A Team had a crowd of 5,000 and the BBC news cameras were even there.

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Watched ACE V Widnes may years ago at the old craven park .

Stuart Wright was against Steve Critchenson , he didnt have the best of nights , was quite young so he might have done better than I remember . The ACE winger did cause the Widnes defence a few problems all night long .

 

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I was at Bolton Juniors with Stuart he was also a pretty handy soccer player as well , played for Warrington Schoolboys and I remember something with trials at Chester fc who were in the Div 3 at the time But think he preferred playing rugby.

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Bolton school must have had a good soccer team that year as John Richards - later of Wolves - must have been in the same year.  I went there a few years later and we were rubbish at both soccer and rugby.

"I'm a traditionalist and I don"t think you'd ever see me coaching an Australian national side!"  Lee Radford, RLW March 2016

Proud to be a member of the TRL woke claque

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2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I wouldn't like to argue who was the fastest but Bevan must have had the best side step ever.

Two other fast guys I saw were Stuart Wright and Keith Fielding.

Did Keith Fielding once enter the Powderhall Sprints?

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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11 minutes ago, latchford albion said:

Bolton school must have had a good soccer team that year as John Richards - later of Wolves - must have been in the same year.  I went there a few years later and we were rubbish at both soccer and rugby.

Harry Pace was rugby coach and we won The Ashton Trophy regularly.

Pop Seddon ran the football and also were also always doing well .

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Just now, Blind side johnny said:

Did Keith Fielding once enter the Powderhall Sprints?

Not sure but Bevan won it once in the early 1950's

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5 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

Did Keith Fielding once enter the Powderhall Sprints?

I don't know about that but Tony Pratt who played on the wing for Hornets in the late 1960's and early 1970's certainly did. He was pretty quick.

i'm abroad at the moment but I've got a book back at home called " They Could Catch Pigeons " that gives the low down on fast wingers.

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3 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Didn't Steve Kindon who played football for Burnley and Wolves play rugby league over Warrington way ? He was straight line fast.

He was at Wade Deacon with my cousin so he probably played rugby.  His brother Malcolm was quick: I trained with him at Warrington AC.  Harry Robinson who was an international 400 hurdler was in that training group and he played on the wing for Latchford Albion. No one could catch him at that level.

Did Earl Tulloch who ran 20.8 for the 200 have a trial with Salford?

Of course the fastest player to set foot on a rugby pitch was Dwain Chambers. He and McDonald Bailey before him show that speed alone is nowhere near enough.

"I'm a traditionalist and I don"t think you'd ever see me coaching an Australian national side!"  Lee Radford, RLW March 2016

Proud to be a member of the TRL woke claque

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2 hours ago, alan30058 said:

Not sure but Bevan won it once in the early 1950's

Brian Bevan never won the Powderhall sprint but two Barrow wingers did!  Mike Murray won it in 1966 and George McNeil won it in 1970.

Mike played for Barrow at Wembley in 1967 whilst George played just one match (as a trialist) for the club.  He never signed a pro contract.

BarrowRaiders-keithnutter-1.png

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5 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I wouldn't like to argue who was the fastest but Bevan must have had the best side step ever.

Two other fast guys I saw were Stuart Wright and Keith Fielding.

Yes Fielding was something of a dedicated sprinter. Bevan was indeed very elusive. 

At this point  of course in these discussions from us old fogies we return to the fact that the respective packs trundle from scrum to scrum with nothing in between.

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1 hour ago, latchford albion said:

Regarding the Powderhall: did the rugby players not have games to play in on New Years Day?

Yes Barrow played Dewsbury on the day Mike Murray won Powderhall so i guess Mike chose to concentrate on what was a major event for pro sprinters back then.  Looking at the records he didn't play for the first team in the three months leading up to Powderhall so it would seem he focussed on that.  I will ask him when I see him next.  Incidentally Mike is 78 ish now and still walks around 50 or 60 miles a week and coaches sprint training.

BarrowRaiders-keithnutter-1.png

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I hadn't realised that George McNeill had played rugby - albeit only one game, but knew that he had won the Powderhall and also the Stowell Gift.  One thing that I did just find out (if Wikipedia is to to believed) is the the World Professional Sprint Championships took place at Belle Vue in 1972 and that George won, beating 1968 Olympic 200 metres champion Tommie Smith (of Black Power salute fame)in three of four races.

Back on topic - there are some great photos of Brian Bevan.

"I'm a traditionalist and I don"t think you'd ever see me coaching an Australian national side!"  Lee Radford, RLW March 2016

Proud to be a member of the TRL woke claque

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I never saw Bevan play but his record suggests he was light years ahead of anybody before or since.  Unbelievable record by any standard.

 

Just to go off topic (once again :)).  Mike Murray was training for the Stawell Gift in 1966/67 when Barrow went on their Wembley run - he chose to play his part at Wembley.

There is a great book by Ray Hewson called "On the Wing - from Stawell to Powderhall" which I am sure you would enjoy if you can find a copy LA.  It covers RL wingers/sprinters from all ove the world in an awful lot of detail.

BarrowRaiders-keithnutter-1.png

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Thanks Keith.  I looked up the book on your recommendation and saw that an extract on Frank Castle is on Ray Hewson's Facebook page.  I would definitely be interested in reading the whole book.

"I'm a traditionalist and I don"t think you'd ever see me coaching an Australian national side!"  Lee Radford, RLW March 2016

Proud to be a member of the TRL woke claque

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9 hours ago, Keith Nutter said:

I never saw Bevan play but his record suggests he was light years ahead of anybody before or since.  Unbelievable record by any standard.

 

Just to go off topic (once again :)).  Mike Murray was training for the Stawell Gift in 1966/67 when Barrow went on their Wembley run - he chose to play his part at Wembley.

There is a great book by Ray Hewson called "On the Wing - from Stawell to Powderhall" which I am sure you would enjoy if you can find a copy LA.  It covers RL wingers/sprinters from all ove the world in an awful lot of detail.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the Powderhall Sprint run as an handicap race ?  Some runners were starting from blocks in front of other runners as I recall. Not  really a true test of who was the fastest in that case.

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14 hours ago, bromleybulldog said:

Berwyn Jones.   ?

  Wakefield and Bradford Northern saw him play in a Wakey side that had won about 25 matches on the trot.Six inches of mud at The Mount, Batley was a leveller  he didnt look happy in that,the game if i remember ended 2-2 so just shows you in the odd game the underdog can compete.

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45 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

  Wakefield and Bradford Northern saw him play in a Wakey side that had won about 25 matches on the trot.Six inches of mud at The Mount, Batley was a leveller  he didnt look happy in that,the game if i remember ended 2-2 so just shows you in the odd game the underdog can compete.

Yes, saw that game. Jones was free on the left down the slope and got caught by Dave Rayner who had given him a 5 yard start. Jones was, I think the UK 100 metre or yard champion when he signed for Wakefield.

 

Sorry for derailing the thread away from Brian Bevan

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27 minutes ago, bromleybulldog said:

Yes, saw that game. Jones was free on the left down the slope and got caught by Dave Rayner who had given him a 5 yard start. Jones was, I think the UK 100 metre or yard champion when he signed for Wakefield.

 

Sorry for derailing the thread away from Brian Bevan

 Saw Brian Bevan about three times,just into secondary school when i first saw him he looked about sixty,but seemed to float over the ground as light on his feet as a ballerina.Tom Van Vollenoven at Saints did the same but usually in a straight line.

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15 hours ago, Keith Nutter said:

Brian Bevan never won the Powderhall sprint but two Barrow wingers did!  Mike Murray won it in 1966 and George McNeil won it in 1970.

Mike played for Barrow at Wembley in 1967 whilst George played just one match (as a trialist) for the club.  He never signed a pro contract.

Well I wasn't there as I would have been about 4 years old.

But as I grew up I heard the tale many times.

Maybe he just competed in it ?

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10 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the Powderhall Sprint run as an handicap race ?  Some runners were starting from blocks in front of other runners as I recall. Not  really a true test of who was the fastest in that case.

You are correct TS it was a handicap.  Murray was the "back marker" when he won it off 4.5 metres I think so all the others in that final had a start on him.

BarrowRaiders-keithnutter-1.png

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