Ken Rollin RIP

It was with much sadness that the club learned of the passing of former scrum half Ken Rollin, aged 86.

Ken joined Leeds in 1965 from Wakefield Trinity where he had become a star at his home town team. Rollin had been out of the game for more than a year before he joined Leeds. He made his debut against Hunslet at Headingley in the Lazenby Cup on 16th August 1965.

Rollins had made his Wakefield debut at the same venue when he played for Trinity in the Yorkshire Cup first round on 27th August 1955. That day he was up against the legendary Leeds scrum half Jeff Stevenson but it prove to be a memorable day for Rollin as he scored a try in a memorable 31-13 win for the visitors.

Ken was one of many players who began their career in the Wakefield Schools R.L. He was a member of the Technical School teams and Wakefield City Boys' team. He joined the Trinity Juniors side from which he was signed, at seventeen, by Trinity in April 1955. Although he was named as a reserve for the 1957 World Cup party, he was unfortunate not to earn an international call up. However, in later life he became a key member of the Lions Association as secretary for many years.

In total, he played 151 games for Wakefield, including the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley in 1960 when he scored the fastest ever Wembley try in Trinity’s 38–5 victory over Hull FC.

He also featured in a Championship Final for Wakefield when they lost to Wigan in the 1960 Championship Final at Odsal.

Ken missed out on the chance to return to the pitch at Wembley with Leeds in 1968 for the Watersplash Final against his former club however he was at the stadium that day providing commentary for a United States television broadcaster and became a popular speaker on the after dinner circuit following retirement from playing. However, in 1999 he suffered from a stroke when he was 61, which led to a condition called aphasia that meant he could no longer communicate.

Recalling that time a number of years ago, he said, “I was at a rugby dinner and I was talking to the BBC commentator Ray French. Suddenly I lost the power of speech. I realised I had a problem but I didn’t know what it was. I thought I had better sit down. Fortunately one of our friends saw me and asked if I was alright – when I couldn’t say anything, he phoned for an ambulance.”

This speedy reaction meant that Ken was treated quickly. He suffered no physical disability, but his road to full recovery still proved to be a long, slow one. He had aphasia, a disorder characterised by the loss of ability to speak, read or write. This happens when the stroke damages the language centre of the brain, and affects one in three people who have a stroke.

Ken, who worked as a draughtsman and later as a sales director in a printing company after his rugby career, reflected on his recovery: “For months I could hardly communicate at all. I didn’t know my wife’s name. People were talking to me but I didn’t know what they were saying.

"They used to write things down in front of me but that wasn’t much better. They wrote ‘You’ve had a stroke’ – but I didn’t have a clue what a stroke was. It took two months for me to really understand what the problem was. Eventually I realised I had had a stroke, and that I had aphasia.

“It is a dreadful thing. The problem with aphasia is that you feel like you have it all in your brain, you can see it in your brain but you can’t say it. You can see two plus two but you can’t say four. It is the ultimate in frustration. You feel like tearing your hair out.”

The main treatment for aphasia is speech and language therapy, which Ken underwent for more than two years. 

Rollin made 75 starts for Leeds plus three appearances as a substitute and scored 18 tries. He remained a regular at Headingley over the years, particularly when Leeds played Wakefield and was a popular figure at Leeds Players Association events each year. 

On behalf of everyone at Leeds, we would like to send our condolences to Ken's family and friends at this time. 

Rest in peace