1943-1944

Sixteen teams took part in this season?s Emergency League Competition, and Wigan gained Championship honours, defeating Dewsbury in the Final. Leeds finished in seventh place, and did remarkably well in view of the fact that no less than eighty players were called upon during the season. On many occasions great difficulty was experienced in raising a team.

Several players who were on the staff prior to the outbreak of hostilities were able to turn out from time to time: Brough, Dyer, Eaton, Evans, F. Harris, Hey, D. Jenkins, Jubb, Murphy, Price, Prosser, Satterthwaite and Tattersfield, but Vic Hey, who had appeared unsettled for some time, was transferred to Dewsbury towards the end of the season. Two ?guest players? from Bramley, brothers Dennis and Eddie Murphy, played in the majority of the matches and gave invaluable service. Dennis was later to join the Leeds club as a bona-fide player. Jimmy Ledgard played in five games as a trialist, but his services were not retained.

There were, however, some extremely important signings during the campaign. The opening match, against Wakefield Trinity at Headingley, brought the debut of Ike Owens, who was to develop so rapidly and to become one of the brightest ?stars? of the immediate post-war era. His brilliant handling, his devastating speed off the mark, and that rapier-like cut through, provided many thrills for the Headingley fans, and bewildered many an opposing team. His play on the 1946 tour of Australia has been described as ?gloriously magnificent?. The fortunes of war brought Owens to Headingley ? he was introduced to the Club by Cliff Evans, with whom he served in the R.A.F.

Tommy Cornelius, a centre-three-quarter who had appeared in Welsh R.U. Trials, played in the match against Featherstone Rovers at Headingley on October 2nd, and was signed immediately following the game. He was to prove a valuable asset for five seasons and was to appear at Wembley in 1947 as a member of the Cup Final team.

Bernard Gray, a young local off-half, made his debut in the first match of the season and showed exceptional promise.

Another young local player, Arthur Staniland, made his first appearance in Leeds colours, at York, on New Year?s Day. His determined running and whole-hearted endeavour were to endear him to the Leeds spectators and all at Headingley for ten seasons.

The League programme contained little worthy of special mention apart from two very heavy defeats: at Odsal by 38 points to 3, and at Belle Vue, Wakefield, where the Trinitarians trounced us to the tune of 40 points to 2. This latter defeat was nothing compared to the indignity which we had yet to suffer at their hands in 1945! ! !

We gained a fully merited victory over Hunslet in the 1st Round of the Yorkshire Cup Competition, but Bradford Northern proved altogether too strong for us in the next round. The weight of such big men as Whitcombe, Higson, Roberts and Hutchinson counted heavily in the scrummaging, whilst the artistry of Billy Davies and Ernest Ward created ample running chances for strong-running wingers Batten and Best. Leeds played W. E. Jones at off-half in this match.

The R.L. Cup Competition, played on the two-leg basis, provided Leeds with extremely interesting and exciting matches. In the 2nd Round we gained a winning margin of six points over Huddersfield at Fartown, but only just managed to go through into the next round by the odd point as our opponents won at Headingley by 7 points to 2.

Leeds and Wigan clashed in the Semi-Final, and two splendid matches resulted. In the first, at Headingley, Leeds gained a winning margin of five points. With only one minute left in the 2nd leg, at Central Park, the aggregate scores were equal, but then Belshaw landed a splendid penalty goal amid wild cheering, and thus Wigan were, rather remarkably, R.L. Cup Finalists for the first time in their history.