1945-1946

This season can best be summed up in that expressive phrase: ?Bitter Sweet?. As the victory bells pealed out their joyful news, so many a weary munition worker and many a homesick Serviceman turned to his beloved Headingley, to his home of sport and relaxation, hoping and expecting to make a link with the joys and glories of days gone by. He rejoiced to see some of his pre-war favourites still wearing the ?Blue and Amber? jersey; he gave a whoop of delight when he saw that grand old war-horse, Dai Prosser, leading his men on the field; he talked of Eric, Oliver, and Vic, and wondered what might have been; he had a special cheer for Alf and Reg, for they had suffered privation and hardship in prisoner of war camps; he found new stars In Dicky and Ike, and took them to his heart; but all the while, he suffered torment as he saw his team languish at the foot of the table and suffer one indignity after another. And yet he understood and knew that it would take time to ?pick up the threads ?.

The programme opened with a heavy defeat at Central Park, where an extremely weak and inexperienced team battled bravely against all conquering Wigan. Any hope of defeating Featherstone Rovers in the second match was soon dispelled as Fred Harris and Dicky Williams were compelled to leave the field before the interval owing to serious injuries. Harris sustained a fractured jaw and this proved to be his last game for Leeds, whilst Williams, with an injured back, was unavailable for six weeks. This double blow greatly increased the already heavy burden of the management, who were experiencing the greatest difficulty in raising a team. The acute nature of this problem was made apparent at Belle Vue where Wakefield Trinity piled up the highest score ever recorded against Leeds, 71 points to nil. Little time was allowed to get over this severe shock, as four days later Bradford Northern, not to be outdone, created another record ? the highest score ever made against Leeds at Headingley, 54-3.

Defeats continued to be the order of the day until the ?magic? of the Yorkshire Cup seemed to transform the situation. A very much stronger side was assembled to entertain, and defeat, Castleford in the 1st Round, 1st Leg: Lockwood; Tate, Price, Cornelius, Batten; Evans, Jenkins; Satterthwaite, Murphy, Wheatley, Jubb, Scott, Owens. The most pleasing feature of this game was the greatly improved defence, which did not yield a single try, and that is certainly worthy of note as opponents had crossed the Leeds line on no fewer than 53 occasions in the previous seven League matches. A sound, but not particularly convincing win over Featherstone Rovers in the 2nd Round, raised hopes of a Yorkshire Cup triumph, but, much as we would have liked to reverse that crushing League defeat, Wakefield Trinity proved too strong in the Semi-Final.

It was imagined that this improved form would show in the League matches which followed, but that was far from the case ? in point of fact only one League match, out of fourteen, was won in the period ?between the Cups?. And yet, strange to relate, the R.L. Cup Competition brought another revival.

The following team gained a useful lead of 10 points to 2 over Batley in the 1st Round, 1st Leg at Headingley: Cornelius; Best, Evans, Price, Whitehead; Jenkins, Williams; Prosser, Carter, Wheatley, Foreman, Fox, Owens. At Mount Pleasant, a week later, the manner and extent of Leeds victory in the 2nd Leg was an eye-opener, so that enthusiasm ran high once again. But the luck of the draw took us to Widnes for the 2nd Round and Naughton Park had been the graveyard of many hopes and aspirations. As the game turned out we might well have won had we taken advantage of the early scoring opportunities which presented themselves, but Tommy McCue, behind a winning pack, eventually controlled the game and dictated the tactics.

The management made strenuous efforts to build up the playing strength during this period and players were recruited from all quarters: Billy Banks, scrum half, and George Hughes, forward, from Wales; Ernest Whitehead, winger, from Wakefield Trinity; Walter Best, winger, from Bradford Northern; Johnny Feather, scrum half, Wilf Cox, centre, Alan Horsfall, forward, and Jack Rogers, full back, from local teams; Les Tate, winger, and Bob Batten, utility back, from Fitzwilliam; J. H. Fox, forward, from Castleford; J. Newbound, forward, from the Hunslet area.

It is pleasing to note that Halifax readily granted permission for Hubert Lockwood, whose skill and experience were invaluable, to assist the Club during the early weeks of the season.

Dai Jenkins and Ike Owens were honoured with selection for the party to tour Australia, and all sympathised with Con Murphy who would have been an automatic choice had he not sustained a fractured leg in the game against Keighley on December 1st.