1949-1950

Although no trophies were brought to Headingley this was a grand season, and Leeds were always well ?in the running? for Honours.

In view of the extensive recruiting campaign of the previous twelve months there were, quite understandably, no close season signings to report, and it was felt that there was sufficient talent to blend into a really first-class side.

Reputedly ?slow starters? it was good to see our players gain four victories out of the first five engagements, but then came disaster in the shape of five defeats off the reel, which seriously jeopardised our Championship aspirations and also resulted in a sudden exit from the Yorkshire Cup Competition.

This bad spell began at Central Park on September 3rd, when Wigan were only saved in the very last minute by Mountford who suddenly cast aside a crippling limp and sped brilliantly through a bewildered defence. Huddersfield proved much too good for us in each leg of the 1st Round of the Yorkshire Cup, and when Hunslet came to Headingley to beat us, although they had only ten sound men and two injured players for almost half the game, our cup of sorrow was full. The last match of this black September took us to Craven Park to meet a lively Hull K.R. team which just gained both points as Cox, deputy full back for Bert Cook, missed a simple goal under the posts.

October brought the ?turn of the tide? so that only one match was lost out of the next fourteen. This change of fortune could be attributed in the main to the signing of Frank Watson, scrum half, from Hunslet. Watson made his debut for Leeds, at Parkside of all places, on October 1st, and his matchless display not only contributed to a Leeds victory but also drove his old colleagues and supporters to desperation. Those responsible for obtaining Watson?s services did a great stroke of business. Always a fine team man, his artistry at the base of the scrum and his uncanny anticipation were only matched by his cool, unruffled temperament. He quickly struck up a very happy partnership with Dicky Williams, and the team soon achieved that balance and blend which are so vital. Victories followed in rapid succession and a great crowd assembled at Headingley on New Year?s Eve to witness a splendid victory over Wigan, which put us into third place in the League Table.

January brought defeats at Halifax and Workington but we still held a place in the ?First Four? when the R.L. Cup Competition opened on February 4th. The team had been strengthened through the signing of W. E. Hopper, forward, who had made such a fine debut for Warrington at Headingley thirteen months earlier. Hopper was to prove a real grafter, always being in the thick of it, and never failing to give of his very best.

Leigh were 1st Round visitors to Headingley and they provided stiff opposition so that Leeds were somewhat fortunate in gaining a seven points lead. The 2nd Leg, at Kirkhall Lane, was a real thriller, with Leigh rallying desperately in the closing minutes as our players clung bravely to an aggregate lead of two points. Following a comfortable league victory over Dewsbury, we entertained Wigan for the second round. An all-ticket crowd of 37, 144, which paid ?4,830, were favoured with a wonderful game in spite of the atrociously heavy ground conditions. It was primarily a day for forwards, and the Leeds pack rose to great heights: Prosser and McMaster never played with more fire and determination, whilst Clues repeatedly harassed the opposition with accurate touch-finding kicks. The only try of the match was scored by Dicky Williams who hovered in the rear of a play the ball movement and then suddenly shot in to make the vital extra man on the left flank. Wakefield Trinity were called upon to visit Headingley in the 3rd Round, and as the Trinitarians were handicapped through the suspension of Higgins and Murphy, few could have anticipated the very real challenge they were to make. Up to twenty minutes from the end it was anybody?s game, with Trinity holding a one point lead, but then our players rallied strongly to score ten points and Leeds were through to the Semi Final once again.

Enthusiasm and excitement knew no bounds when Leeds were drawn to meet Warrington, but there was some concern when it was known that Odsal was to be the venue, for that vast arena had not been a happy hunting ground for Leeds. The fears of the superstitious were confirmed when McMaster was sent off the field during a League match played at Odsal a fortnight before the Semi Final. His subsequent suspension made him unavailable for the Cup match.

A tremendous crowd converged on Odsal and there was such a congestion of traffic that Warrington had established a lead through a try by Derbyshire long before many spectators had got into the ground. This early lead gave the Wirepullers all the confidence they needed, and their line was never in danger apart from once, when Naughton made a glorious tackle to prevent Cook from putting the ball down for a try which might have changed the course of the game. Having blunted the Leeds attack Warrington scored three tries in rapid succession: Johnson gave a dummy to an imaginary colleague to send the Leeds defenders the wrong way, Bath shoulder-charged his way over and then, just before half-time a thoroughly demoralised Leeds defence allowed Helme to dart over near the posts. Palin?s conversion of Helme?s try gave Warrington an interval lead of 14 points to nil. Our players managed to reduce the winning margin by two points in the second half, but they played with an apparent inferiority complex and were never  in the hunt?. The indignity was complete when Clarkson was dismissed from the field about twenty minutes from the end.

There were still hopes of a Championship triumph as we were well placed in the League but only two matches were won out of the six that remained to be played. The last match, versus Halifax at Headingley, saw the introduction of a young local centre, Gordon Brown. He made an impressive debut, but few at that time could have imagined that he would eventually captain the Leeds team and gain renown as a member of a victorious Great Britain side in a World Cup Competition.

Dicky Williams was worthily honoured with selection for the party to tour Australasia.

Bert Cook equalled the existing club record, held by J. H. Potter and Ernest Pollard, by kicking twelve goals in the match with York at Headingley.