1955-1956

For once in a while, Leeds had no notable close-season signings to report, and it was the Rugby League Council that stole the headlines by introducing, within days of the start of the season, an amendment to the Law governing Play the Ball. The new ?3-yard rule?, it was hoped, would create more opportunities for opening out play, but its effect, sad to relate, was merely to intensify the monotonous creeping barrage, with one side retaining possession for even longer periods

It took just one week of the new season to bring Leeds face to face with stark reality: the pack was not good enough. Defeat in a thrilling opening match at Leigh, albeit by the narrow margin of three points, and a flattering mid-week victory over Hull K.R. at Headingley, had sown the seeds of doubt. Three days later, we reaped the whirlwind of certainty, Wakefield Trinity putting paid to our Yorkshire Cup hopes with ruthless ease: whereas the Leeds forwards ruled the scrums, they were no match. For a rampant Trinity pack in the loose, with Robinson outstanding. The need for an experienced pack leader was apparent; the solution, less obvious.

Imagine, then, the welcome given to Billy Blan, the accomplished, ball-handling loose-forward, whom Leeds had reluctantly released to St. Helens only nine months earlier and had now re-signed as a temporary measure. Three consecutive wins over Bradford Northern, Oldham and Hunslet followed, and there was certainly honour in defeat at The Boulevard where we attacked in glorious style to lead by 17 Points to 4, before the mighty Hull forwards belatedly took control to salvage their reputation with just one point to spare. A dazzling eight-try conquest of Warrington at Headingley, and a match-winning rally at Crown Flatt, despite the absence of Brown, Jones and Stevenson on Test duty, took Leeds up amongst the leaders, with confidence running so high that the New Zealand Tourists, leading 18-2 at the interval, almost surrendered in face of a second-half bombardment as we mounted wave after wave of thrilling counter-?attacks to score fourteen points without reply.

?Up in the clouds, down in the depths, such is sport?. Three successive defeats followed; and wins over Batley, with Turnbull scoring five tries, and at Doncaster, where young Peter Lendill kicked seven splendid goals out of eight attempts, were followed by yet another home defeat at the hands of Huddersfield. This was a remarkable game, in that one Leeds try merited a standing ovation, yet possibly contributed to our defeat, will-o?-the-wisp Stevenson taking too much out of himself with a length-of-the-field sprint against the wind. Be that as it may, of far greater significance was an apathetic second-half performance by the forwards, to which the management responded with the signing of Colin Tomlinson, the strapping ex-Guardsman from Bramley, in time to turn out against Leigh at Headingley. Well as he played, it was an unhappy debut, Leeds going down to their sixth defeat in eight games, and the future looked ominously grim. This, however, was to be the last dark hour before the dawn of justified hope.

Within three days, Harry Street, Wigan?s vastly-experienced Test loose-forward, had agreed to throw in his lot with Leeds, and the whole atmosphere changed almost over?night. Knowledgeable and shrewd, the quietly-spoken Street knew what he wanted from his pack and had that rare knack of being able to express his ideas in simple, uncom?plicated terms. With McLellan out through injury, Street captained a much-weakened team in his first game, and very nearly led them to victory at Thrum Hall. It really was a happy Christmas, with three wins in four days, and though two more defeats at the turn of the year virtually ruled out any prospect of League honours, we faced the R.L. Cup Competition with confidence, especially after visiting Wakefield, where we lost the match and parted with Fred Smith, a winger of great promise, but came away with the richly-prized signature of Don Robinson, Trinity?s powerful, young Test forward. Now for the Cup!

Confidence was more than justified by a superb 1st Round victory at The Boule?vard: the forwards, inspired by Street, gave a tremendous lead, taming the Hull pack with herculean tackling, covering and backing up; and the backs responded nobly, with Broughton scoring the vital and only try of the match, and Jones kicking three goals. Alas, it was victory at a price: in the closing minutes, with Leeds under siege, Lewis Jones sustained a cracked fibula in making a desperate try-saving tackle on the fearsome Markham. The Leeds team was: Dunn; Scholes, McLellan, Jones, Broughton; J. Lendill, Stevenson; Anderson, Wood, Hopper, Robinson, B. Poole, Street.

Not surprisingly, there was a vast Headingley crowd of 33,000 for the 2nd Round tussle with Oldham, and Leeds rose to the occasion with never-say-die courage and determination. Down just after half-time, by 7 points to 2, we fought back to get on equal terms and then pounded away relentlessly until the Oldham defence finally wilted in the last two minutes, when Hopper and Scholes combined to put McLellan over for the winning try. With cup-tie fever now rife, Headingley was packed yet again for the 3rd Round visit of Halifax, but this was to be the end of the road for Leeds. Nevertheless, after trailing by 12 points, a team lacking four regular backs through injury, battled away heroically to reduce the deficit to 5 points, and then set the pulses racing in the final quarter with a prolonged rally, until the final whistle sounded the knell on yet another seasons hopes. The Leeds team was: P. Lendill; Scholes, McLellan, G. Brown, Broughton; Stevenson, Pratt; Anderson, Wood, Hopper, Robinson, B. Poole, Street.

As the season drifted to its close in an inevitable atmosphere of anti-climax, there was no cause for despondency: Indeed, with a strong pack and highly-talented backs to match, there was every reason to look forward to 1956-57 with optimism.

In addition to Peter Lendill, three other young players had made their debut appearances during the season: Del Hodgkinson and Barry Charlesworth, wingers? and Vic Fuller, forward