1957-1958

All too soon, the euphoria of Wembley was dissipated in a campaign which yielded no honours, only heartaches and frustration. Anxious to match the best and to provide more attractive fare for the Headingley spectators, ambitious Leeds had welcomed an opportunity to play in the Lancashire League, but the combination of extra travelling and stiffer opposition placed undue strain on a squad which had given its all only a few months earlier. Another innovation, a flat rate of pay; irrespective of results was discontinued in mid-season, to the delight of the cynics, after a distressing sequence of events.

Malcolm Davies, who had failed to play to his undoubted potential, had been re-transferred to Bradford Northern during the summer; Arthur Wood, a first class club winger, whose stay was to be curtailed because of his inability to obtain a work permit. There was just one acquisition on show in the Lazenby Cup match: Trevor Whitehead, a centre from Otley RU, who had signed after trials during the previous season.

It was Champagne all round at Headingley as the Cup-winners opened the season in style with three sparkling, high scoring performances: 68 points against Blackpool Borough, with Jones kicking 13 goals to establish yet another new club record and Hodgkinson now due for National Service, scoring 4 tries; 52 points against Barrow, with 3 tries and 7 goals from Jones; and 55 more against Bramley in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup. Away from home, however, it was flat ale, with defeats at Hull and Huddersfield ominously exposing our forward limitations.

September presented a severe test of stamina, resources and resolution. A home win over St. Helens, in a bad-tempered game watched by 25,000, put us in good heart for a 2nd Round visit to Castleford, where an early try from Quinn and two more from Tom?linson brought our first away victory of the season. With a lead of 7 points, it looked as though we were even going to triumph at Central Park, too, until Platt fractured a leg and bulldozing Billy Boston switched to stand-off. Even so, after an unconvincing display against Widnes and an abysmal collapse at Thrum Hall, following an injury to scrum-half Pratt, the writing was on the wall and the Wembley pack was a spent force, and there was need for extra pace on the wings.

Victory at Fartown in the Semi-Final of the Yorkshire Cup would merely have delayed the inevitable. It very nearly did! Trailing by 9 points to 2, Leeds fought back gallantly, twice crossing the Huddersfield line for disallowed tries, before Sullivan sealed our fate with a try of sheer brilliance. Disappointing as defeat was, it cleared the decks for action.

Garry Hemingway, a winger of lightning acceleration, had been signed ten days earlier from Old Thornensians R.U. Now the management decided to part with Ernie Hopper and Bernard Poole, two stalwart forwards who had served Leeds loyally and well; whilst Harry Street, whose two-year stay at Headingley had been all too brief but so rewarding, was to be gradually phased out, prior to joining Featherstone Rovers. Tony Skelton had already established himself at prop in place of Hopper; obvious candidates for the loose-forward berth were Clifford Last, whose early promise had been blighted by injuries, and Alec Dick.

The process of rebuilding in readiness for the R.L. Cup, was to be an agonising test of nerve and patience for management and supporters alike. We won not a single game in October, yet had our moment of glory at Parkside, where eleven Leeds heroes refused to bow to the inevitable after losing Jones and Broughton through injury. During November we were as unpredictable as the weather. We beat Halifax handsomely at home, and signed trialist winger, Walter Garside, after the match; sank to ignominious defeat at lowly Blackpool, and then, with a reconstituted pack, tamed mighty Wigan at Headingley, with Quinn tackling Boston out of the game and Stevenson cutting loose to score a scintillating 60-yard ?special?. It was too good to last! Defeat at Whitehaven, where Ron Murray, the newly-signed forward from Hawick, fractured a wrist, was followed by reverses against Hull and Widnes.

Plumping for greater experience at loose-forward, the management signed Fred Ward from Castleford in time to celebrate Christmas with three consecutive victories, only for plans to go awry at the turn of the year, With three successive defeats and the loss of Ward with a wrist injury at Barrow. In the circumstances, how ironic it was that White?head, a back, should be, an instant success at loose-forward and hold the position for the rest of the season, with Ward in the second row. Be that as it may, with confidence boosted by four wins in a row, and Challenge Cup appetites whetted by a pre-match visit to the nearby Lounge Cinema to see a brief film of the 1957 Final, Leeds gave Castleford a 1st Round grilling to win by 31 points to 6, with a superlative display of open rugby in heavy conditions. The forwards paved the way to success, Dick?s precision passing forging the vital links as the backs ran riot, with Hemingway scoring four of the nine tries. Of the team on duty, only seven had played at Wembley the previous year: Quinn; Hemlngway, McLellan, Jones, Hodgkinson; G. Brown, Stevenson; Skelton, Prior, Robinson, Tomlinson, A, Dick, T. Whitehead.

There was just one change for the 2nd Round at Clarence Street: Ward for Tomlinson. Five times Leeds had let York In the R.L. Cup, and triumphed on each occasion, but this time arch-schemer Riley, at scrum-half, was to engineer our defeat with his constant prodding and probing. Nevertheless, it was a desperately close finish.

In the remaining league matches, Leeds were exasperating, going down to a massive defeat at Swinton, one week, for example, and then, seven days later, putting on a magnificent exhibition at Wilderspool. It had been that kind of campaign!

Two young players were blooded during the season: Barry Simms hooker, Michael Pratt, forward; and there were two more signings: Eric Horsman, stand-off, from Bramley Old Boys R.U. and Stanley Dodds, forward, released by Hunslet.

For the first time, the Leeds club was not represented on an Australasian Tour as a result of Jeff Stevenson?s decision to withdraw from the party.