1964-1965

It was back to a one-divisional competition, with two innovations: a championship play-off involving the top sixteen clubs, and the introduction of substitutes for injured players. Bare as the Headingley sideboard was at the end of the season, ?Operation Recovery? basically went according to plan, with the younger players gaining invaluable experience, and the overall record a vast improvement on that of the previous season. Regrettably, winning matches was to prove far easier than winning back spectator support, and Headingley?s empty terraces reflected the general decline in rugby league attendances.

During the summer, the final link with the 1957 Cup-winning team had been broken through the appointment of Don Robinson as player-coach at Doncaster; and the revival of Bradford Northern had attracted Gilbert Ashton to Odsal. Transfers during the season included: Graham Charlesworth to Hull, and Jack Thomas to Doncaster.

A home defeat at the hands of Warrington provided an inauspicious start to the season, but Leeds promptly restored morale by keeping their line intact to record victories at Featherstone and Keighley. The line was still intact, too, after the 1st Round of the Yorkshire Cup at Headingley, with Hunslet the equal of Leeds in everything except finishing. Certainly they could not match the power and determination of Ratcliffe, who resisted the challenge of Preece, Langton and Ramsey, to score the first try of the match just before the interval. Thereafter, with Hunslet?s injured Stevenson virtually a passenger, Leeds took control to run in four more tries, with Ratcliffe completing a hat-trick. Three days later, Hull K.R. also failed to pierce the Leeds defence, and though Huddersfield then crossed three times to win 19-9 at Fartown, it was good to see the growing authority of Shoebottom, Seabourne and Dewhurst.

There was a meagre crowd of only 3,000 for the 2nd Round visit of Keighley, but the faithful were rewarded with a splendid eight-try extravaganza, and three more league wins followed, with Dewhurst?s nine goals saving the day against Bramley, and Ron Morgan, the second row forward from Swinton, making his debut at Batley, as did stand-off Robert Smith against Keighley. Now for the big one! Halifax at Thrum Hall in the Semi-Final! We travelled hopefully, we came back on cloud nine in rapturous delight. Leading 9-7 at the interval, thanks to a magnificent try by Cowan and three goals from Dewhurst, we repulsed a typically ferocious second-half barrage from Halifax, and then struck back with imagination and intrepid daring, Shoebottom scoring twice and Seabourne diving over in the closing minutes, after a weaving run from the dummying Chamberlain. Within five days, however, with Albert Firth, a recent signing from York, in our second row, Halifax took their seven-try revenge; and an unconvincing home win over Doncaster, followed by a defeat at Castleford, clearly indicated that we yet lacked sufficient all-round experience and maturity to straddle the peaks of consistent success. Confirmation came in the Yorkshire Cup Final at Fartown, where Wakefield Trinity moved the ball about with dazzling speed and assurance in a fluent display of vintage rugby to win by 18 points to 2, with sprinter Berwyn Jones scoring two breathtaking tries, and Fox two tries and three goals, against a goal by Dewhurst. The Leeds team was: Dewhurst; Cowan, Broatch, Gemmell, Wriglesworth; Shoebottom, Seabourne; Drake, Lockwood, Chamberlain, Clark, Neumann, Sykes.

Four more players were introduced during November and December: Bob Landers. centre or wing, from Eastern Suburbs, Australia, on trial until the end of the season; Alf Meakin, the Olympic sprinter, who was not retained; David Hick, a back, from Southlands, York; and Peter Astbury. a hooker, from Normanton. Meanwhile, with Seabourne, Batten and Oldroyd contesting the scrum-half berth, Leeds won five of their next eight league matches, a thrilling ten-man rearguard action to thwart Halifax at Headingley, and a Gemmell-inspired victory at Hull, compensating in some measure for a lamentable Boxing Day display against Wakefield Trinity.

Although January?s inconsistent performances hardly augured well for the R.L. Cup Competition, we eliminated Liverpool City with comparative ease in the 1st Round, Dewhurst scoring a gem of a try besides kicking five goals. and hopes began to soar when an impressive league win over Huddersfield at Headingley, with Dewhurst contributing 17 more points and Landers scoring twice on his farewell appearance, was followed by yet another over Hull K.R. at Craven Park. Nevertheless, there was little to spare in a 2nd Round confrontation with Bramley, so that despite the two fine tries Gemmell created for Broatch and Dewhurst, we were reduced to hanging on grimly to a one-point lead, with Headingley?s 8,000 spectators on tenterhooks, until Broatch went over again in the closing stages. Hunslet, at Parkside! Alas, no sooner had the 3rd Round been drawn than Leeds faced a double injury setback: goal-kicker Dewhurst was to undergo a knee operation; and Shoebottom, who had missed the Bramley game through injury, would still be unavailable. Goal-kicks, 2 to 1 in Hunslet?s favour, were the deciding factor! Otherwise, there was nothing between the teams: for all that Hunslet dominated the scrums, Prior heeling four out of every five, the Leeds defence never looked like faltering, until Wriglesworth slipped in turning, to cover a stray pass, and Griffiths coolly steered the ball from half-way to score Hunslet?s solitary try; and Leeds profited in similar fashion, Batten seizing on a loose ball to initiate a flurry of passes, for Cowan to go over in the corner. The Leeds team was: Simpson; Cowan, Broatch, Gemmell, Wriglesworth; Oldroyd, Batten; Clark, Lockwood, Walker, Morgan, Neumann, Chamberlain.

Hopes of finishing in the top eight, and thereby qualify for home advantage in the championship play-off, were vain indeed, as Leeds won only two of their last seven matches, to finish in 10th place, and were promptly eliminated at Thrum Hall. Even so, one of those end-of-season matches was to prove of particular significance: at ?Wakefield?, Leeds introduced Stewart Coulthard, a forward, from Wakefield Trinity Juniors, and Syd Hynes, a centre from Leeds NALGO, who was destined to attain the highest honours in the game.