Make sure you don’t miss out on having your name published within the official RFL Challenge Cup Final programme this weekend.
As Castleford clash with St Helens at Wembley at this stage of the competition for the first time, and Featherstone Rovers take on York City Knights in the 1895 Final, make sure you and your loved ones are part of this treasured piece of sporting memorabilia with a Subscriber Order. But hurry as the cut-off to be published on the fans’ Roll of Honour within the publication closes at noon on Wednesday 14th July.
You can place your order for the perfect-bound A4-size commemorative edition for £10, which includes free first class postage and a donation to the RL Cares charity, from Ignition Sports Media below...
The programme itself, which will also be on sale at Wembley, provides a feast of reading, for supporters of all four clubs involved.
There are interviews with star men Paul McShane of Castleford, and Theo Fages of St Helens.
Columns by the coaches, all the details you’d expect, but also a recognition of the history of the Challenge Cup and of these four clubs.
Jon Champion, now world-renowned as a football commentator, reflects on his early days behind the mic following York.
Likewise Nigel Pearson, a popular voice of speedway and darts, details his lifelong love of Featherstone – and is one of several Rovers fans to recall their 1983 Wembley win against Hull.
Graham Steadman links the Featherstone, York and Castleford clubs, as he explains to Ross Heppenstall.
The BBC’s current voice of Rugby League, Dave Woods, pays tribute to his predecessor Ray French.
And as a taster of the reading on offer, we’ve reproduced below a welcome return to the Wembley programme for the great Dave Hadfield – who better to consider the contribution made by Kevin Ward to both Castleford and St Helens?
KEVIN WARD
DAVE HADFIELD, THE RENOWNED RUGBY LEAGUE WORDSMITH – AND OCCASIONAL FRONT-ROWER – PAYS A PERSONAL TRIBUTE TO KEVIN WARD, A PLAYER WHO REMAINS FONDLY REMEMBERED BY SUPPORTERS OF BOTH OF TODAY’S BETFRED CHALLENGE CUP FINALISTS
I have a photograph in my office of a player, very obviously a forward – and a tough one - running on to the pitch at Widnes when it was known as Naughton Park, through what looks like a restraining fence. I don’t make a habit of sticking photos on the wall, but for Kevin Ward, I have made an exception. I think the longer-serving supporters of both Castleford and St Helens would know what I mean. It says something about the tribal nature of Rugby League in this country that forwards who cross county lines and become iconic figures on both sides of the Pennines have remained relatively rare. There are notable and obvious exceptions, of course - but prop forwards in particular have tended to do their best work and inflict their greatest damage close to home.
The likes of Ellery Hanley and Andy Goodway were elite back rowers who played in the pack with distinction. Look for their equivalents in the front row, however, and you will not find very many. In general, British clubs have been more likely to sign a New Zealander than a prop from across the Pennines - although in the Super League era, Wigan paid a king’s ransom when they were confronting a very real fear of relegation to shore up their pack with Stuart Fielden from Bradford. Slightly further back in time, those rugged villains Kelvin Skerrett and Sonny Nickle left their native Yorkshire to make a big impact at Wigan and St Helens respectively. But is there a forward who is as revered by two sets of supporters on either side of the Pennines as Kevin Ward by the fans of Cas and Saints?
Relatively speaking he was a late developer when he signed for Castleford from his local amateur club Stanley Rangers, in nearby Wakefield. He went on to make more than 300 appearances for the club – initially as a second-row although he had moved up to prop by the time they last won at Wembley in 1986. By then he had also made his Great Britain debut, and he went on to win 15 caps, including outstanding performances in the 1988 Test series in Australia. There was a memorable shaft of his humour as dry as a coal seam when he was asked about his fitness for the third Test in Sydney, when the Lions secured a famous win. “I’ll have to play,†he grunted. “There’s no bugger else.†No wonder they loved him wherever he played. Malcolm Reilly, who had been a key figure in his transformation from second-row to front-row at Castleford, also played a significant role in allowing Kevin to realise a goal of playing club rugby in Australia – with the Manly club with whom Malcolm had excelled.
To describe him as a success in Australia would be a serious underestimate. In his first season at Brookvale in 1987, the highlight was undoubtedly his performance in the Grand Final where they beat Canberra Raiders. Many thought that he should have been awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as man of the match on that day, but it was Cliff Lyons who got the nod. He stayed on for a second stint with Manly after the 1988 Lions tour, and back home in 1990, at the age of 33, he was persuaded to join St Helens, perhaps by the unique personality of their coach Mike McClennan. He had three outstanding seasons with Saints, his ever developing ball-handling skills adding to his still considerable mobility. There was one Lancashire Cup win and some memorable battles with Wigan, and he would have played for longer had it not been for a particularly nasty leg injury one gloomy Good Friday at Wigan. As it was, not only did he have trouble ever playing again, he was also stymied in his day job as a hodcarrier. He didn’t deserve that. To remember him in his prime, I only need to look up to my office wall.
