aa LEIGH v FEATHERSTONE 40pp_Layout 1 05/08/2014 16:24 Page 1 KINGSTONE PRESS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 23 LEIGH CENTURIONS v FEATHERSTONE ROVERS FRIDAY, 8th August 2014 AT LEIGH SPORTS VILLAGE • KICK OFF 8.00PM Match Sponsor Match Ball Sponsor Programme Sponsor ISSUE 13 PRICE £2.50 aa LEIGH v FEATHERSTONE 40pp_Layout 1 05/08/2014 16:24 Page 2 HONOURS Championship Winners: 1905-06 Division One Champions: 1981-82 Division Two Champions: 1977-78, 1985-86, 1988-89 Cover Star: Tom Armstrong Challenge Cup Winners: looks to evade 1920-21, 1970-71 Brendan Rawlins Lancashire Cup Winners: 1952-53, 1955-56, 1970-71, 1981-82 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy: WHO’S WHO 1969-70, 1972-73 At Leigh Centurions Promotion To Top Division achieved(Not as Champions): Hon Life President Kit men 1963-64, 1975-76, 1991-92 Mr Tommy Sale MBE Mr Frank Taylor Other Promotion season: Hon Vice President Mr Sean Fairhurst 1997 (Division 3 to Division 2) Mr Tommy Mather Mr Andy Burnham MP Northern Ford Minor Premiership Hon Life Members Under 20’s Coach Winners: 2001 Mr Paul Anderson Mr Brian Bowman Trans-Pennine Cup Winners: 2001 Mr Tommy Coleman Under 20’s Assistant Mr Frank Taylor Mr Steve Mayo Arriva Trains Cup Winners: 2004 Mr John Massey Conditioner LHF National League 1 Champions: Board of Management Mr Dan Ogden 2004 Mr Michael Norris - Chairman Physiotherapists LHF National League 1 Grand Final Mr Derek Beaumont Ms Emma Fletcher Winners: 2004 Mr Andy Mazey Ms Hannah Lloyd Northern Rail Cup Winners: Mr Alan Platt Mr John Stopford (Under 20's) 2006, 2011, 2013 Mr Steve Openshaw Mr Neil Wilcock Club Doctor Ms Jackie Mottershead Dr Maurice Doublet-Stewart Mr Trevor Barton MBE Club Ambassador CLUB RECORDS Head of Rugby Mr Alex Murphy OBE Biggest Victory: Mr Derek Beaumont General Manager 92-2 vs Keighley (1986) First Team Coach Mr Rob Parker Biggest Defeat: Mr Paul Rowley Lottery Manager 4-94 vs Workington Town (1995) Assistant Coaches Ms Christine Brown Highest Home Attendance: Mr Neil Jukes Lottery Co-ordinator 31,326 vs St Helens (1953) Mr Simon Finnigan Mr Johnathan Simpkin Lowest Post War Home Attendance: 451 vs Hull (1975) Conditioner Finance Manager Most Tries in a game: Mr Nathan Pennington Ms Jane Smith Jack Wood 6 v York (1947), Training Assistant IT & Ticket Sales Neil Turley 6 v Workington Town (2001) Mr Thomas Wood Mr Andrew Parkinson Most Goals in a game: Masseur Commercial Sales Mick Stacey 15 vs Doncaster (1976) Mr Rob Stewart Mrs Amanda Lee Most Points in a game: Statistician Club Accountants Neil Turley 42 vs Chorley (2004) Mr Cliff Sumner Styles & Co Most Tries in a season: Neil Turley 55 (2001) Joint Programme Editors Mr Allan Rowley and Mr Mike Latham Most Goals in a season: Neil Turley 187 (2004) Most Points in a season: Neil Turley 468 (2004) CLUB CONTACTS Most Tries in a career: Mick Martyn 189 (1954-67) Telephone: Facebook: Most Goals in a career: 01942 487887 www.facebook.com/leighcenturionsfanpage Jimmy Ledgard 1043 (1948-58) Most Points in a career: John Woods 2492 (1976-85, 1990-92) Email: Twitter: Most Appearances: General Enquiries – twitter.com/LeighCenturions Albert Worrall – 503 (1920-38) [email protected] or tweet us @LeighCenturions 2 THE CENTURION www.leighcenturions.com aa LEIGH v FEATHERSTONE 40pp_Layout 1 05/08/2014 16:24 Page 3 FROM THE TOP Welcome to our Millennium magic… visitors On Wednesday night out reserve team defeated Oldham 74-0 and in doing so passed the 1,000 point mark for the The tail end of a Leigh Centurions season always seems to season – in just 18 games! include a trip across to Featherstone, often on a Thursday night, to see the boys fight valiantly in the play-offs before Paul Anderson’s lads have been brilliant this year and we have seen a eventually fading against the competition’s top club. number of them step up to the first team and more than hold their own. Congratulations boys – and now let’s see if their senior Featherstone have shone out in recent years with the progress they colleagues can match this achievement! have made both on and off the field, which saw them held up as a model of Kingstone Press Championship rugby and when the current Feeling at home regime took over at Leigh we identified them as such. Unfortunately things have slipped slightly in the last few months and we wish them well in their quest for a top two finish, but that takes nothing away from today’s contest between two passionate, skilful teams. The Tetley’s Challenge Cup tie between the clubs earlier this year was a cracking game and I hope tonight’s encounter gives the spectators the same excitement. Good luck to both teams – enjoy the game! On the way into the stadium today you may have noticed RL restructuring the new sign by the side of the external big screen telling the world that this is the home of Leigh Centurions! The full details of the 2015 season were given to us at the RFL council meeting recently and have subsequently been Our friends at the LSV organised and paid for the sign and, along with reported by numerous outlets. the internal branding of Legends Bar and the flags and banners around the ground, it really does feel like home. All we need now is We at the Centurions are fully supportive of the Super 8 concept and Super League rugby to grace this fantastic stadium… will be striving to get the best finish possible in the league table to obtain four home games in the Qualifiers. One thing which has not Bill Baldwin been finalised is the role of Dual Registration players in the new It is with great sadness that Leigh Centurions have to structure and I believe this is a very important issue. announce the untimely death of Bill Baldwin on Weds 23rd In theory Hull and Doncaster, Wakefield and Featherstone, July at the age of 69. Huddersfield and Batley etc could all be playing in the middle eight Bill, the Husband of Ann and father of our former player Simon and and if DR is allowed to continue unhindered it would lead to the daughter Alisa, and a dearly loved father in law and granddad was a possibility of manipulation – if we were competing with Hull for the member of the Rugby League fraternity and rarely missed a game that 4th spot and our last game was against Doncaster we could find Simon played from schooldays onwards. Jamie Shaul, Joe Westerman and Josh Hodgson in the opposition… I We would ask you to stand and observe a minute's silence tonight as also have concerns over the treatment of London and Bradford – they a mark of respect to Bill and the family. are being allowed to keep their central funding to run an Academy set-up and therefore I do not believe they should be permitted to take Best wishes in DR players. As always, the devil is in the detail so I await the report Mike of the working party with bated breath. Mike Norris, Chairman www.leighlife.com THE CENTURION 3 aa LEIGH v FEATHERSTONE 40pp_Layout 1 05/08/2014 16:24 Page 4 aa LEIGH v FEATHERSTONE 40pp_Layout 1 05/08/2014 16:24 Page 5 COACH’S PAUL ROWLEY TALKS TO DAVE CORNER PARKINSON Since our last article with Paul, three games have taken place. Here are the thoughts of the boss from each of those, shared with Dave Parkinson. First, V Keighley: our contact was good, it was aggressive. We applaud the defence. DP: Paul, good to get back on the winners road but probably a game We set some targets defensively and we achieved them. In the modern era to that won't linger long in the memory? get a nil score-line is a pretty remarkable achievement. ........................................................................................... PR: No but, 30-nil and that's the important bit and the fact you take the fact that we had Ridyard, Brierley and McNally unable to train with us all week, v Rochdale then you are going to be lacking some fluency in attack. I think that's the easy DP: Last time out was a case for the defence - this was certainly a bit to fix up. case for the attack? I think when you are getting towards play-off football, you've got to be PR: It was a good all round performance to be fair. I think in every facet we challenging your defence and asking questions, checking the mentality you were good and even the points that they got, they got two ugly tries in the have within your dressing room. On that one we got a 10 out of 10. I thought second half and two where they lived off scraps in the first. But even at 12-nil we were pretty unforgiving at times. Defensively we were outstanding. We were down we'd made four clean breaks. It was all the stuff we'd identified too, to very aggressive and dominating so we can take a lot of positives from that. be fair so it showed that we'd got our home work right, that was pleasing. Like you said, probably from a match rating it wasn't the best but a 30-nil We spoke that we'd work hard on our attack and structures. The skill level was score-line is great, defence was good and the attack lacked fluency with some very, very high. We trained really well and we played really well.