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MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE President:
Dave Corless
Vice President:
Derek Cross
Chairman:
Ralph Rawsthorne
Club Secretary:
Ste Edgerton
Treasurer:
Andy Lyons
Junior Secretary:
John Rees
Club Registration Manager:
Joanne Knapper
Club Welfare Officer:
Gary Trueman
Discipline Chairman:
Gary Philbin
Junior Representative:
Brian Hatton
Fundraising Manager:
Ailsa Looker
Media Manager:
Steven Hughes
HONOURS BARLA National Cup Winners: BARLA Lancashire Cup Winners:
BARLA Inter County Cup Winners: North West Counties Premier Cup Winners: North West Counties Champions: North West Counties Div 1 Champions: Warrington & District League Champions: Warrington & District League Leaders: St.Helens Junior League Champions: St,Helens Junior League Leaders: St.Helens Cup Winners: West Lancs League Trophy Winners: Bootle Charity Cup Winners:
@pilksrecsarlfc
/pilkingtonrecs
1974-75, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82 1974:74, 1976-77 1978-79, 1980-81 1980-81 2007-08, 2010-11, 2011-12 1977-78, 1979-80 1975-76, 1985-86, 1991-92, 2004-05 1973-74 1968-69 1953-54 1951-52, 1953-54 1980-81, 1985-86, 2010-11 1953-54 1953-54
www.pilkingtonrecs.org
Good afternoon and welcome to Rus- estimated for this game. kin Drive for today’s National ConferIt promises to be a great afternoon of ence League Division 1 game. rugby for the spectators and so as alIt is my great pleasure on behalf of eve- ways I encourage you to support your ryone at Pilkington Recs to welcome respective team and applaud good rugour visitors Dewsbury Moor Maroons, by. promoted to Division 1 for this season. I would like to thank the committee of I may be mistaken, but I seem to think Pilkington Recs for their tireless work this might be their first visit to our behind the scenes in managing the Club ground so I extend a warm St Helens business. Grateful thanks also to our welcome to their players, officials and sponsors for their continued support of spectators. Our visitors boast a thriving our Club at all age groups. Finally youth and junior number of teams inthanks to our players and coaches for cluding a girls and women’s section their sterling efforts in playing for the which is a credit to their drive to proClub and coaching the players the skills mote the sport. of the game. The season is still in early days and The final word should be to spare a with some games rained off last weekthought for the officials today, who end both teams will be still in the sethave a difficult task but without whose tling in stage. It’s great to see the Recs involvement we would not have a wellhave started the season brightly winmanaged game. ning both their games so far and they Enjoy the game and Come on The will be looking to build on the early RECS!! good form with a win this afternoon. Dewsbury lost their opening game with Yours in sport a narrow 22-23 defeat to another promoted side Stanningly, the close result Ralph Rawsthorne shows that the game could have gone Chairman either way and so they cannot be under• • • •
All spectators are requested to remain behind the pitch side spectator barriers Inside the ground perimeter fence is strictly a No Smoking Area at all times No dogs are allowed inside the ground Please use waste bins provided to dispose of your litter
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This afternoon we welcome Dewsbury Moor Maroons to Ruskin Drive for the first time. According to the club’s website, the origins of the club can be traced back to a convivial pint or two in the Quarry Inn public house, around 1968, when a team was entered into a novice’s competition run by the Dewsbury and Batley League. They won it and a team was entered into newly-formed Sunday 11-a-side league! A Committee was formed. The first Chairman was Harry Brook; Mick Smithson the Secretary and their first jerseys were purchased from local rivals Dewsbury Celtic! Their first headquarters was an old mill house and then they bought an old ice cream factory for £1,000 and raised money to convert the premises into changing facilities, as the number of teams increased. In 1975 Dewsbury Moor were the first northern-based team to play a southern league team in competitive rugby league, when they took on Ealing in the Challenge Cup. In January 1975, Moor was the first northern based team to play a southern league team in an organised competition, when they were drawn at Ealing in the BARLA National Cup. The next couple of years saw the club continue to grow and a club room and bare were opened. By 1982, there were further refurbishments and by the early 1990s, there were ten teams in operation, with the club renting pitches from Kirklees Council. Since those early pioneering days of 1968, the club has progressed rapidly, both on and off the field with nine teams ranging in age from under 8's through to open age. There were problems on the horizon, however, when the council took back land as
part of a landfill programme. Yet with much determination and astute links with a brewery [Wards of Sheffield], a builder [Fairclough Homes] and a chemical company [Morton International], the problem of pitches was ultimately solved. It was a long, stressful process, involving moving 18,380 cubic metres of soil for the new pitches, laying 1200 metres of ground drainage and 2230 metres of top soil – plus fencing the playing areas themselves! By 1995 everything was completed. The Dewsbury Moor website is quite rightly proud of this achievement: “With the completion of the pitches, the club was in the enviable position of owning three rugby pitches, its own club house and parking facilities, making Dewsbury Moor Rugby League Club, one of the few clubs in Rugby league to be totally self-sufficient.” With their proud history, they will provide redoubtable opponents this afternoon. Past players? It might be predictable, but we have to give a mention to the Burgess brothers, who have carved out careers for themselves in the Australian competition and made their mark on the international scene. In 2013, Tom, Sam and George were photographed in their maroon jerseys as part of an England World Cup Squad photoshoot. Say no more! Pilkington Recs ARLFC also remind everyone associated with Dewsbury Moor Maroons to join us in the Ruskin clubhouse to enjoy a refreshing drink and the Man of the Match celebrations. Enjoy the game. After last week’s frustrations with the weather, the lads need to maintain their winning ways once more.
Bob Dagnall St Helens RFC Heritage #770
finals! He also won Lancashire League winners medals in 1964-65 and 1965-66. Another international hooker, Bill Sayer, was signed by the Saints in January 1966 and they shared the role for a spell before Bob called it a day after 210 games. Mind you, he was so skilful at what he did that that Saints paid Bob for 12 months after his retirement so that other clubs could not cash in his expertise! He later coached the Colts at Knowsley Road with former scrum-half Jeff Heaton, while concentrating on his joinery business with former Rochdale Hornets’ halfback Johnny Fishwick.
Thatto Heath-born Bob Dagnall, who went to Grange Park School was one of the greatest hookers Saints ever had. Ironically, he was signed from Rochdale Hornets, so nearly a case of ‘one who had got away’. He came with quite some experience, however and joined a team with some superb front-rowers, such as Fred Leyland, Abe Terry and Cliff Watson who provided the vital cornerstone for his superb scrummaging technique. It was somewhat inevitable that the Bob did have an ‘Indian Sumthreequarters were usually mer’ playing for Pilks in the earprovided with the lion’s share ly 1970s, when he formed a of possession to demonstrate front row with the likes of Eric their prowess. Bob was also a Frodsham, Kenny Cross and brilliant dummy-half, with a Geoff Phillips, among others. He neat pass and the eye for an occasional open- played in that famous Challenge Cup tie in the ing. snow at Barley Mow, Bramley and provided help and experience to those around him. Eric He made his debut on 5th March 1960, at Frodsham called him ‘Uncle Bob’. Jeff GormWarrington and really came to the fore in the ley, another Pilks’ hooking legend recalled 1960-61 campaign, including a Lancashire cup how Daggy had helped further his own career. triumph against Swinton and a fabulous 12-6 “I had asked him for some tips previously and Wembley victory against Wigan. 1961-62 saw then one night at training he showed me the Dagnall play for Great Britain in all three tests ropes. Bob was a big bloke, with short legs. He against the visiting Kiwis, scoring a try in the told me to pack down and try to get the ball, Second test at Swinton, when GB won the which I did. ‘Now try and get it again’, he said. rubber. Ironically, Bob never played for Lanca- He came over and put his arm over me with shire! his weight pressing down so that my legs were effectively locked. I couldn’t move and there ‘Daggy’ was a pillar of consistency for the was no chance I could strike for the ball. I used Saints through to the mid-1960s. Between those tactics for the rest of my career.” 1960 and 1964 the Saints won the Lancashire Cup on five successive occasions and Bob Dagnall was the only Saint to appear in all five
17TH March 2019
It was another day of rain affected action for our young Pilks sides on Sunday. Thankfully, our all weather pitch meant some games were able to go ahead. The highlight was our U14s beating Rylands Tiger Sharks for the second time in two weeks 48-12. A hat trick from Noah Stephens, as well as two tries from Tom Kilgallon and further tries from Dylan Tyms and Aaron Caton-Hand won the game for the young Pilks. Meanwhile, our U12s played their first cup game, but lost out 380 to Wigan St Judes at Ruskin Drive. It was also a good day for our U8s. They played three games, winning two and losing one. At Ruskin Drive, they beat Clock Face Miners And Goldborne Parkside 40-20 and 52-48 respectively. There was also a team sent to Leigh East Warriors, but they lost 52-32 in what was another closely fought encounter. There was also two good wins for our U7s side. There was one side that took on Widnes Moorfield and won 44-4. Four tries for Riley Gauchwin, hat trick for Oscar Forber, and two each for Leo Robinson and William Swift recorded the excellent win for our U7s. The other side took on another Widnes based club in Halton Farnworth Hornets, and they won 36-8. A hat trick from Dominic Webb, two tries for Charlie Clarke and Liam Spearman And individual efforts from Bobby Hoult and James Eden won the game, a second of the day for our U7s. Our U9s, U10s, U11s, U13s And U18s all had their games cancelled as a result of the wet weather.
National Conference League Divis
PILKINGTON RECS 1.
Ryan Hilliard
2.
Andy Nisbet
3.
Cameron Brown
4.
Ian Stanley
5.
Jonathan Frodsham
6.
Kyran Knapper
7.
Tom Connick
8.
Jon Key
9.
Ryan Liptrot
10. Jono Peers 11. Tez Riley 12. Mike Garrity 13. Jamie Smith 14. Ryan Stevens 15. Chris Clayton 16. Jordan Morris 17. Tom Chisnall
Coaches John Rees Liam Bostock
Offic Nick Wo Nick George J
Physio Gary Trueman
Pilkington Recs ARLFC prides itself on be RESPEC The club will ensure high standards of be spectators, coaches, matc Rugby league is an all-inclusive sport, com tolerate any form of discrimina
sion 1 Saturday 23rd March 2019
cials oodward Hart Johnson
DEWSBURY MOOR MAROONS Coaches Danny Maun Mark Barlow
eing a family club that supports the RFLs CT policy. ehaviour are maintained amongst parents, ch officials and volunteers. mmitted to equal opportunities and will not ation or unsporting behaviour.
1.
J Foster
2.
J Davies
3.
D Horn
4.
B O’Brian
5.
S Thornton
6.
B Foster
7.
A Slimeson
8.
C Gavaghan
9.
J Richardson
10. B Adams 11. P Robinson 12. O Davidson 13. J Samme 14. A Bruce 15. W Jowett 16. O Ayres 17. J Walker
PILKINGTON RECS 34 SADDLEWORTH RANGERS 10 Pilkington Recs have won a second straight game to start the season after a 34-10 win at Ruskin Drive. The home side made two changes coming into the game, Jonathan Frodsham carried on at full back in place of the injured Ryan Hilliard, while Mike Houghton took Frodsham's place on the wing. Meanwhile, Tom Chisnall came in for Andy Nisbet, who was ruled out after having to have stitches in a head injury he picked up in last weeks win against York. Despite the blustery conditions, it was Pilks who took the lead after just four minutes as Kyran Knapper picked the ball up and crashed over for his first try of the season. He then hit his conversion to extend the lead to six points. Then just three minutes later, Pilks doubled their lead and Tez Riley continued his fine form this season by crashing over to grab a third try in two games. Knapper scored the conversion for a 12 point lead. Saddleworth then tried a short kick off and it paid off for them as they were able to grab a try back. Josh Bradbury missed the conversion however, meaning the deficit was eight points for them. However, their reprieve was short lived as four minutes later, Pilks extended the lead as Jamie Smith ran in and grabbed his first try of the afternoon. Knapper hit the conversion again to stretch their lead to 14 points. Miners Rangers and Featherstone Lions. They are back in action next week as they head away from Ruskin Drive for the first time in 2019 against Oulton Raiders.
Ten minutes later saw one of the games turning points as the Rangers had a player sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle, and Pilks made them pay straight from the resulting penalty as Smith exploited the gap to grab his second try of the afternoon. Knapper hit the conversion again to send Pilks in at half time with a 20 point lead. The next big turning point came five minutes into the second half as Gavin Dodd was sent off after saying something out of turn to the referee whilst arguing a call to give Pilks the ball. Five minutes later, Pilks made the extra man count as Ian Stanley exploited a gap out wide to score. Knapper would miss the conversion, his first miss of the season, but it was still a 24 point lead for the St Helens side. The gaps were starting to open up and Tom Connick managed to get in through a gap and finished acrobatically under the posts. Knapper was back on target to stretch the lead out to 30 points. Despite the deficit, the Rangers kept on going and ended up grabbing a try through Ethan Langhorn. Bradbury converted to add a little respectability to the score. This would be the last score of the game, but it wasn't without incident. Knapper went for a drop goal which hit the post and Mikey Houghton was caught offside going for the rebound. From the resulting penalty, Saddleworth failed to find touch and with that, the referee blew for full time. Pilks have started the season with two straight wins, a brilliant turnaround in contrast to last season, where they lost their first two league games against Leigh Miners Rangers and Featherstone Lions. They are back in action next week as they head away from Ruskin Drive for the first time in 2019 against Oulton Raiders.
Welcome back to Ruskin Drive to all our spectators, and a particularly warm welcome to our opponents, Dewsbury Moor, who will be visiting this ground for the first time today. Last weeks cancellation means we are yet to play a game on the road as the lads get used to spending Saturday evenings with their families. Hopefully we can get the bad weather out of the way before we finally get on to a grass pitch and the challenges that come with that after playing on the 3G. Two weeks ago we came across an enthusiastic Saddleworth side, who, having being promoted last year were keen to get a victory. Both teams started well, but our composure in the attacking areas really showed as I think we controlled the game well.
Dewsbury Moor will no doubt bring the same enthusiasm as Saddleworth and
with them only playing one game so far, I am sure they will want to kick start their season with a victory after losing their opening game to Stanningley by the narrowest possible margin. Like all Yorkshire based teams, we expect them to come firing down the middle with a big aggressive pack supported by some ‘off the cuff’ rugby by the halves. We are in for a real tussle. It was good to see the A Team get their second win of the season last week as they overcame a stern challenge from Leigh Miners. It was pleasing to see some of the new lads bedding in and making themselves at home so quickly. Finally, I want to send my personal condolences to our long standing Chairman, Ralph Rawsthorne, who sadly lost his Mum last week.
Enjoy the game!
By Phil Hodgson WHAT would you say are the fundamentals required of Rugby League, as part of the entertainment business? The answers to that question could fill a book, rather than a single page in a programme, but I think most people appreciate a fairly close game, with their favourites winning of course. The majority of spectators want some fairly expansive play, while also enjoying the nitty-gritty fare of the forward battle. There’s also an appreciation by many of blood-and-snot exchanges. It’s not perhaps politically correct to say so but take that aspect away and, for me anyway, Rugby League would no longer be Rugby League. And I think many readers of these programme notes will be nodding their heads and agreeing with me. But I’ve digressed a little from what I intended initially to focus on when I embarked on this week’s offering. I’m writing it while watching Toronto Wolfpack take on Batley Bulldogs and, aside from the fact that the Canadians were playing a home game at Hull KR (a whole subject in itself) what I can’t get out of my head is the fact that the teams are wearing colours that, for me at least, are too similar, and unnecessarily so.
Toronto are playing in black and grey, and Batley are operating in grey. Granted, the colours (are black and grey colours, I’m sure that’s a question I had to answer at infants school) don’t clash too much, so perhaps I’m being a tad unfair on the Wolfpack and the Bulldogs, but they’re still disconcertingly similar, and I honestly don’t see the need for it, not at professional level. Batley’s regular colours are officially described as cerise, gold and white and, in the circumstances, I’m struggling to understand why they didn’t wear them. Ok, I think I know why they didn’t. The Bulldogs, like all other professional Rugby League clubs, and soccer sides for that matter, have home and away strips, mainly as a means of selling more replica shirts. I can understand that, even if I don’t particularly like it. Commercial considerations are very important in keeping our clubs afloat, but surely they should be secondary to being able to easily identify which teams is which during a match? And talking about identification it’s not always easy to tell which player is which. There used to be a rule (probably still is) that numbers should be black, on a square white patch sewn onto the shirt. I appreciate that numbers are printed on these days but I don’t see why they can’t be black on white, and therefore clearly distinguishable from a distance. I’ve gone on about Toronto and Batley in this column, which is unfair as they are both very well-run clubs. I could name many regarding the numbers issue (and don’t get me started on squad numbers, which for me only add to the confusion). But it’s surely for the Rugby Football League to enforce its own regulations; spectating should be made easier for fans, not more difficult.
Chris Arkwright St Helens RFC Heritage #931 Dave Dooley’s opening line in the Chris Arkwright biography on the Saints’ Heritage website speaks volumes: “Rated by Neil Holding [another with Pilks’ connections, of course] as the most talented player he had played with. Chris had rare qualities particularly in his playmaking and reading of the game. When Chris joined the Saints the club were very much in a transitional period with a host of young junior talent and some experienced stalwarts in the twilight of their careers. The golden period of the seventies were coming to an end and the club`s fortunes were about to decline in the early years of the 1980s. This proved to be a hard but valuable learning curve for the youngster.” Although Chris could play with great effectiveness in the centre, stand-off, or loose forward, he first came to prominence in the centre, leading the club’s try-scoring charts in 1980-81 with 15 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Chris was plagued by injury at certain times during his career such as in 1983 -84, when he scored 7 tries from 17 matches. The following year – the Meninga Season – saw Chris enjoy a superb season at stand-off, winning his first honour against Wigan in the Lancashire cup final at Central Park. This was followed by a Premiership medal against Hull KR at Elland Road, where he led the Saints’ backline in storming fashion. Chris won two caps for GB in 1985 and in 1986-87 was appointed Saints’ captain,
following the departure of Harry Pinner. He led the team brilliantly, including a Wembley appearance against Halifax, although the Yorkshiremen’s own Dad’s Army ruined the party for the hordes in red and white! The signing of New Zealand international Shane Cooper arguably signalled the end of his marvellous Saints’ career and he played his last match in the red vee [his 273rd against Hull in 1990 – in the hooking role. By the mid-1990s, he was adding his considerable experience to Pilks Recs as part of a Saints connection recalled by John Rees: “ When I made my debut some of the old Saints’ pros were still there: Johnny Smith, Shaun Allen and Chris Arkwright had had a season with us and packed in just before I stepped up. Barry Ledger made a few appearances when Arkie was there too and helped us with our sprint training. In 2000-01 Arkie was our coach. He certainly knew what he was talking about and introduced three-times-a-week training, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He said that this was essential if we were to be a successful [NWC] Premier League side. Friday was for the first team only, when we used to do the game plan. The revised training regime wasn’t necessarily all that popular with some of the lads, but it needed to happen.” The club finished third from bottom and avoided relegation, [objective achieved!] although Kevin Thompson came in for the following season. Chris Arkwright remains a highly respected and popular figure throughout rugby league, especially those who were his team mates in red and white and red, amber and black. He still retains an interest in the fortunes of both clubs today. Dave Dooley once more: “Many Rugby League players would have been ecstatic to have gained two Great Britain caps, one England jersey and played for your county on four occasions. Those of us who watched Chris in the 1980s agree that even this impressive list of honours underestimates his true abilities and qualities.” Say no more!
Date
Comp
16th February
Friendly
Home Or Away Away
2nd March 9th March 16th March 23rd March
League League League League
Away Home Home Away
Opponents
Result
Eccleston Lions
0 - 66 W
Westhoughton Lions Manchester Rangers Leigh Miners Rangers A Bury Broncos
38 - 0 L 22 - 18 W 32 - 18 W
30th March 6th April 13th April 20th April 27th April
League League
4th May 11th May 18th May 25th May
League League League League
1st June 8th June 15th June 22nd June 29th June
6th July 13th July 20th July 27th July 3rd August 10th August 17th August 24th August 31st August 7th September 14th September 21st September
Away Hindpool Tigers EASTER WEEKEND Away Chorley Panthers
Home Away
Langworthy Reds Wigan St Patricks
League League League League League
Home
Hindpool Tigers
Away Home
Leigh Miners Rangers A Westhoughton Lions
League League
Away Home
Wigan St Judes A Wigan St Patricks A
League
Away
Manchester Rangers
Nines Comp Nines Comp League League League League
Challenge Cup Weekend Home Bury Broncos Away Haresfinch Away Langworthy Reds Home
Chorley Panthers
Date
Comp
9th February
Friendly
Home Or Away Away
Opponents
Result
Ince Rose Bridge
20 - 6 L
2nd March 9th March 16th March 23rd March 30th March
League League League League League
Home Home Away Home Away
York Acorn Saddleworth Oulton Raiders Dewsbury Moor Skirlaugh
36 - 30 W 34 - 10 W P-P
6th April 13th April 20th April 27th April
League League League
Home
Milford
4th May 11th May 18th May 25th May
League ` League
Away Away Home
Myton Warriors Featherstone Lions Stanningley
1st June 8th June 15th June 22nd June 29th June
League League League
Away Away Home
Wigan St Patricks Dewsbury Moor Skirlaugh
6th July 13th July 20th July 27th July
League League League
Home Away Home
Myton Warriors York Acron Featherstone Lions
3rd August 10th August 17th August 24th August 31st August
League League League
League
Away
Stanningley
7th September
League
Home
Normanton Knights
Away Saddleworth Away Normanton Knights EASTER WEEKEND
Away Milford Home Oulton Raiders Home Wigan St Patricks CHALLENGE CUP FINAL