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Video Clips - Bring back the biff. Old school GB vs Australia rugby league brawls. DD features quite extensively - Watch for the King Wally Lewis's Power Try as Des Drummond and Co wish him well
To view just click the Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-e5ejh8mPo

Martin Offiah runs into a goal post called Des Drummond

During a challenge cup game (i forget the year i think 1989) Vs Widnes at Wilderspool one of the hulme brothers scored a try under the sticks chased all the way by dessie, the rest of the widnes players followed to start the celebrations one of which was Martin Offiah.

Drummond obviously angered at the celebrations decided to knock out the unsuspecting Offiah with one punch.

Whilst watching the video of the game later that night the normally accurate Ray French commentating stated that Offiah had ran into the posts, I think poor Martin thought he had ran into an oncoming train.

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des drumond has got to be one of the hardest men in rugby league if not the hardest this man use to tackle you by hitting you in the chest with his head. he had the best uppercut any boxer would have been proud of just ask martin offiah he was on the end of one or two lol.

all the best

carl latimer

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thanks Jiffy, ww@w, Rocky Roadkill, Coops,(nickname of Quigs only Grandson), Gb and Wire Water.

(Quigs - visit the Warrington forum on the following link - http://www.rlfans.com/boards/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=21&sid=7f8d74a3dd9e1b6791ee0cdec8bf1c7d

The following "posts" were entered regarding the great pic top of this page

Jiffy - surely someone has got some Des Drummond memories for quigs!

I bet he hasn't got many wingers on the biff site?

ww@w (supplied picture)surely you don't mean this jiff

Rocky Roadkill - Yep, Quigs, Dessie should be on your list, the most NAILS winger ever to tackle a man.

And as for Big Men, Warrington's biggest was prolly Mike Nicholas, big tough as boots welshman. Reckon he should be in there, for leading the BIFFING of the Aussie Tourists when Warrington beat them in the seventies.

Top pic btw ww! Look at Holdsworth: "CALM DOWN!!!"

Coops - How did the chant go at the home coming of the team "Dessie T*!$ed Iro"

GB- Look at the photo, Goulding is trying to stop the fight! How times change!

Wire Water - an gee how his hairstyle has changed as well, still looks a lover though

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I wish to nominate Des Drummond as a very hard man, he played for warrington and Great Britain and played alongside the Great Les Boyd

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When Desi was a Leigh player he played for GB against NZ, 1979 or 1980 - I know Len Casey was the captain and the game was at Headingley. Desi tackled a NZ player and put him in the stand. It was a helluva tackle. I'd never heard of him before that, after I became one of his biggest fans

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My abiding memory of DD was his attack on a spectator, a Mr. Tony Horrabin, after a brawl at Naughton Park (I think it involved Joe Lydon)spilled over to the perimeter wall, knocking Mr. Horrabin's child onto the floor. When the child's father remonstrated with Drummond, he received a bloodied nose for his trouble, and amazingly no police action was taken (imagine how that would be received today!)

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I'll never forget the day he smacked a spectator at Widnes...
I think I've got a clipping of it somewhere Quigs

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If you remember Des was in quite serious trouble by being charged with GBH following a melee at Widnes during which a Widnes spectator ran on the pitch with his small son and started stabbing his finger and shouting and bawling at Des..I couldn't hear what he was saying but my guess is that it would be something racist...

It happened right in front of where I was standing.

Dessie gave him a love tap nothing serious...a dentist could sort it no problem.

There was an appeal in the Guardian for witnessess and with Des being one of my heroes I had to put my name forward.

I told the court exactly what I saw and even managed to make the jury laugh.I knew at that moment they would find Des innocent.

I don't often have the feeling of pride..I think it's vain but I'm glad that I might have played a small part in keeeping our hero from a serious miscarriage of justice...

Some years later Des attended a birthday bash my wife threw for me..He gave me a top notch pair of leather gloves...

I was made up.

Des hasn't had the pub for some years..the police closed it down because of the gang wars at the time..nothing to do with Des..he was the victim

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Your bringing back memories now m8 of some of the best times i had supporting Warrington, Des Drummond was one of the best Rugby league players and entertainers you could have ever wished to see on a rugby pitch! Not many players can make a whole stand rise too their feet as soon as they recieved the ball but thats what Dessie did, he was not a tall player but he was all muscle as i`m fairly sure he is a black belt at karate and some of the tackles dessie put in were bone crunching and that includes knocking forwards off their feet!

I`m sure you have heard the story of when we played Widnes at home when the chemics were a good side full of star names and Martin Offiah scored at the Fletcher street end and in his usual arrogant style he was giving it loads to0 the crowd, Dessie just walked upto him and completley flattened him behind the try line and he was out on the floor seeing stars and the ref completley missed it. The chants that followed from the fletch when they were singing "Dessie,Dessie,Dessie" were deafening and it was one of them things that you needed to be there at the time to witness. Dessie was one of the toughest players the game has had, and for size to weight ratio i dont think you will ever see a more complete player that entertained people as much as Dessie did.

The last i heard was that Dessie had his own pub in Moss-Side in Manchester,

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Dessie for me was the hardest pound for pound player have ever seen. But he was not a dirty player.

I also heard ge was a black belt and landlord in Moss Side, that says it all.

I have two memories of Dessie that stand out.

Firstly when he was with Leigh we played them at the end of the season needing a win for the league title. He had a about ten passes all daty that were easy that he dropped. In the last minute it was still close, Dessie got a terrible pass under his sticks. He picked it up off his ankles and went the length to score.

My second one is when we played Saints in a cup match. Dessie got the ball ands ran straight at their full back Phil Vievers. He ran straight through him road runner style and scored. Vievers was out on the floor and needed to be revived. He was brought back on.

Ten minutes later Dessie gets the ball again and does exactly the same. This time Vievers is carried off never to be seen again.

BTW great site

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Best Dessie moment I saw was in 91 when he launched himself at Big Mal when the Aussies played us at Wilderspool.

Dessies probably was a good foot shorter than Meninga, and got the shoulder right in Mals head.

Stevo who had a half aussie accent then was commentating on the old BSB station, he wasnt impressed.

I've got that on tape somewhere

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I Think Dessie Drummond was the best player for the Wire by far.

He could run from one end of the pitch sometimes just trotting, laughine, cause he knew he had the trys in the bag.

I still think that 1990 when we went to Wembley, we had the best squad out.

Unfortunately I was unable to go as I was about to have a baby and with all the jumping about I went into labour that night.

It was a match that I will never forget, but it was worth watching it on the box.

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Have we yet touched on the magnificent right hook that Dessie caught Kevin Iro with in the aforementioned Challenge Cup Final v Wigan in 1990 after Wigan had scored either their 4th or 5th try.

IRO " Ha Drummond, look at the scoreboard " DESSIE " Yes KEVIN, But my nose is still straight, not splattered all over my face as yours now is "

Also what about Dessies last ever match for the Wire. It was against Leeds in the early nineties in the Premiership Trophy 1st round. The match was at Wilderspool and Ellery Hanley was playing at loose forward for Leeds. There had been a couple of niggles early in the match and blue touch paper was about to be lit. Hanley is tackled and hits the deck. Before he has a chance to regain his feet in rushes Dessie and kicks him straight in the head. Dessies last ever act for the Wire as the referee sent him straight off.

Finally, another memory of Dessie was from the late eighties I think v Saints at Knowsley Rd. It was when Paul Forber was in his prime ( yes he did have one ). Sometime during the 2nd half Forber comes arcing down the touchline down Dessies wing. Dessie, at 5ft 8 and 12 stone poises on his toes and launches himself headfirst( No run up - just from a standing start) at this 6ft 15 stone 2nd rower. Forber staggers back 5 yards wondering what hit him. He shakes his head to clear the cobwebs and charges again. Dessie launches himself again. Ball goes loose, Forber hits the deck, Physio comes on, Forber removed from field of play on stretcher.

Thanks for the memories Dessie.

By the way, he scored a few crackers too, he wasn't just the hardest winger Ive ever seen

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Unfortunately, i was only a nipper when i was on the terraces of Wilderspool watching the legend that is Des Drummond so i dont really remember any great match memories however i remember Dessie being the first Wire player to give me his autograph after a grueling match against Wigan and the big smile he gave me was something that i'll always remember.

Des was a true gentleman and a classic example of a real rugby player, the type of man who would break your nose during a game only for him to buy you a pint after it, a true legend.

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If I remember correctly (though my memory can be a little hazy sometimes) I went home after this game and watched it again on video (the game had been broadcast on BBC).

After the Dessie/Offiah incident, the commentator (Ray French I think), who had also missed the punch, noticed Offiah on the ground.

He said something along the lines of "I don't know what's happened to Offiah, maybe he collided with the post after scoring" to which the summeriser with him said "I'm sure he would rather have ran into the post!".

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1. Going into the crowd at Widnes to hit someone

2. Hitting Kevin Iro at Wembley (That was all we had to sing about all day)

3. Hitting Martin Offiah after he'd scored under the posts at Wilderspool.

I remember Ray French's comments about him running into the post. He was propped up against the post and his eyes were rolled right up.

It could only have been more funnier if he birds flying around his head. I don't think dessie was as good as we remember though. He was always knocking on and wasn't the fastest. Couldn't knock his defence though.

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It says he also holds the International/European squats record jointly as well - I can remember watching him on Superstars and the incredulity from David Vine etc. that this little guy from League could do what he could do - in the gym tests he absolutely slaughtered everyone.

I think that when he signed for Leigh they were originally after his brother Alva and Des turned up on spec for a trial game - the rest they say is history. Always loved his "tackling" technique of nutting his opponents - did it against Eric Grothe in the first test at Hull in 1982 and missed - seem to think he caught him the second time though - whether big Eric noticed is hard to say but I think it had some effect on him.

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Let me make it clear Des Drummond is first and foremost a Leigh LEGEND! Dessie helped make Leigh the greatest team in the country 23 years ago. Also leading Leigh to the Lancashire Cup, sadly the Challenge Cup eluded Des, but I'll tell you now he's one of if not the greatest RL winger ever!

There's no winger in SL who would get near this great guy. Amazingly Dessie only came into the game after watching his late brother Alfie play for Leigh reserves!

I'll try and dig some of my Dessie memorabillia out for you. One great memory of Des playing for GB was when (can't remember whether it was Eric Grothe or Mal Menninga) but Des fired them virtually into the stand when making a tackle!

Des Drummond a truly awesome player!

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Hilton Park, ball kicked through, goes behind the Leigh try line, Drummond casualy watches the ball roll towards dead ball line. One Henderson Gill runs up nips around Drummond. Ball grounded, try Wigan.

As someone said at the time "it's the first time I've seen a black man go red".

Good player, all time greatest GB winger never, hard yes, fast yes.

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And a gentleman to boot.

Anyone remember when Maurice Bamford was in charge of GB.??

They played a pre season warm up against Cumbria at Derwent Park and got away with a lucky draw.

I was lying on the physio bench with a broken ankle and Des came into the room to ask how I was doing.

As a young kid this was a tremendous gesture from what even I classed as a legend even though I had met him on the field a few times.

A real class player with a gentlemans touch.

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Bob, dont forget that Dessie played in the Era where we had winter Rugby League and that old shiny mitre ball which was a nightmare to handle at the best of times and it was like a bar of soap if the pitch was wet.

Dessie never had the advantage either of this generous 10 metre rule and modern lightweight kits so what he achieved under the conditions he played in back then makes him an even better legend in my oppinion. Players get pampered these days in comparison with Dessie`s era with water carriers on every 10 mins and the benefit of modern diets and training facilities, Dessie is worthy of a place in any hall of fame in my oppinion.

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Re Superstars 1982- Think dessie was playing for leigh whilst in his superstars heyday. Have a signed testimonial brochure from his days at leigh (would be gutted if the house burned down) as i was a massive fan of his before he signed for us. Until Hanley overtook him in the late eighties he had the most great Britian caps of anyplayer still playing, couldn't have been that bad a player! Yes i remember him knocking on a few times but for shear entertainment value i dont think i have seen (not old enough to see bev etc) anyone better and that includes the likes of Blake, Woods.

The word legend is often used these days, this fella deserves it.

The last Warrington captain to lift a trophy.

The last i heard he was involved in coaching a rugby union team in Bolton

Regards

The Des Drummond fan club

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The Widnes incident led to him being dropped from the GB squad to tour Australia in 1988. He was all set to go but was dropped as the court case was still pending, that's why we got to see Henderson Gill doing "a bit of a boogie".

Dessie played in some of my all time favourite Wire sides, seeing him support breaks from the likes of Woods, Blake, Roberts, Ropati, Jackson and so on got the crowd on their feet every time.

Don't forget the evening game at Knowsley Road when a young superstar called Gary Connolly was playing at Full back - Dessie skinned him twice for tries from halfway on the way to a rare away victory at Saints and showed the young boy he still had a lot to learn.

Sheer class!!!!

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The first ever memory Of DD was infact the very first time I attended a Rugby League game, I remember him scoring a full lengther in that game, and I think that was the same game when dessie flattened somebody with a mean head butt....can't remember who it was against but since that day DD has and always will be one of my favourite players in the P&B colours.

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Des (who played 90% of his career at Leigh and only his twighlight at Warrington) was easily the most exciting player I have ever watched in over 35 years of RL.

Modern stats have tries per games played. Des should have had Tries per passes caught. If Des caught the ball everyone in the ground would stand up with anticipation.

His pace was unbelievable (he really was faster than Martin Offiah, ET etc)

But Des wasn't just a supreme athlete, he was also a real hardman.

Although I have many memories of spectacular 90 yard tries, my favourite memory wasn't a try but a tackle.

It was against Hull KR in a Challenge Cup game in the 80s. Leigh were camped on the Hull KR try line, Des on the right wing. A stray Leigh pass on the left side, saw Hartley the pacy Hull KR right winger intercept and set off racing down his own touchline on a 90 metere dash to the Leigh line.

Des set off from the OTHER WING and flew like an exocet missile diagonally across the field to catch him & head-butt the Hull KR winger into touch just before he could ground the ball.

Leigh won that game 18-17 and also won the Championship that same year mainly due to the contribution of 'Superstar' Des Drummond - Leigh & Great Britain Legend.

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My sister in law went to school with Des and apparently his nickname at school was Cumberland!!!

His career was blighted by this problem...as playing shorts got tighter throughout the late 80's and early 90's Des continually had troubles keeping himself in his shorts. To this day he is one of the few men who have had to have to use the old insulation tape for more reasons than taping his ears back

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Perhaps Drummond's best tackle is on Steve Hubbard, on a televised Hull KR V Leigh Challenge Cup 1st round game in 1982.

Hubbard is haring down the touchline for Rovers, going for the line, when Drummond comes off the other wing, flies at Hubbard with a shoulder charge and knocks him into the boards

Somebody must have this game on video, so it would be great if someone could make a clip of it.

Also remember Dessies wonder try for Leigh at Leeds, when he ran the full length, weaving through countless loiners.

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England v France at Headingley in the early 80s the final score was something like 4 - 0 to the French (French Ref) Dessi got a bit fed up with the referee and his decisions (believe it or not the french where feeding the scrum straight to the loose-forward ), the French got a scrum 20 yards from their own try line (Kirkstall end near the main stand) scrum half straight to the loose-forward before he had the chance to stand up clatter Dessi hits him with one of his trade mark flying head-butt tackles, good night loose-forward

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Dessie, probably my favourite Wire of all time! He was as tough as teak and hard as nails and his no nonsense style made him the complete article.

I bet if you asked players of that era who did they most dislike being tackled by, I bet a lot of the answers would have been Dessie. His tackling style was quite unique as his head went in first as a batterring ram often leaving his opponent winded and in a heap on the floor.I suppose it was the human equivalent of an exocet missile! Dessie played his game to the rules though and was not a dirty player, he just played the game as tough as humanely possible. I think the reason Martin Offiah scored so many tries against us back then was because he was so petrified of getting tackled by Dessie....lol. The crowd used to taunt Offiah with chants of Dessies gonna get ya, I'm sure that made him run faster

He was very fast and scored many spectacular tries and it is true that when Dessie got the ball you could feel the air of expectation rise and the crowd would buzz off him.

I think summer rugby would have suited Des big time and if he played in this era I think he would be a regular GB international no problem!

I remember a match at Wilderspool, Hull I think, and Dessie had broke away from our own line and was in full flight with only the fullback to beat. He reached just over half way and tried to arc around the fullback. The fullback tripped him and Dessie was sent sprawling losing the ball. Des was furious of being denied a try by a trip and you just knew his fuse was going to blow. He dragged himself up and ran back to the fullback and unleashed a series of punches that buckled the fullbacks legs. The punches still rained in as he went down and hit the floor. Both players took no further part in the game. I have never seen so many punches connect to a man in the space of a few seconds.

Of course people may have differring opinions of Dessie but after watching most if not all of his Warrington career in my opinion Dessie was the best all round winger of his era. No he didn't score as many tries as Martin Offiah but his defensive contribution was awesome and made him the complete player.

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Des Drummond was the reason I started watching rugby league. I used to love it when the Fletcher end would sing "Dessie, gis a wave. Dessie Dessie gis a wave" before every game started.

I also remember him in 1986 at Wilderspool headbutting a salford player in the stomach who had foolishly been winding him up. Class!

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Warrington were playing Widnes at Wilderspool when sorenson broke the defence and was clean through to the try line and no fullback to stop him and all the widnes fans thought this was a certain try,WRONG !,Sorenson forgot one thing 'DESSIE'he came off his wing to catch the kiwi tackling him by wrapping him up like a christmas present thus preventing a certain try.

In another game at Wilderspool Dessie was in full flight along his wing when a pass came out way above his head and Dessie reached up and caught the ball just before the try line,he managed to ground the ball but could not stop himself from slamming into the Fletcher End concrete wall and lukily the wall was ok as Dessie went back to his team mates to celebrate the try.

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Travelling to London on an early morning train, excitedly en route to Milwaukee for 'friendly' with red and white sh$&*,could not believe my eyes when spotted Dessie sat in 2nd class(pre full time rugby)on his way to the smoke for his visa.

Where was the chaffeur driven car.

DD gladly sat for several hours with us talking about the game ahead, taking photos and signing autographs.

What a genuine top bloke. Will be forever a Wire Legend.

PS Can anyone tell me why he needed a visa?

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