Rugby League
Your Stories

Stats -

I have seen BBC footage of McTigue scoring at Wembley. I was too young to realise the awesome power of the bloke.

He was wanted by yank boxing promoters including Joe Louises old manager.

As an earlier poster mentioned, his fist never used to move more than the obligatory 12 " , but opposing forwards were left in the dirt.

It seems this guy was exceptional. Even your Ozz hardmen had no answer, for a change. As I mentioned in another post on this forum, this guy is now in the RL legends for the UK at RL HQ. He died too early. He was only about 52.

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

Brian was a very gentle person off the field and a smashing brother, a very private person, I am very proud to read all of these items of praise for his activeties on the field for which he will never be forgotten

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

I always thought, as a starry eyed 15/16 year old, that Mac was a brilliant ball player, and very tough...it took me a while to get out of an idealistic mode and accept that "Mighty Mac" (Billy Boston'sname for him) was a quiet executioner, an ex-boxer whose punch was never an obvious "haymaker" but a short, deadly, and(usually)undetected knockout blow

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

i have watched some epic tussles between wigan and warrington when les boyd wanted to fight the whole wigan team .

the bloke was a nutter!!!!

likewise you could look forward to a bit of spilt claret when kurt sorensen was around,if he lasted the game out!!

the hardest and possibly the quietest player i haveever seen was the legendary brian mctigue no one messed with mac more than once ,once was usually enough!!

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

My Dad who is still alive, thankfully, slightly knew MAC.

My Dad used to work at Central Park, Wigan. He said that Mac was a very quiet unassuming man.

But on the field was devastating.

He saw Jim Sullivan, Billy Boston and Ces Mountford amongst them all.

His favourite though was MAC.

SULLY used to give lollypops to the kids before matches, even though he knew they could not afford to attend.My Dad was one of those !

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

Brian McTigue

____________________________________________

Just check out Alex Murphy's biography.

Murphy was a 'great player', (and this is from a Wigan fan and my Dad), but when playing at the SCG he was so glad that MAC was there to help him.

Murphy stoked the Ozzies up. MAC frightened the Ozz hardmen !

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

Cant recall wher ei heard this story, but it typifies how hard rugby league players were of years gone by. the scene was central park wigan, the game, wigan Vs St.helens. All the talk in the build up to the game was about the brilliant young saints prop alan prescott, and how he'd fair against the ageing but still formidable mctigue..

as the first scrum packed down mctigue reaches up into prescotts jersey and grabs ahand full of armpit hair, which he yanks out of prescotts armpit, then politely whispers to prescott.. "nah then lad.. d'ost though want it hard?.. or d'ost though want easy?"...

tough men..

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

With the touring press writing of problems behind the scenes over the omission of tough forwards Brian McTigue and Dick Huddart, British coach Jim Brough pleaded with team management to allow him to pick the side for the second international.

He then called a meeting with the players, who vowed to start the tour afresh – and shocked league followers when he took them into camp on the Gold Coast.

If the Australians thought the visiting Englishmen had given up and gone on a beach holiday they were soon shown different.

Brough brought McTigue and Huddart into the side and rushed back renowned hardman Vince "Wild Bull" Karalius who had missed the first Test through suspension.

From Memorable Match No 17 - Click here to read more

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

Hi - Brian was my mum's cousin - she told me this a
while ago and that made me interested in finding a bit more about him -
he certainly looks the part of a 'proper' rugby player - just look at
that nose!

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

A wonderful website. Keith Pollard who had a story about Frank Foster has a wealth of stories about the game. He played in the Newcastle competition in the 70's (I think for Cessnock or Maitland).

Keith played in the same team as Frank, but the competition was stiff: Bill Holliday, Foster, Phil Lowe, 'Flash' Flanagan who died recently. We had, for an all too brief time Big Artie Beetson. He played only about 12 games, but left an indelible imprint on anyone who saw him; and in particular those who saw him a reserve grade game against Huddersfield. He flattened the huge forward Ian Van Bellen and another player who had been baiting him all the game and just walked off the paddock before the referee pointed to the tunnel. I remember Frank Foster telling me he was about the best forward he had ever seen or played with. And Frank wasn't one for praising much. Keith Pollard said Frank told him that Brian McTigue, although not an enforcer, wasn't someone to tangle with. I've got a lot of Frank stories myself as my dad was a good pal of Frank's.

Frank Foster was generally reckoned to be the hardest player of his generation. I never saw him hit anyone twice. He was about 6 feet, but he had forearms likely popeye and the biggest hands I've ever seen on anyone. And he could take the biff as well. If there was ever a blue going on he would be the first person to carry the ball afterwards. However, he was a very good footballer; he could kick for field position, drop field goals, kick goals. So, he wasn't just an enforcer. The only time I saw him have trouble getting up was when big Dennis Hartley belted him with a stiff arm in a cup game in the 60's.

Colin Hutton who was the coach at HULL KR also has a wealth of stories as he was part of the backroom staff on the 62 Tour to Australia, when the Poms played some great football. He said the players viewed the game against St George as the 4th test and took it as seriously as a test match. It showed, they beat the Dragons 33 - 5 and Colin said it was one of the best performances he had seen.

In 1963, the 1st test was a night game at Wembley and Gasnier was at his imperious best. He's still the greatest centre I've seen. He never looked as though he was moving, but nobody could get near him. He had class to burn. Then we had the 50 - 12 game at Swinton. The die was cast and I think it gave Australian players the self belief to upset history. Since then of course we've only won one test series (1970), but I believe it was won on the back of my favourite all time player Malcom Reilly; and Roger Millward. They were the difference on that Tour. Many of the series around that time were close and different players stood just above to make the difference. I believe that in 67 it was a John Raper / Ron Coote combination as the game breakers. The test when they won in the snow typified the Australian never-say-die spirit.

In 73 Artie was head and shoulders above the rest.

In 74 it was Ron Coote's famous tackle on Steve Nash that broke our resolve.

In 78 we would have won that series but for the half back combo of Tom R and Bobby Fulton. Fulton was the finest captain of a touring team that I've seen and he lead from the front. Most of the players were young and inexperienced and making their first Tours, but players like Rod Reddy and Craig Young came up trumps. It was also the best test debut I have seen in the decider at Headingley. Les Boyd tortured us for an hour and came off injured, but by then the game and the series were run.

Apart from 1990 when we was within a minute of squaring the series, but for Ricky Stuart's breakout and Big Mal Meninga; since then we've been an embarrassment since 1978. But then we don't have players of the calibre of Reilly, Huddart, McTigue, Millward, Ashton, Murphy, Mick Sullivan.

Personally, I deride the modern game. The scrums are a joke and the 10 metre rule has killed off the great ball playing backs like Murphy and Millward in the British game. Same in the forwards. In those days you had to have the skills to break defences, because they were stood on top of you. Artie was the best ball playing forward I've seen and McTigue wasn't far behind.

Going back to stories about the Biff era. A good one was told to me by Brian Lockwood. In the 60's they had the John Player competition and the man of the match got an award. Brian was about 20 and at Castleford; playing in the same pack as Malcom Reilly and Dennis Hartley. Rocky Turner was the coach. Brian said that in training one night, Turner was laying down the law and was lecturing Malcom and Brian. Brian could see what was going to happen next and started running just as Turner copped Malcolm with a shot. Not long after, at Bramley, Brian got a man of the match award. Feeling full of himself he went up the steps as it was in those to the dressing rooms at Bramley. Waiting for him at the top and glaring was Turner, who said to him "you think you're good, but I've shit better than you." With that he hit Brian with a haymaker that sent him all the way down the steps. All the players were scared shitless of him; and Malcom always says that his aggression was part of the way he was brought up as a young player under Turner. Mind you I don't think Malcom needed much encouragement when it came to the biff.

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

Brian McTigue was my uncle (my mums brother). I remember him coming to my nans for his sugar and butter cake and current loaf she used to make for him every Sunday. Spoilt!!

I recently met up with Billy Boston through work (I work for the local newspaper Wigan Courier) and Billy told us a few stories from the old days.

It was a great afternoon remenising.

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

From the list my vote must go to Brian McTigue. His knockout punch only travelled nine inches and he was such a nice private guy off the field that Billy Boston commented that " Brian is so quiet he can't even talk to himself!"

There are three notable names missing from the list. My old dad was a shrewd judge of a rugby player and he reckoned there was no one tougher than Bill Hudson. He never played much international football, being kept out of the GB team by Ike Owens (Leeds) and Harold Palin (Warrington). They were better players than Hudson but when it came to the rough stuff Hudson was in a class of his own. Hudson led the Wigan pack that saw off Huddersfield in a Campionship final at Main Road when Wigan were without seven Tourists, including Gee and Egan. By the way, for "pound for pound toughness, you wouldn't go far wrong with Joe Egan, who my old man rated the best rugby player he ever saw.

Jack Wilkinson of Halifax was another very tough customer. The rougher it got the more "Wilki" liked it. With him and Brian Mac in the front row for GB the Aussies knew they were in for a very unpleasant afternoon.

Finhally, what about Dick Huddart? I once heard an Aussie forward speaking on a newsreel and he said that the only time he was ever scared on a rugby field was when Huddart was in the GB pack.

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -

text

- why not share your memories with other members of Team Era, just click here -