I am made of scars.

I do recall Leeds were the first to officially go full time pro (required all first team playing squad to not have a second job) and '92 would seem to be about right. Of course, by then most of the first team were entirely employed by Leeds RLFC anyway. There was no requirement to have a second job prior to that.

Whatever your belief, and we will probably never know full facts so it matters not, its hard to argue that Wigan were chucking big cash at the majority of their squad. same at Leeds of course...not to the same degree of success unfortunately

Wigan of that era deserved their glory they were a great side to watch and ruthless with it..them cup win bonuses were an addiction



DHM- i agree 91/92 start of Laughton era would be when Leeds went full pro.

Oh yes I will never begrudge that Wigan side their glory .They were a great RL side and a credit to the game wether full time or not

In terms of accumulated psychological scar tissue, it's not easy to pinpoint any particular defeat as causing the most long-lasting damage. There were the two successive CC Final defeats of course, the Offiah 10 try urine-extraction and the deliberate score of 69 in a Premiership Trophy Final at the Theatre of Dreams. It's probably more of a cumulative effect of repeated hidings resulting in outbreaks of PTSD during a period when Leeds should have competed with Wigan, especially when considering the financial clout both clubs enjoyed over everyone else. What would Leeds have given for beating Wigan in a Final back then, like Castleford did for instance? The Leeds fanbase wouldn't have been as deranged and damaged, that's for sure.

Nah, I'd have been just as deranged and damaged if we'd only won one.

when you post pretty much the same trolling attempt twice because your previous effort the day before didn't get any bites.

I just wish Southstander had existed back in this era.

There would have been a 500 page thread on winning the Yorkshire Cup at Elland Rd



I suspect there would have also been an ongoing conflict between Hanley and Schofield fanboys.

And Jim Fallon would have attracted the support of all the idiots.

we beat Wigan in that John Player semi final at Bolton and we all thought we had arrived , although there were Wiganers were acting like it was the end of the world

Great game that. There are some highlights on you tube that make for entertaining viewing.

I still have the video somewhere, just nothing to play it on. I was expecting the same old story when Crooks went off injured early on.