yep.I was watching a re run of the Roger Millward SL superstars last night and he was talking about how in the 1980 Cup final at wembley he was whacked off of the ball early on and broke his jaw, it showed the footage and the Hull player absolutely blatantly wiped him out but got nothing but a ticking off and Hull KR penalty! if that happened today it would have been Ben Flower territory. unbelievably Millward played on. In one respect, more exposure has at least wiped out a lot of that kind of cheap play,but the genuine on the pitch brawls i do miss.

This is one of the most ridiculous comments I have ever read on this board.

Street has retired. Hock, Chase and Manson have already signed pre-contract agreements with Noble to join the Toronto Weirdwolves for next season. No chance of GH doing a deal.

Millward suffered his 4th broken jaw in 12 months early in cup final which forced his retirement. Great footballer.

I seem to remember it was a broken jaw inflicted by a Batley ' A ' team player that made him decide to retire. Some thug trying to make a name for himself no doubt. Sad way to go out. RIP Roger.

Cheers. I was not aware of that. It is very sad. Thinking back to those days, I do wonder if the late tackles and thuggery handed out to the real footballers was in part to blame for the premature deaths of great players like John Holmes, Dave Topliss and now Roger Millward. All three carried the tag of stop him and you will win.

Holmes and Topliss died in their mid fifties (57/5icon_cool.gif the causes were mentioned at the time. In John's case in particular probably more attributle to a long time lifestyle choice as revealed in the Reluctant Hero book written by his brother and nephew.

There's been a spate of news in recent times regarding long term effects of playing sport. Three of the 1966 England World Cup winning side (Martin Peters, Ray Wilson and Nobby Stiles) are suffering from Alzheimers which is believed to be due to heading those old-style heavy leather footballs. Frank Worthington is another. There's several cases in American Football too.

Is it pure coincidence that Roger Millward developed cancer of the jaw having had it broken on numerous occasions during his playing days?

Actually proving causal links and liability for injuries and death is tricky, particularly in an age where financial and legal systems are stacked in favour of the interests of companies, organisations and the rich.

Brett Delaney's body is smashed and broken. If he was a horse, he'd have been shot several years ago, as Brian Clough once said of Eddie Gray. I'd be surprised if Delaney can stand up straight in 15 to 20 years time. Yet the club will get rid soon (there ends their responsibility) and the most of the fans won't give a toss.

Eddie Gray - what a a player he was, took Chelsea to the cleaners in the first game in 1970, Chelsea took him out of the early doors in the replay.