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.

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.

That try by Schofield was a bit special

We beat Wigan during that era, just not when it really mattered. We lost that final to a dodgy Saints try in a mud bath at Central Park. I wasn't that bothered by Wigan beating us. Let's face it, Leeds lost all their big games, it didn't matter who they were playing. Widnes, Saints, Hull, HKR etc. etc.

Crooks was finished for us after that injury. I saw him play in his comeback A team game after what must have been 5 months off. It didn't so much look like he'd been on the burgers, but that he'd been eating the vans that sell them.

If you look up 'Leeds V Wigan JPS Trophy 1987 Garry Schofield Try' on youtube, there's about 9 minutes of the match. Watch at about 8.19 for Hanley giving Medley a right sly punch in the gob.

As you say it didn't matter who we beat during cup rounds you just knew a defeat in a semi or final was looming and usually at central park! Who can forget the Widnes 0-24/4-37 hammerings. I remember after the 4-37 the following weds we had to travel to Widnes for a league game with the club putting free coaches on as a sorry!