Whose record did Lewis Jones break?
I'm sure all the points that you make re Sinfield's achievement could have been made then too.
Talk about damning with faint praise or perhaps more accurately, expressing grudging admiration.
They were both fantastic achievements & I would argue that Leeds' current spell of winning major trophies, in which Sinfield's efforts have been a crucial contributory factor, exceeds even those of the Lewis Jones era.
I agree with the poster who said how fitting it would be for Jones to make a presentation at our next home game to mark Sinfield's achievement.

Very modest too saying he was lucky that most of his kicks have come in front of the posts when we all remember many (very important) touchline kicks.

Surely in the one division era there were plenty of uneven match-ups? (genuine question)

Also within my memory I can remember pretty uncompetitive pre-SL era seasons (eg 1994-1995).

I agree with your main point that its a completely different game now but it happened through gradual evolution not a step change (even if SL was a big step in that evolution). While it's impossible to truly compare players from different eras, records are records. IMHO you can't just pick and choose whether you compare them as their are too many factors - as you say theirs a more focus on attacking play an entertainment but on the other hand in the past kicking for goal from penalties (rather than going for a try) was more common with the try only being worth 1 more point.

I'm not likely to fall in line with any religiously reverent sheep on this forum anytime soon, particularly those who don't hold statistics in a very high regard unless those statistics fit snugly with their current agenda (eg, Pro-Sinfield or Anti-Kirke). After all, they usually prefer to make judgements based on their own personal matchday observations instead, don't they?

It's a Rhinos record during the Super League era IMO and not relevant in comparison to previous records set during the Rugby League era. I have no issue with you, Lewis Jones or anyone else disagreeing with that viewpoint.

I remember one conversion a few years back at Headingley against Warrington. He started to place the about 2 yards in from touchline in line with where the try was actually scored, then Briers starts bleating to the ref that the ball should be placed closer to the touchline, the ref agreed. While Sir Kev was repositioning the ball, I said to my mates around me, something like "Briers as f**ked up, that's going right between the uprights" and it did.

That's not an acceptable position to take around here...

A legend of our club, who will be looked upon the same as the likes of Holmes. Can still see him playing for the next 3 years or so obviously barring any serious injury. His last game for us certainly will be an emotional one!

Whoops meant to edit not quote.
Sorry

There were uneven match-ups each season but the same small group of teams didn't dominate the competitions like they do today. Similarly, the same teams weren't always whipping boys. Within my memory, I remember lots of teams being genuinely competitive and winning silverware from late 60's, 70's and 80's... Leigh, Fev, Cas, Wakey, Widnes, Fax, Salford, Dewsbury, Hull KR were all champions and/or CC winners as well as the usual SL suspects. Other clubs also picked up some of the less glamorous silverware on offer at the time... even Bramley!

Those with a shorter pre-SL memory than mine (and in some cases, conveniently so) will only remember the financially and psychologically damaging period of Wigan domination immediately prior to a huge media corporation (better known these days for setting the political agenda and hacking the phones of murder victims) buying up the the game lock, stock and barrel and demanding an elite 'super' competition to showcase. The best of the best each week was the plan - the reality has turned out to be very different as pretty much the same teams compete at the top year in, year out beating the usual whipping boy suspects 2 weeks out of every 3 and amassing team or individual points records in the process. As I opined in another thread, it seems entirely appropriate that Sinfield should break a points record in a SL fixture as predictably uneven and one-sided as the one on Friday.


It's a different game today where the rules have been modified in order to appeal to the whims of subscription TV, to speed up the game and provide attacking 'entertainment' as it's they who now own it. The skill factor in the game somehow got lost as a result of the 10 metre rule keeping teams apart so we are now left with a kind of Australian hybrid game of five drives or scoots from dummy half followed by a kick, but lacking in the requisite intensity due to lack of genuine competition and sufficient players of requisite quality.

On a more general note, if I'm going to apply bouquets or sermons of a reverential nature proclaiming greatness on the part of Leeds and their players, I'd rather do so under more appropriately-earned circumstances. IMO, this current Leeds squad could win 10 Super League titles but none of them will mean as much as the championship titles won in the late 60's and early 70's for one reason over and above anything else. When players like Shoebottom, Atkinson, Smith, Hynes, Holmes, Haigh, Fisher, Clawson, Jeanes et al were champions during a more competitively contested era, they were also beating Australia in an Ashes series and/or winning a World Cup. The current Super League lot are nowhere near to achieving that, not several years ago, not now and not in the foreseeable future either.

I fully expect all fans of the Super League product to disagree with everything I've said of course

Pipe down keith.

I'm quite new to this site so can anybody tell me why this Keith bloke even bothers to watch Rugby League as he seems to quite dislike it?

Yes there were some easier matches too in the one division era. However I recall visiting Tattersfield Field, Clarence Street, Crown Flat and Mount Pleasant etc and having some almighty tussles, as it was their annual cup final when they played Leeds.

In my view there was just as great a concentration on try scoring and entertainment in the pre SL times. I do not have the comparative stats to show the number of tries scores in each era but I know Brian Bevan scored almost 800 trys in an 18 years and Eric Harris scord almost 400 in 9 years including 63 one year. I would say that individual attacking skills were better in the Jones era and certainly there were bigger crowds.