You can read a lot into the make up of a person by knowing the sister of his ex wife who died of cancer, notably about his behaviour at the time.

It also tells you a lot the Daryl Powell was preferred at 6 to Schofield by many of his GB team mates. Daryl is exactly the type of person who they wanted in the trenches with them whereas Schoey......

We need to detach Schofield the player from Schofield the person.

One was a very talented, skillful man who justly received many accolades.

One is a complete tosspot who has failed to make anything of his post playing days and has to resort to scrounging a few coppers by spouting as much controversial bollox as he can get paid for.

That's also my view. But in the same way that he probably sold himself short as a player, I'd suggest he's doing the same as a pundit. Schofield actually has some very valid observations on the modern game; were he to combine his opinions with some honest self-appraisal he might actually encourage more people to think about the points he makes in greater depth than they do currently.

Only possible as far as his personality didn't affect his professional life. Others seem to think it did. If it did then the detachment you speak of is not practical.

I'm sure a succession of Joey Barton's managers would have been thrilled had they been able to detach the player from the person, to provide a recent example.

Nail on the head.

Spent most of his time during his wifes illness at the white swan in tadcaster. And an attractive blonde landlady

Schofield was IMO a champion player whose services to the sport were recognised via the honour system with an OBE, he earned 46 full International caps and skippered his country - including to a series win - and eventually was recognised as the World's Best Player when awarded the Golden Boot for 1990 off the back of a series win in New Zealand (arguably would have been a 3-0 but for Offiah's mega gaff in the Test that doubled as a World Cup qualifier) and Schofield would also that year play a key part in the 12 man win V the Australians at Wembley after Edwards had got himself sent off for a quite disgraceful challenge on Brad Clyde.

Offiah and Edwards were still champion players also IMO despite those instances. It would take more than the occasional brain-fart moments to over-write a career of enduring excellence on the field but perhaps thats just my warped view.

Domestically Schofield was awarded the Man Of Steel (only the second time a player had won the award while at Leeds - he remains only one of three in its thirty five year history to do so) he topped the try scoring charts in both hemispheres becoming the first Brit to do so in the ARL.



Wonder is right. Wigan finished top of the League seven points clear of the field, they also won the Regal Trophy beating Warrington in the Final 40-10, (Leeds had exited at Headingley to Castleford at the QF stage (14-34) while Wigan accounted for Castleford in the SF (34-6)) before also winning the Challenge Cup defeating Leeds at Wembley 30-10. They also competed well with the touring Australians before going down 20-30 while Leeds had been demolished 6-48 in the tourists previous hit-out.



I couldn't care less what Schofield has said privately or via the media since he retired, that won't ever alter in any way my opinion of him as a Leeds (and GB) player.

I wonder just how effective those fine club players would have fared if having to face the Wigan sides Schofield's Leeds were frequently up against. I doubt the overall record would have been greatly improved ...... if improved at all. The players you mention have only ever been exposed domestically to a salary capped opponent and lest we forget the cap has removed the ability of the top club/s to build squads likes those seen prior to the formation of SL and Wigan set the bar incredibly high as can be seen by their unprecedented trophy haul.



Schofield was a regular pundit on Boots 'N All and by regular I mean a fixture at one point as Hemmings once announced his capture for the season. I'm not sure why he wasn't retained but I don't recall him being particularly outspoken or controversial (perhaps that was the problem) in his regular appearances although he held pretty strict views on the use of drugs in sport. Any transgressor should acquire a lifetime ban and Schofield himself claimed he would never even use parecetemol.

In his book he says Doug Laughton put a stop to it.

I recall him, pre SL days, advocating Leeds emulate the Chicago basketball side and become the "Leeds Bulls".

Good to hear Schofield's moral indignation on drug cheats in sport, even if I prefer not to take moral guidance from convicted drink drivers.

Everyone makes mistakes, like Drink Driving for example, and everyone deserves a second chance. I have heard lots an lots of other first hand accounts of the bloke's conduct, and witnessed it myself when in his company. He's not a nice person and has a significantly inflated opinion of himself.

He also puts waaaay too much salt in his soup..........

Schofield had a penchant for hat-tricks and if I recall correctly that extended to his drink-drive convictions.

While I don't condone in any way anyone getting behind the wheel while being over the prescribed limit I'm unconvinced that alcohol is in any way performance enhancing. That's been my experience at any rate.

That was 1994 and Schofield had been dropped by Ellery as GB coach so didn't play at Wembley. Goulding was the hero that day.

Thanks for the correction. I wanted to get in references to mistakes both Offiah and Edwards had made in the glorious Golden Boot winning year but obviously was trying too hard there.

The 1990 Wembley Test and series was the one Schofield partnered Andy Gregory in then? - Edwards didn't feature. Must have been the Paul Eastwood double try game then. Still arguably the closest GB have come to wrestling the Ashes from the auld enemy since 1970 and Schofield was very much to the fore under Reilly. GB wise don't think I've ever been as gutted as I was at Old Trafford as Jackson bought the Stuart dummy and Meninga muscled his way past Gibson to get on the end of the match clinching pass.

It's not just your warped view, seems we agree on this.

What isn't arguable is that GB lost that series 2 1 and got a shollacking in the 3rd test.

GB have been "that close" many times since 1990.

Well, I might as well tell you now. Most of the current Rhinos lot may all be internationals who have won five SL titles and 3 WCC's. But as far as I'm concerned, the first thing they can do for me is to chuck all their rings and all their caps and all their pots and all their pans into the biggest f***ing dustbin they can find, because they've never won any of them by being any good. They've done it all by being bloody ordinary.

Schoey by plenty - a world class player but more importantly, a world class international player - the primary yardstick for measuring any players world class credentials.