it was 1000% more macho than todays game
you gave some and got some back with no trying to con the ref or falling over at the slightest touch and yet the respect for each other and the officials was obvious

Proper rugby. What a great Leeds pack that was and Holmes the maestro.

Even Willie Oulton looked a threat from the back (I don't recall thinking that at the time), Neil Hague, how tough did he play the game.

There were a lot of calls for John Holmes being cheated out of the Lance Todd but Graham Eccles was the man of the match for me, back then and still today on review. Incredible.

Eccles for mine too, though Holmes was brilliant.

Oulton posed almost as much of a threat for the opposition as he did for us. I remember in the build up, everyone knew he was going to drop the first bomb that came his way and sure enough...God only knows how Brian Murrell must've felt (the guy Oulton was signed to replace).

DHM - how was it our problem that Queensland dominated Origin and got most players in the side? Wally lewis was some replacement for Kenny. The point is whilst we didn't look like winning a game we didn't get hammered in any of them, and compared to 82 were miles more competitive. In NZ the wheels did indeed come off. IIRC I remember Noble saying that he and another player agreed they were knackered after only a few minutes of the first test against NZ.

IIRC, John Atkinson took the rap for the opening try after Syd Hynes had hatched a plan for the wingers to mop up the expected Oulton blunders under the high ball at the back.

I'd have to check the sequence of events but I do recall Bryan Murrell staying away from Headingley and handing in a transfer request in '78. How that timed in with Oulton arriving from Trinity for £750 I'm not sure. I'll have a look.

Did Murrell ever resurface in the semi pro game?

Neil Hague - how poor was his defense, Holmes a genius but he had or created so much time for himself.

Still only 3 points for try - can't have been much after they changed to four