Apart from winning the Challenge Cup this year, the 2005 season was our best in Super League history and had some of the most memorable performances, best rugby played and the unbelievable storyline of Andrew Johns joining us. It was Cullen’s finest hour as coach and the relative heights we hit that season ended up as a millstone around our necks when we struggled to get that consistency in later years.

What ended up as a season to remember had all the signs of a definite Wire season to forget. Gleeson scored twice on his SL debut at London but we ended up losing late on, we lost five of our first seven games and were 10th at the start of April, having had a heavy beating by Salford at the Willows. The Challenge Cup campaign ended early at Leeds.

The summer months that followed were some of my favourite memories as a sports fan, great weather, England beat the Aussies in the best Ashes series ever, Wire went on our best run in Super League, after the Willows game we won eleven out of the next twelve games, the only defeat being by one point at Knowsley Road. Bradford (the eventual champions) were beaten home and away, Widnes were beaten home and away. We were grinding out the close games against teams like Hull and Wigan and coming out on top, (apart from Saints), and putting away the teams we should have been like Leigh and Salford. For the first time in years we appeared to have got some consistency.

Not only that but we were playing some good rugby. We had the best fullback in SL that season in Brent Grose who was at the peak of his form, we had the best centre in SL that season in Martin Gleeson - again 2005 was his best ever season. He scored 17 tries himself with Fa’afili outside him scoring 23, and Logan Swann playing on the right side of second row got 10 more. Nat Wood in his career swansong had another cracking year and Ben Westwood was reborn from the lumbering centre who had been a general disappointment in his first couple of seasons, into a makeshift forward who found his natural role in the pack. Chris Leikvoll put the injury problems of his first season behind him and was a model of consistency, and the up and down Danny Lima was very much on the up during that winning spell, rampaging through teams. We looked the real deal, and during that winning run we steadily climbed the table from 10th to 3rd and we stayed 3rd for about six weeks, which is as high as we have been in the SL era.

Just when we hit a rocky patch the most unlikely and still the biggest transfer story in SL history broke, that we were getting Andrew Johns in on loan for the final few games of the season and the playoffs. Against the backdrop of our form, people were actually starting to think we would have a chance of winning the Grand Final and there was a lot of press speculation on whether Johns would be allowed to miss the first game of the Tri Nations to play for us at Old Trafford. Cullen to be fair, did his best to keep peoples feet on the ground and make sure our mouths didn’t run away with us. Johns arrival meant an early exit for Graham Appo, he had little sympathy from Wire fans after loafing around for two years on a big contract.

Warrington was hit by Johns mania when the big man arrived, the club shop had massive queues to buy the special edition Johns merchandise, the media besieged the HJ, we were the most talked about club in the world. Hull tried to join the bandwagon by bringing Sione Faumuina in on a similar deal and Bradford signed up the world’s best forward Adrian Morley but nobody seemed to care.

Johns debut was probably the biggest night so far at the HJ – even eclipsing the first ever game. Everything fell according to the script, we were playing the defending champions who had looked unbeatable for the first half of the year, but I don’t think many Wire fans had any doubt that we were going to win that game, it just happened exactly as it was meant to, us scoring in the first minute, Johns winning man of the match, it was magic.

Unfortunately the script went bust in the first playoff game, when a Hull team still riding on the back of their Challenge Cup win should have been put away, like they were ruthlessly by Bradford the next week, but instead punished a nervous Wire team who froze on the occasion. Blacklock got a hat-trick, Brough outshone Johns and we got embarrassed at home.


Typical 2005 team: Grose; Fa’afili, Martin Gleeson, Kohe-Love, Gaskell; Briers, N Wood; Leikvoll, Clarke, Hilton; Swann, Wainwright; Westwood (Lima, Mark Gleeson, P Wood, Bridge)

so bring on the memories of 2005...

my biggest memory of this season was danny lima breaking the "high fiving" world record,he must have smacked mitts with every wire fan and some that year,
off the bench,two bullocking bursts,quick knock on or penalty,hooter sounds,high five time.
what short memories we have of andrew johns are encapsulated by his debut at home to leeds,pure class.

Of all the games that year, Joey's début against Leeds sticks in the memory. It took him forever to place the ball on the kicking tee, and when he did eventually kick off Rob Burrow was smashed by Chris Leikvoll. From the scrum, it went from Joey to Briers, Briers to Gleeson, Gleeson to Fa'afili who scored in the corner. Cue madness on the terraces. The whole game saw a near-perfect performance from the great man.

The funny thing was, I remember reading in the paper one day in August that it was either London or Wigan who were going to bring him over on a short term loan. I said at the time "Whats the point in that? They're wasting their money bringing him over here for that amount of time." Funnily enough an hour later it was announced on GMR that we would be signing him for the rest of the season, and I was ecstatic for the rest of the day.

I think the low light of that season was the two narrow defeats to Saints. Once at home where Andy Bracek (IIRC) was penalised for no good reason which catalysed in Saints scoring three tries in the last ten minutes. Then again at KR where we lost by a Sean Long drop goal 31-30.

But as you say, Sally. it was nice to see some consistent rugby being played. I think looking back it was fair to say we may have overachieved a little bit, but for once it gave us fans a a glimpse of hope that we can challenge for the top places in SL and break the old 'top 4' clique.

Finally I think try of the year had to have gone to Brent Grose that year for his one man attack on Wakefield at home. Not only does he catch the ball on the full, but he weaves in and out of the chasing defence to score under the posts. Unbelievable!

and then he banged the conversion over from the touchline.

Not sure whether this season or 2006 was the biggest disappointment. That Hull game should have well and truly put us into the playoffs, even moreso after the momentum of the back end of the season. The components were there, we just didn't utilise them correctly.

Everyone talks about Johns debut, but I was more impressed with his second game to be honest. We were porr at Hull, friday night game, Grose should've been sent off for a blaitant trip but wasn't, we won, not sure of exact scire, something like 34-22. I remember Toa got a brace, second try Bridge made a break down the wing [he played wing then] and fed Toa to score, near the posts.

Reason I was so impressed was that we were so ordinary, I mean, not that good. Yet we went there and won and I thought that's what you needed, to be average but to be able to win at such places.

In the end, as Sally said, Hull got their revenge, Brough was excellent, and I'm pretty certain Johns went into the dressing room askign who their number threee was, who was a young Kirk Yeaman as Johns felt he'd been excellent all night in both attack and containing our own Martin Gleeson.

Highs for me that year, easy ...

Bridge Day - Bradford Away - He was amazing, easily his best game to date, just bossed the show, with Clarke at SH, we pulled around a 12pt deficit into a comfortable win, at Odsal, which was just insane, and unexpected, given our lack of halves etc.

Rauhihi Day - May Bank Holiday - vs Leeds, ball steal on Ellis, 48-6 I think, we played brilliant rugby, scored a try, Barnett I think, must have gone through 12 pairs of hands, the whole team was brilliant, but Rauhihi was better than that, he was special, supa amazing.

Overall, great year to watch Warrington, grose scoring worldies, Widnes Away, Wakefield Home etc, just an amazing year. Loved it.

Not you and this Rauhihi game again, can't you wait till the 2006 thread. Rauhihi was great in 2005, I think he was the top yardage making prop in the NRL.

Some good rugby played, but i've never felt so disappointed as i was at the end of that season. If i remember rightly, wigan didn't make the top 6, saints got at least 3 of their star players injured going into the play offs and we had the world's best player in our side. Bradford won the title that year from 3rd due to the poor form of all the other play off sides and i still believe to this day that it was ours for the taking. Just writing this has made me feel gutted again, i'll have to watch the cup final on sky+ again now.

Was it 06 When Briers kicked that drop goal at Leeds in the playoffs?

Yes.

I`ll remember 2005 as the year when one the greatest ever rugby league players pulled on a Wire shirt in Andrew Johns, on the down side the crushing defeat by Hull in our first ever SL play off game at home.

All the good points have been mentioned so i won't repeat them..
But after an excellent season i felt extremely flat after the playoff defeat V Hull...We missed IMO a great opportunity there...

It was a fantastic season, but the Saints defeat at KR was one of the best games of the year even though we lost. I remember Nat Wood scored towards the end after a Lima break, backed up by Baby Gleese and then Wood juggling the ball then eventually went under the sticks. Then Grose was penalised for sod all by the linesman then Saints equalised, then the DG was enevitable. Never left a game so gutted!!

We really should have won that first playoff game at home against Hull, but even if we had I think the trip to Odsal next week would have been too much for us. Bradfordwere unstoppable for the last couple of months of that season, in their last 7 games Vainikolo got 17 tries and him and Hape just tore everyone up. Even Warrington at their best of 2005, would not have been able to live with Bradford at that point in time, it must have been galling for their fans knowing that basically that team was going to disintegrate at the end of the year because loads of their players had signed for other teams.

When did you stop believing in PC Sally? You are usually reasonably insightful - were you an early adopter or part of the long tail ?