Very sad news indeed . Maurice Lindsey was a 'visionary', and was responsible for turning us around in the early 80's to what we became. A very major force in Rugby League once again. The 1970's were dire, well apart from Bill Ashurst in the team . I did manage to speak briefly with him once when he was doing his 'day job', at Chester races, around 2003. He was a very articulate and thoughtfully spoken man indeed.

Met Jim Mills once and once was enough. Horrible man.

I was thinking of the Ashurst last night.
I remember it really well as the attack took place right in front of my mates and myself.
For an "hard knock" Mills took Ashurst from behind and literally beat the shoite out of him for no reason other than he saw an opportunity to make a cheap attack.
I'm very much old school so a bit of rough stuff I saw it as part of the game but the attack by Mills was total out and out a criminal offence if it had occurred off the pitch.
I didn't rate Mills as a player and I always thought of him as just a thug who should have been banned for life after the Greengrass incident which was as cowardly act as you will ever see.

I'd actually rate that incident worse than Ben Flower. With Flower at least there had been a coming together between each player leading up to punch #2.

With Mills the NZ player had done nothing to offend other than score a try, for which he suffered 12 stitches.

Should have been jailed.

My dad and I were firmly of the opinion it was a targetted attack, designed purely to put Wigan's main playmaker out of action very early in the match. Bill was in a rich vein of form at the time, and Widnes clearly decided it was worth seeing Mills get his marching orders so long as Wigan's main danger man was put in hospital. Disgusting and pathetic.