Quote: Phuzzy "Can honestly say that he was one of the nicest men you could ever wish to meet. Spoke to him regularly when I lived over in Poolstock. A true gentleman. RIP Bill.'"
Unfortunately for me I never got the chance to speak to him.
For me unquestionably would be in my Wigan 13 (who I've seen live) of all time with very little if any pause for thought.
I have posted previously that Ashurst would literally be a world beater in today's game. I have never seen (live) any player kick better from hand. The 40/20 rule was made for him and he'd quite easily make 2 or 3 a game if he played today. I'm not exaggerating his skill in this department due to his death because he was truly that good. When he played for Wigan it was the 4 tackle rule therefore, very often to make decent yardage whilst in possession a good accurate deep kick was a necessity. Bill Ashurst could do that for fun.
For those who never saw him play I'd say he had the footballing skills of Andy Farrell, the offloading game per Gareth Hock, the aggression of Shaun Wane and the kicking skills of Bill Ashurst. What he didn't have like virtually every player of the 70's was excellent physical fitness which I'm certain he would have acquired if coached by today's coaching staff.
A genuine top class player who rarely, if ever, received the plaudits that he really deserved.