nz.sports.yahoo.com/nrl/news/art ... tford-died Sad news.

nz.sports.yahoo.com/nrl/news/art ... tford-died Sad news.

[urlhttp://www.wiganwarriors.com/SquadMember.asp?teamid=9&id=184[/url

I would have never heard of Ces Mountford, if it wasn't for an old codger who goes in my local, who says he is one of the best players he's ever seen.(and he's a fellow Saints fan). Very rarely does a RL conversation go by without him bringing up his name. So even though I, obviously never seen him play, I realise he must have been a special player. And it's always sad to lose a player of this calibre from our great game. RIP

Very sad news.

My dad rates him as one of the best kickers for Wigan.

My Dad will also be very sad . Apparently, Mountford was one of the very best Wigan players EVER !

Was as quick as a bullet from the base of the scrum and into the attack.

He formed an halfback pairing with Tommy Bradshaw, that wasn't equalled till Sean Edwards and Andy Gregory, by all accounts.

A five year Wigan career in which he won 10 trophies and the Lance Todd trophy in in his final game. Full respect. wigan.rlfans.com/readarticle.php?article_id=734

A five year Wigan career in which he won 10 trophies and the Lance Todd trophy in in his final game. Full respect. wigan.rlfans.com/readarticle.php?article_id=734

I'm really gutted to hear this.
I was very very lucky to be taken by Billy B to meet him when we were on the Gold Coast in 99. My Grandad talked about him as though he was God so i jumped at the chance to meet one of his heroes.
We started of in a hotel bar and had to move back to our hotel because you just could not hear him his voice was so quiet. But once you could it was fantastic. It was hard to beleive this tiny little old man had been such a brilliant legend of a player.

He was a real gentleman.

RIP

I remember Ces Mountford very well he was the most fantastic player, my first R.L. hero. He had a technique that if he was tackled around the legs he could fall forward do a somersault if the tacle wasn't tight get his legs free and carry on running. I saw him do this dozens of times and the roars when it happened were huge. If he had to kick a goal in front of the posts he would just put the ball down raise his foot and kick the goal in about 20 seconds I never saw him miss. He never played for Warrington although he coached them. In those days we used to say all the Wigan team were born within 6 miles of Central Park except for 2 New Zealanders Ces and Brian Nordgren. Not an Aussie in sight

I never saw him play, but my mam says that his partnership with Tommy Bradshaw was the best ever at Wigan.

And what she says goes.

That's exactly what my Dad says. I thought it was a myth!

Cec Mountford was my dad's favourite player and featured in every story I heard about the Wigan team from that era. Small but strong, rapid acceleration and pace, unique goalkicker and that wonderful spin out of the tackle. Then a huge contribution to the sport after his playing days finished as coach, manager and educator - check out his autobiography "The Kiwis, Wigan and the Wire."

Players like Mountford are the ones who have earned Wigan its worldwide reputation. We, the fans. must not forget their special talents just because we never had the opportunity to see them play.

Sad news.

It'd be really nice if the RFL (plus maybe the NZRL and ARL) could put together a DECENT central online source with info about great players of the past. Players like Mountford are the names of legend that all league fans should be aware of. The sad reality is I suspect hardly anyone under 40 will even have heard of him.

RIP Ces.

Next time I see my Grandad I'll be listening to all his stories.

I just hope we have a minutes silence on Friday for him.

Also it would be brilliant if Sky could show some old video clips of him.

I've just e-mailed boots n all.

One of my very favourite players. He was a tremedous half-back; one of the best I have had the privilege of watching. He was a half-back well before his time; he would not have disgraced himself playing today. RIP Ces !!

Asked my grandad about him and he said Wigan originally signed Ces as a centre but he was proving pretty useless in that position and Jim Sullivan was thinking about sending him home. But they tried him at Stand Off and the rest they say is history.

It mite be more approiate to have a minuites silence at the semi final beacuse he served wire very well as a coach.

He would have been a bit small to play centre. He was only about 5ft nothing, as was his 'partner in crime' Tommy Bradshaw.