remember this i was gutted

[widnesvikings]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZF-IE_9Ltc
second part
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Vy3wxJYOs&feature=related

[homo erectus]

How much quicker AND more skillful are the players compared to todays battering rams......lock up the weight rooms I say!!!!

[John S]

How much quicker AND more skillful are the players compared to todays battering rams......lock up the weight rooms I say!!!!

The players today have far better handling skills than any other era.   And as for fitness--players are a damn site quicker.

Funny how some always look back and say it was better then than it is now.

[stevo]

Great to look back. I was there that day and was and still am gutted at the result. The sending off looks as harsh today as it did from the the "kop" at central park on the day. To hear the words mentioned in the first clip that we were favourites on the day makes me smile and recall how good we were . Some fantastic rugby from both sides though. it shows how attacking the game was then but some desperate defence on show in the game. Are they better now than.......its a faster game now and more "organised" with regards to plays through the game.... but perhaps more skill then. In fact we were probably closer to the aussies then than we are now. Great days. bring em back

[geoffw]

A very harsh decision. I still remember it as clear as when it happened. Fantastic days though.

[PSC]

The players today have far better handling skills than any other era.   And as for fitness--players are a damn site quicker.

Funny how some always look back and say it was better then than it is now.

Absolute plums!

As if there are any forwards with the handling skills of a Moose or Derek Pyke. Remember it was winter rugby and those mitre balls didn't have grip on them and also the defensive line only 5 metres back then too.

These days, there are more tries from kicks and teams are all about elbows and knees, fast PTBs and getting players on their backs to gain time when defending. There are also more forward passes that go unnoticed or ignored.

[The Vicar]

Agree PSC , the handling skills of Koloto Pyke etc are far superior to the battering rams of today whose job it is to make yards not breaks.

The Vicar

[Peter]

Agree PSC , the handling skills of Koloto Pyke etc are far superior to the battering rams of today whose job it is to make yards not breaks.

The Vicar

Quite so. The forwards of today are not the ball handling forwards that used to exist  --- Vinty Karalius, Rocky Turner, Vin Smith, Jim Measures, Richard Huddart and many more who cleared the way for the backs.

[Stano]

I was online with Thackray and couldn' t believe it when he tripped over a blade of grass. Gutted that day, wasn't that also the year Wigan nilled Saints at Wembley?

[Dale_Johnson79]

I remember Paul Hansbury (Kitman) telling me years ago that Widnes used to play tick and pass at Naughton Park three times a week for the full training session, and very rarely did anything else.

Best form of training you can do. Get the ball in the lads hands.

[Rafe Wrench]

Haven't seen Richie's trip since that day in Central Park - tbh I remember it looked worse in the flesh than it appears on that clip!

Wasn't that also the game in which Tony Myler was inexplicably penalised for tapping a quick penalty to himself and running for an open line?

[mick george]

Think it was Rafe. tony took many quick taps in his career but sometimes tapped the ball whilst siill holding it when he should have placed it on the floor and tapped it forwards first. but he was still the best stand off i have ever seen

[Rafe Wrench]

Ah, that explains it then Mick. Perfectly legal move nowadays of course. I also remember being in the Angel and Elephant a couple of hours after that game, the place was absolutely packed but deadly silent, everyone just staring into their pints. How sad that that great team never made it to Wembley.

[Robbo]

I remember that game and a young Gary Connelly having an absolute blinder that day.  I think if he hadn't had the game he had we would have won.

[Neil]

How fat was the referee - certainly couldmt keep up with todays modern game...