It was Yorkshire Cup semi-final day for Hunslet, this time in 1920. Although these were lean times for the club following World War One, there were signs that the seeds were being sown for better times to come. Already on board were forwards George Bennett, Joe Band, Hector Crowther and Jack Walsh and back Jimmy “Titch” Brogden who would all give good service in the 20s. There were byes in the first round for Hunslet and today’s opponents Hull before the quarter-final ties – a narrow 10-9 win over Batley for Hunslet and an 18-5 victory for Hull at Keighley. The draw had given Hull home advantage. Hunslet’s progress was abruptly halted by Hull as the scored regularly from the fifth minute to an 18-5 lead at half-time. Hunslet threw a desperate roll of the dice in the second-half bringing international Walter Guerin out of the pack as a fifth three-quarter but it was to no avail as Hull won 31-5.
The first World Cup tournament came to close today with the Play-off Final between hosts France and Great Britain. GB’s squad included only three of the team which toured Australia and New Zealand the previous summer and were outsiders for the cup but wins over the two southern hemisphere teams and a draw against France took them to Paris for the decider. The French tactics were to play with undue aggression which referee Charlie Appleton turned a blind eye to. Great Britain displayed great restraint to play their game and it paid off with four tries leading to a 16-12 win. Sam Smith became Hunslet’s first World Cup winner playing at hooker and had to suffer being knocked out after being punched in a scum to get his medal!
Sam Smith
In the late 70s New Hunslet brought quite a number of New Zealanders across to play for a season and in 1977 there were three. Future international Gary Kemble was an outstanding full-back who would return for a sparkling career at Hull and those who saw the Auckland and New Zealand representative Lyndsey Proctor play would surely rate him as one of the finest forwards to represent the club. The third, making his debut today, was Murray Netzler. All three came from Ellerslie Eagles and Murray would make 12 appearances at hooker grabbing a couple of tries. He returned to the club in 1979/80 for a three season stint and made a total of 64 appearances. Previous to his stints in England he had represented New Zealand Māori and in 1979 played for the Māoris and Auckland against Great Britain.
Murray Netzler
In the 1897 match at Bradford forward Billy Eno was reported as being sent off. Later in the week Billy had a letter published in the Yorkshire Evening Post advising that this was an error and he played the full game. The YEP published an apology and corrected the player to Richard Rubrey, who was only on the field because James Deacon withdrew just before kick-off fearing a knee injury would flare up. A Bradford forward had earlier tripped Walter Goldthorpe and Rubrey obviously thought the perpetrator was Pollard as, when he got chance, he foul-charged him heavily into touch and was dismmissed. The Hunslet officials did not believe the action was intentional but was reckless. They also advised that Eno’s play was free from roughness or violence and at the beginning of the season had dispensed with the services of a forward who could not restrain himself from off-side tackling and unfair charging.
