Scrum Half

[cogito ergo sum]

My abiding memory of Bruce was a try at Headingley. Leeds dropped ball and Bruce swept through their line, bent and picked the ball up one handed without breaking stride and sprinted half the length. Wow.

Bought him from Halifax, £8000 I think, but not sure.

[devontiger]

Why has nobody mentioned Gary Stevens as he was at one time rated as the third best in the world by a rugby league news magazine at the height of his career !

I always thought he was over rated.

you obviously never watched him play.

[43s flyer]

does he mean gareth his son

[cogito ergo sum]

Why has nobody mentioned Gary Stevens as he was at one time rated as the third best in the world by a rugby league news magazine at the height of his career !

I always thought he was over rated.

you obviously never watched him play.

Gary was a good player but never quite lived up to his early promise. Another who was tipped for the top was Glyn Jones, who remained a good player but never reached the heights. The problem at that time was the legacy of Chuck and Roger, we were all waiting for the second coming and it never quite arrived, stand off that is. I think Bob Beardmore came very close ar scrum half, and deserves his place amongst Cas greats, as does his twin Kevin.

[CasRus]

Gary Stevens played mid 70s - he was lightening quick - saw him a few years
ago hobbling around Ponte Golf Club awaiting a hip operation after all the wear and tear from his career.

Bruce Burton was like an assassin once we had made the break - I can't ever remember anyone catching up with him once he broke the line.

There's a long line of good players Cas had down the years that go unsung and some were real characters ! That's what made Cas - the character of the people and the character of the place !

Cas fans are the best and I think we can pat ourselves on the back ! Mind you there is some I could punch in the face and they wouldn't be any uglier... Ha ha ! Only joking !,

[derbystiger]

Beardmore will always be my favourite scrum half. He was my idol as a kid and I always pretended that I was him when playing as a youngster. This probably blinds my judgement as nobody will live up to Bob for me!

[devontiger]

Why has nobody mentioned Gary Stevens as he was at one time rated as the third best in the world by a rugby league news magazine at the height of his career !

I always thought he was over rated.

you obviously never watched him play.

Gary was a good player but never quite lived up to his early promise. Another who was tipped for the top was Glyn Jones, who remained a good player but never reached the heights. The problem at that time was the legacy of Chuck and Roger, we were all waiting for the second coming and it never quite arrived, stand off that is. I think Bob Beardmore came very close ar scrum half, and deserves his place amongst Cas greats, as does his twin Kevin.

Gary left Castleford to get international recognition and he did

[cogito ergo sum]

Good point.

The difficulty he faced at Cas, through no fault of his own, was he wasn't Alan Hardisty

[devontiger]

Good point.

The difficulty he faced at Cas, through no fault of his own, was he wasn't Alan Hardisty

no he was gary stevens and he played srum half not stand off.

[cogito ergo sum]

He played scrum half, stand off and wing.

[devontiger]

He played scrum half, stand off and wing.

did you see him play wing.

[gateman]

I can remember Roger Millward playing a game on the wing at Hunslet, are any of you old enough to remember Kenny Pye playing scrum Half ?? after pilling weight on CAS turned Kenny into a prop forward

[Sharlotiger]

Gary Stephens was a class half back, a international and a Grand Final NRL winner with Manley things you can't attribute to Beardmore.
Never thought he discovered his Cas form when he went to Wigan but for a period at Cas he and Burton proved one of the best half back pairings in the game.

[ron]

I can remember Roger Millward playing a game on the wing at Hunslet, are any of you old enough to remember Kenny Pye playing scrum Half ?? after pilling weight on CAS turned Kenny into a prop forward

Afraid I am old enough to remember Kenny Pye playing both at scrum half and prop. As a prop he was deadly close to the line and many thought he would have played for Yorkshire or GB if he had been with a bigger (at that time) club.

[43s flyer]

Only club you could go and watch pie and peas(ken pye)(ken pease)

[Grumpy]

I can remember Roger Millward playing a game on the wing at Hunslet, are any of you old enough to remember Kenny Pye playing scrum Half ?? after pilling weight on CAS turned Kenny into a prop forward

I saw Roger play on the wing at Hunslet, he was devastating, scored a couple from long distance and kicked a few goals.
It was a pity we couldn't fir him in. We even tried Hardisty in the centre to make way for Roger, but that didn't work.

[lurcher]

I think it was an evening game he played on the wing. scored 2 good tries in the left hand corner of the old parkside ground and banged both goals over from the touchline.

[gateman]

Lurcher, I think you are right it was a night match I have memory of walking over some railway lines to get to the ground I went to an Hunslet match the other week with a life long Hunslet fan he pointed out were the old ground used to be and the railway line,

[SuffolkTiger]

Tell you another player I thought was brilliant when he came to Cas - Bruce Burton !Can anyone remember him - electrifying acceleration ! It's like walking down memory lane on this forum topic !

Hell of a player!

I started watching Cas as a kid around that time. Went to the Player's Trophy final where we lifted the trophy with a team containing John Joyner, Bruce, Gary Stephens, Knocker Norton, Paul Khan & Mal Reilly.

We beat Saints away 22-18 (in old money) earlier in the competition after being 18-3 down at the break (one of the most remarkable come backs I've ever seen) and then beat Leeds at their place.

Steve Fenton played outside JJ and that was a potent combination that was the difference in the semi v Widnes.

Good memories.....

[CasRus]

Yes great memories as you say - I was at school with Steve Fenton and if you remember his nickname was "Fizzer Fenton" - Gary Hetherington was also at school at the same time as me as was Johnny Kear who I knocked around with ( we both took our first girls out together around Cas as 15 year olds and wet between the ears ! John Kear used to operate the old scoreboard at Cas climbing up the ladder to put the square numbers in before he started playing - Memories eh !