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Ned and Cov pick their special sides



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Published Date: 27 August 2008
Thirty years ago next month Halifax coach Maurice Bamford asked Stan Hardy and Phil Coventry to take over as the Halifax bagmen.
Ian Kelly and his brother John were already helping behind the scenes.
Not that there was too much too look after in those early days.
There was one set of blue and white hooped shirts and another of red and white and that was that.
And with a shortage of hot water at one stage as the bills hadn't been paid those shirts sometimes had to be soaked in the bath straight after a game!
Stan has passed on but perhaps it is appropriate on this anniversary to ask the double act now known as "Ned and Cov" throughout the game to reflect back over those years and pick their best ever team from that period.
In fact they were so keen that they also produced a line-up of players labelled as the worst team of the last 30 years plus a team of players who could best be described as "socialisers"!
The last team was perhaps the most oversubscribed!
Their best side of the last three decades reads Graham Eadie, John Bentley, John Schuster, Ian Wilkinson, Mark Preston, Chris Anderson, Gary Stephens, Karl Harrison, Paul Rowley, Geoff Robinson, Mick Scott, Paul Dixon and Les Holliday with substitutes Michael Hagan, Dave Larder, Paul Langmack and Keith Neller.
There was plenty of debate about this in the current dressing room with one player, who first watched rugby league at Thrum Hall as an eight year old, insisting that Ron Ryan was the best halfback ever!
The number four shirt was also problematic with Tony Anderson and Brain Hetherington running Wilkinson close.
Perhaps it was predictable that 11 of the team came from the mid 1980s when the club picked up both the championship and the Challenge Cup and that another five played in the 1990s when an expensively assembled squad more than held its own in the top flight.
The most embarrassing team is probably their selection of the worst players to wear the shirt in their opinion since 1978.
Solicitors at the ready, it sees Colin Shires, Cliffy Brown, Matthew Silva, Grant Anderson, Greg Clarke, Johnny Brewer, Martin Meredith, Stephen Holgate, Brian Outlaw, Anthony SeuSeu, Mike Peters, Keith Heckenberg and Kevin O'Loughlin finally getting the unwanted selection.
Danny Ellison, Steve Pilgrim, Dayne Neirinckx and Danny Arnold would be sitting on the bench.
No doubt all of the above have their supporters.
Some were good at other clubs but didn't produce that form at Halifax.
Poor old Brown played in the championship winning season of 1985/86 for a spell and even scored the winning try against Oldham.
There are plenty of overseas players in both of the above sides and lads from abroad feature highly in the "social team"; the lads who enjoyed a good night out afterwards!
Eadie, Gibson, Schuster, Mike Umaga, Asa Amone, Chris Anderson, Terry Langton, Robinson, Roy Southernwood, Roy Dickinson, Scott, Mike McLean and Marty Moana all got the nod for this one with Kevin Dick, Joe Kilroy, Kelvin Skerrett, Paul Round, Brent Stuart and Paul Davidson unlucky to be classed as substitutes!

The full article contains 537 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 27 August 2008 11:30 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Halifax
 
 

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