Match 11: Dewsbury (Home) Championship
fevnut's musings
Luke Briscoe
On the morning of Easter Monday we
checked the weather forecasts and it looked pretty awful. Maybe if the
circumstances had been different we would have made the decision not to travel
to Rochdale but we did go because nothing in the world would have stopped us
having the chance to see Luke breaking the Fev record for tries in successive
matches. As we got past Huddersfield on the M62 and started the climb it was
beginning to look really bad. Thick fog, heavy rain and heavy snow on the
moors. We began to think that we could face getting to Spotland to find the
match called off either for fog, or snow or waterlogged pitch! But we pressed
on regardless and on the descent down over the border the fog cleared and it
was looking distinctly brighter. Arriving at the ground the pitch was in
remarkably good nick. A pitch that might make it better for try scoring by
wingers than we had imagined.
We thought that the Fev team would
try and help Luke to get his try but the ball seemed to be going left at least
75% of the time although it did result in a super hatrick for young Harry
Newman. What a fine prospect he is. Half-time arrives and Luke hasn’t scored
but we are well on top at 22-0. Surely with this dominance he will get his
chance after half-time. Nearly 70 minutes gone and we have only managed one try
in the second period and it’s not Luke’s. Oh dear! Perhaps he won’t get that
record. And then. in the 69th minute, he squeezes in at the corner with yet
another superb finishing dive. And the Fev fans erupt. There’s a bemused look
on the faces of Rochdale supporters who wonder why that particular try has been greeted
with a standing ovation by every Fev fan in the ground. We explain to one
sitting nearby and he promptly stands up and generously applauds too! That’s
rugby league for you.
Amazingly Luke then scores two
further tries to complete his third hat trick of the year and take his try
tally for 2018 to an utterly amazing 20 tries in ten matches. Luke Briscoe -
you are a HERO. And all the better because you are a genuine Fev lad too.
Paul Newlove
The record that Luke broke was Paul
Newlove’s which was ten matches in succession at the end of 1992/93 season.
That was an amazing season. Fev had been relegated at the end of the season
before. Despite being in huge demand from the big clubs, Newy decided to stay
at Fev for a further year to try and win promotion back to the First Division
for Fev. Not only did he score in 10 successive matches but he broke the club’s
record for tries in a season with 48. And what a partnership he had with Owen
Simpson as his winger. Together they scored an unbelievable 82 tries and their
exploits that year put them first and second on the table of top tries in a
season for Featherstone, where they still stand. Newy actually scored in 17 successive matches (that he played in) but
it doesn’t count as a record because he missed one match during that run. He
also had a fantastic run of 5 matches in which he scored 14 tries. It went 3,
3, 1, 4, 3. Those were the final 5 matches of the league season. It was followed
by three matches in the Divisional Premiership which culminated in beating
Workington 20-16 at Old Trafford. Although there were no further hat tricks he
scored 5 tries in those three games.
Fev lads to the fore
Did you see the report on the Fev v
Toronto match in League Express. Quite justifiably (in our opinion) they
awarded the men of the match to Luke Briscoe and Richard Whiting. Both Fev
lads!
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