Millward's day at Wembley

Press, 16 April 1980, Page 16

Millward's day at Wembley

By

JOHN COFFEY

The gang responsible for the recent multi-million dollar silver bullion theft in London■ might, if it has some sports-conscious members; consider the Yorkshire city of Hull as a more than suitable next target.

On one Saturday afternoon next month a good proportion of the Hull population will be assembled inside Wembley Stadium in London, and it would be surprising if tne rest of its citizens were not giving their full attention to a 8.8. C. sports telecast.

The occasion is the 1980 British Rugby League Challenge Cup final, and in what “The Times has described as “the local derbv to end all local der bies ” the protagonists will'be the representatives of the Hull and Hull Kingston Rovers clubs. . ... -

The 1980 match will undoubtedly earn a; r niche in rugby folklore in Britain. Onh m 1914, when Hull beat

Wakefield Trinity, 6-0, has either of the Humberside clubs had its name in-

scribed on the trophy. There have been plenty of tantalising near-misses, for Hull has been the run-ner-up seven times and Rovers the - beaten finalists on three occasions;; ' The 1980 cup final was already assured of being specialonce the . Rovers had qualified. It.will mark the'. first appearance at Wembley-, of Roger Millward,.' -truly Ja minimaestro of. the code and surely, something of a miracleyman to have survived 16 vears in -the tougharena of British professional rugby. 'Millward, just 1.62 m

andnd more than 70kg, is - the'full-time coach of the Rovers and recovered 'from a broken jaw in time

to lead his side to. victory in the cup semi-fipal..; At 32 years of age, a little of the spontaneous accelera-

.tion might have been knocked from him, but he is a master tactician, an inspirational captain,, and prolific scorer from tries, goals and field goals. The son of a professional soccer player — and no mean exponent of that sport, himself. .when a lad — Millward is a product of the mining town of • Castleford and he was a tiny six-year-old when he made his rugby league debut. It was acknowledged from the start that •; he was a “good ’un” and the Castleford club beat several others for his sig- " nature soon after his sixteenth bifthday.

Castleford was rich in halves, with the inter- * nationals. Alan Hardisty and Keith Hepworth, forcing the young Millward to be content. with a wing spot. But, at 18; ; he had. shown enough potential to be the back substitute in

two tests against the 1965 Kiwis. A year later, the inevitable occurred. Castleford received a lucrative offer from Hull Kingston Rovers to relieve it of its half-back surplus and Millward transferred. The Rovers chairman, Mr Wilf Spav e n , has said frequently that “Roger the Dodger" has repaid the £6OOO fee many times over. Millward has had more than 400 games for the Rovers and only the lingering effects of a broken leg temporarily kept him out of test football in the early 19705.. Millward’s reputation is just as glowing off the field. In 1974 he quite happily went out to the wing to assist an injuryplagued British team upset Australia in the second test at Sydney; his outlook on life has not been affected by his standing as a sporting and, thanks to Eddie : Wiring and the 8.8. C., television star.