Whenever I think back to the old Leeds teams I used to so enjoy watching, I always return to the 1970/71 season and the phenomenal feats of Bob Haigh.
That year he broke the world record for the number of tries scored by a forward with forty and in the intervening period much has rightly been made of the service he received from the likes of the magnificent Ray Batten and Bill Ramsey who he ran off.
Haigh, though, did so much more than just pick up the pieces of their genius. Being a former scrum half in the professional game, I’ve always marvelled at how the forwards are so mobile around the pitch. That was Haigh’s forte along with his uncanny ability to read the play and his almost extra-sensory anticipation.
So much of the good work of Ray Batten would have come to nothing if Haigh hadn’t been on his shoulder to take off the load. More often than not, all his tries still needed scoring and I used to love watching him hand-off opponents with huge fends or bursting through would-be-tacklers from close in to score with a combination of skill and tremendous determination.
They were the kind of tries on the end of the most entertaining build-up play that kept the Headingley faithful talking for weeks afterwards.
Dave Williams
Originally published in 'Headingley Rugby Voices' Recollections of supporters, compiled by Phil Caplan.
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Memory added on November 26, 2012
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