When Chris Hicks hit the post
with his second conversion attempt at Harlequins it ended his run of scoring in
every match that he has played for Warrington Wolves.
Last season he
became the first player to score in every Warrington
match of the season, having appeared and scored in all of Warrington Wolves 30
matches.This season he scored in each
of the first four matches.Chris’s feat
of scoring in 34 successive matches is well short of Steve Hesford’s club
record of scoring in 71 successive matches.
Hesford’s run
started on 9 October 1977 when he kicked 3 goals and dropped a goal in a 10-16
defeat at Widnes in the league.His scoring run carried on until he failed to
score in a 2-11 defeat at Castleford on 7 May 1979.The run of scoring included two low scoring John
Player No.6 Trophy finals against Widnes, each
side winning once.
The first Warrington player to score in successive matches was
J.Foden, a stand-off who scored tries in the first two matches of the 1895/6 season,
the opening season of the Northern Union.Scoring in the first eleven seasons of the Northern Union was very low, with scores of nil a regular
occurrence.During that period Jack
Fish did manage to score in 8 successive matches.In February and March 1900 he scored 11 tries
and 13 goals to set a record scoring sequence.
The RFL reduced
the number of players to thirteen-a-side for the 1906/7 season, in order to
make matches more entertaining.As a
result the level of scoring increased significantly, Warrington were only nilled once in that
season.The side did not have a regular
goal kicker until Ben Jolley became full-back and goal kicker.His best was to score in the first eighteen
matches of the 1921/2 season.
Billy Holding
extended this record twice in the 1930’s, his best being to score in 21
successive matches in the 1933/4 season.His run ended when he failed to convert “Cod” Miller’s try at Keighley,
and Warrington
lost 3-10.
Warrington were fortunate to have two
excellent goal-kickers during the Golden Age of the late 40’s and 50’s in
Harold Palin and Harry Bath.Whilst both
kicked record numbers of goals because of the number of matches played in a
season the players were “rested” for games.Bath
finished the record breaking 1953/4 season by scoring in the last 28
matches.He also scored in the first two
of the following season, to extend his run to 30 matches.
Following Bath’s return home to Australia,
Great Britain internationals
Eric Fraser and Laurie Gilfedder shared the kicking duties, and neither was
able to challenge Bath’s
record.
Derek
Whitehead’s goals were vital to the successful 1973/4 season that saw him win
the man of the match award in two finals and Warrington lift four major trophies.Whitehead had a run of scoring in 31
consecutive matches, but this was ended as he was rested the week before the
Challenge Cup semi-final.
Steve Hesford
replaced Whitehead as kicker and became the most prolific goal kicker in the
club’s history.Hesford extended
Whitehead’s record to 34 matches before embarking on his successful run of 71
matches.
Naturally Brian
Bevan holds the Warrington
record for scoring tries in 11 successive matches.This was a feat he achieved twice in his
career, in the 1948/9 and 1954/5 seasons.On each occasion he scored 23 tries in the process.
Pictures
Top
Steve Hesford kicking
for goal.
Billy
Holding
Chris Hicks scoring a
try in against Hull KR August 2008,
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