Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Sun Nov 27, 2016 9:21 pm  

William Eve wrote:

gulfcoast_highwayman wrote:

If you look up 'Leeds V Wigan JPS Trophy 1987 Garry Schofield Try' on youtube, there's about 9 minutes of the match. Watch at about 8.19 for Hanley giving Medley a right sly punch in the gob.

Medley should have stuck with his job on the counter at Nat West on Park Row.

Having said that, if his defence was anything to go by in RL, that bank would have been easy pickings

I've seen custard made of tougher stuff than Medley, and with less of a yellow streak....

the first 'athlete' I can remember who made it in the game despite being as soft as the brown stuff (and I've had harder ones of those too). To say he didn't like the rough stuff would be the understatement of the century. I seem to recall a game where he actually ran away from a brawl - though I was a kid at the time so that could be an exaggerated version of what actually happened.

In fairness to him though, he was before his time and would have probably been a superstar in today's sanitised nancy boy version of the game where you're unlikely to get belted. He was fast, explosive, strong and ran some great lines (unless there was someone hard within 20 meters).

But jeez he was a fanny!

Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:06 am  

Superted wrote:

I've seen custard made of tougher stuff than Medley, and with less of a yellow streak....

the first 'athlete' I can remember who made it in the game despite being as soft as the brown stuff (and I've had harder ones of those too). To say he didn't like the rough stuff would be the understatement of the century. I seem to recall a game where he actually ran away from a brawl - though I was a kid at the time so that could be an exaggerated version of what actually happened.

In fairness to him though, he was before his time and would have probably been a superstar in today's sanitised nancy boy version of the game where you're unlikely to get belted. He was fast, explosive, strong and ran some great lines (unless there was someone hard within 20 meters).

But jeez he was a fanny!

Remember the uproar among some fans when Malcolm Reilly did a deal with Halifax and swapped Medley for Paul Dixon?

A fantastic swap deal, but oh boy did all the Medley fanboys burst into a long fit of over-dramatic, communal tear-shedding. Took them months (in some extreme cases, years) to get over it.

They were all then assimilated en-masse to later become the modern day fans of Super League and summer rugby along with all their offspring

O we are weee... O we are weee...

[Bullseye]

Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:18 pm  

Well Medley did very well for us, but he was in a pack that contained Skerrett, Fairbank, Hobbs etc so he had people looking out for him. Barry Seabourne actually signed him to play centre. His pace was the difference for us on many occasions. He may not have been as tough a Skerrett or a Sorensen but not many were. Leeds had plenty of others in the pack that lacked that bit of devil. I can think that only Craig Izzard (on his brief stint) and Gary Rose (tough but limited player) had anything like it at leeds until Barrie Mac, Fleary and Farrell arrive.d

I think he may have been ok at Leeds with few tougher lads in the pack with him. Had Alan Rathbone not had his career ended on debut for Leeds he could maybe have given Medley the protection he needed.

Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:41 pm  

Leeds might not have had the out and out thugs like a Fairbank or Skerret, but there wasn't really a lack of bottle - which is exactly what Medley had. Big Roy Powell for instance, while he is fondly remembered, he wasn't a typical hard man, and tended to avoid a scuffle, I certainly don't remember him starting any - but he didn't shirk taking the ball up when it got tasty - he just quietly got on with his job. Medley was a hider....

On Powell, his lack of a nasty streak was probably the thing that stopped him being one of the best in his era. He's another that would have gone very well in the modern day.

[Bullseye]

Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Mon Nov 28, 2016 1:34 pm  

Medley "a hider"? I think you're overdoing it a bit there. He was a back being played in the forwards IMO. Take your point about Powell. Used as a sub Medley was a gamechanger and shouldn't be dismissed.

I do think Leeds lacked "bottle" at times. Northern used to regularly come out on top back in the late 80s and early 90s principally due to our pack getting on top - we had very few decent backs at that time. I happened to be watching a few you tube videos recently of Leeds versus Widnes during that era and the Widnes pack invariably got on top of Leeds too. That 37-4 and the 24-0 not to mention the 0-38 game at Headingley being obvious examples. All long after Medley had gone.

Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Mon Nov 28, 2016 4:21 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

Medley "a hider"? I think you're overdoing it a bit there. He was a back being played in the forwards IMO. Take your point about Powell. Used as a sub Medley was a gamechanger and shouldn't be dismissed.

I do think Leeds lacked "bottle" at times. Northern used to regularly come out on top back in the late 80s and early 90s principally due to our pack getting on top - we had very few decent backs at that time. I happened to be watching a few you tube videos recently of Leeds versus Widnes during that era and the Widnes pack invariably got on top of Leeds too. That 37-4 and the 24-0 not to mention the 0-38 game at Headingley being obvious examples. All long after Medley had gone.

I agree. Medley was nowhere near the softy some people thought. What he was was one of the most talented running forwards of his generation. I have not seen another forward score tries from running back a kickoff, Medley did it multiple times. I don't know what people are talking about regarding his tackling, I saw him put huge hits in. With Roy Powell alongside him in the ack row you had a perfect partnership.
Was glad when we signed Dixon, but gutted it was at the expense of Medley. I seem to remember he had a bad neck injury on the GB tour and ended up coming home. Reilly didn't like his attitude to some biff in PPN and that was the death of his Leeds career.
In reality it was another example of a club that couldn't develop talent and thought you just bought it with a cheque book.

Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Mon Nov 28, 2016 5:58 pm  

Like I said, he was an athlete, and ran great lines... And absolutely provided some great impact off the bench for Northern, scored some great tries and often played well against Leeds.

But I'll stand by my call that he was soft - certainly compared to the forwards of his era. Nowadays that wouldn't be the case.

Re: Leeds RLFC "The Loiners" : Mon Nov 28, 2016 6:10 pm  

Depends wether you like watching forwards smash down the pitch scoring 80 metre tries or sticking an elbow in someone 's face after the ball has gone.