"Shirley" Hesford! Great goal kicker BUT I always thought he could have been a better attacking player than he was. Talking of attacking full backs, what about Dave Lyon who also had a howitzer of a kick, before he defected obviously!

Steve Hesford was a childhood hero of mine too. Amazing kicker, never seen any better and that includes Frano Botica. Never used a kicking tee or sand. Hesford also like to take penalty kicks to touch from a place kick and not from the hands. Not sure if that was legal.

Surely Bob Eccles deserves a mention. 37 tries in the 82/83 season as a 2nd row/prop, the clubs 2nd highest after Brian Bevan. Will never be surpassed. Could kick goals too when called upon.

Wasn't it the move involving Bob that got outlawed? The one where the dummy half let the ball go through his legs to Bob who would then burst through the line and score?

I've loved reading this thread and I'm going to throw one in from my younger days who I feel deserves a mention - Mike Nicholas. A lovely bloke off the pitch and as hard as nails on it!

Dave Chisnall was a favourite and Roger O'Mahoney

Yes he scored a bag full like that close to the line.

The original "Shirlie" was Jeff Bootle. Signed from Wigan in the 1960s and whilst he was a proficient goal kicker, was never one for the rough stuff.

mine to mate.got some great memories,bob eccles chasing a whitehaven player around the pitch to smack him,us beating widnes down here after they were crowned world club champions,paul bishops 5 drop goals at wigan in prem semi..world war 3 at wilderspool v wigan.watching phil blake loose a boot scoring sensational trys.the power and pace of mark roberts..being shafted rotten by billy thompson v hull in cup and the scrapping that followed by both sets of fans..putting 54 on leeds at headingley when scores like that were quite rare..best days of my life

I knew when I was little more than a boy that I would never see anyone in any sport that was quite like Brian Bevan. Not only that but I knew that Warrington fans were special and always would be because he played for them. Quite literally he could score from anywhere on the field. When he got the ball the entire crowd held its breath. I've seen him run into a group of opposition players over whom you could throw a tablecloth and emerge without a hand being placed on him. Wigan supporters used to say that he couldn't tackle and they were right (he sometimes used to lean on opposition players when someone else had caught hold of them). It didn't matter.

You probably think this is the dreaming of an old man looking at the past through rose coloured glasses but I just wish I could take you back in time to experience a game with him playing.

There are enough accounts of Brian Bevan's unique attributes so no issue believing what you state here. Just a shame there was so little film taken of him. Nowadays almost every time a first team player of any club takes the field there is a full match video somewhere. Visual recording technology was both rare and expensive in the 1950s and early 60s, and hardly anyone had a telly, anyway, which explains it. How great it would be to see some of his trademark tries in 4K HD!

Nobody here has mentioned Lee Briers, but he was a rugby maestro, and we were privileged that he played almost his whole career with us.



Other great halfbacks, Davies, Woods, Andy Gregory, Langer, were here for a few seasons but Briers was Wire throughout and he improved year on year to a point where for about 5 years in the later years of his career he was the best halfback in SL.



Briers had a great rugby brain and he also had a laser guided radar on his boot for those kicks to the corner. It is something I wish we still had. You always knew if it was last tackle and we were 10-20 yards out from their line, Briers would have those targets lined up, Fa'afili, Hicks, King or Joel Monaghan, and would bang one up that would drop perfectly for them to score. They were all very good catchers as well who could beat defenders in the air but the consistent placement you got from Briers was legendary.



Beyond that he could cut a defence open with his delayed balls, missed passes and in his younger years he was a good running halfback as well who could break the line himself. But what I remember most about Briers was his fantastic kicking game, both long and short.



After Bevan I think you'd be hard pushed to find a player who was so good for so long as Briers in a Warrington jersey.