Bob Fulton scores a try for Warrington
Future Rugby League Immortal, Bob Fulton returned from a off-season stint with Warrington in England, tipping Australia would be too good for the Great Britain touring side which was to play a three Test Ashes series in June/July, 1970.
But Fulton also warned the British would send a stronger squad than they did for the 1968 World Cup ‘Down Under’ when they lost to Australia in Sydney and France in Auckland, therefore missing a place in the final.
He said Britain would field a stronger, faster pack in the 1970 series.
“In the World Cup some of their big men were left stranded with the ball, with no-one backing them up. I think the Poms will field a willing pack, and if the Australians want to turn on the rough stuff, they’ll be readily accommodated,” he told Rugby League Life magazine. “They have big men like Cliff Watson and Dennis Hartley who can mix it with the best.”
Fulton nominated Castleford lock, Mal Reilly as the likely tour star, saying he was master of the short kick over the heads of the defensive line and then regathering.
Although Fulton did not play against Leeds’ halves, Barry Seabourne and Mick Shoebottom, he rated them the most likely Test pairing, with Tommy Bishop having moved to Australia to play for Cronulla. Under the rules of the day, England based players could be selected for the tour.
“They (Seabourne and Shoebottom) are the best in England, and that’s saying a lot when every club has a really first class five eighth and halfback,” he said. “Halves seem to grow like weeds over there.”
But it was Salford centre, Chris Hesketh who earned the highest praise, with Fulton calling him “remarkable – the best England has had for some time.”
Fulton’s coach at Warrington was former Test hooker, Joe Egan, who had his men playing touch football after the obligatory laps of the oval and warm-up exercises.
“It’s not the type of touch football we play here, but a more thoughtful brand, where you have to scheme and plot moves, not for yourself, but for your outside men,” Fulton said. “At Warrington we played touch football with the second side for nearly an hour each training night. It’s deadly serious stuff, and I believe this is one of the reasons the English players are so good with the ball.”
Fulton said the top 14 clubs in the UK would compete with the best in Sydney and Brisbane, but the other 18 professional clubs did not match our high standards. The town of Warrington in Cheshire was where Fulton was born, but his family emigrated to Australia when he was two, and settled in the Illawarra region.
Fulton faced a battle to make the Test side in 1970, having surrendered the five eighth spot to South Sydney’s Denis Pittard in 1969, for the Test series against the Kiwis in New Zealand. Other top contenders for the Australian number 6 jersey included former Wallaby, Phil Hawthorne and Tony Branson.
Footnote: Britain won the Ashes series 2-1. Hawthorne was five eighth in all three Tests. Fulton played only in the Third Test – in the centres alongside John Brass.
About Author
In reference to Tommy Bishop at Cronulla – that should read English players based in Australia were NOT eligible for Test selection, under the rules of the day.