Thought it would be fun to compile a "Worst Leeds 13".

My humble offering....


1. Gary Spencer (yes, worse than Morvin Edwards)
2. Mark Campbell (couldn't tackle my gran)
3. Dave Hesselwood (big, slow and $h1t)
4. Gary Lord (oh my Lord! Why?)
5. Vince Fawcett (couldn't catch VD in a Thai brothel)
6. John Lyons (not Cliff Lyons in any way)
7. Mark Conway (was even worse at full back)
8. Peter Smith (obvious choice here - first name on the sheet)
9. Richard Gunn ("A" team legend, first team bellend)
10. Hugh Waddell (worse than the Jeffasaurus)
11. Gary Moorby (swapped for Tony Burke, by a berk. Always 2 yards short of the try line)
12. Gary Price (there have been hundreds of RL players called Gary Price - he was the worst)
13. Gary Divorty (conpletes the "3 Gary's" in the back row perfectly)

I know you can all do better (or worse?).

no Marvin Golden?

no Ian Kirke?

Spencer was a classic full back, safe under the high ball, good hands, sound defensively.

Sadly he was the slowest rugby league back I've ever seen play,

There's tough competition for the centre spots. I've seen Golden, Hesselwood and Lord. Golden was the equivalent of Steve Rogers compared to those two.

Mark O'Neill?

Willie Oulton has to be a candidate for least secure full back. £750 from Wakey, even at today's prices that would be paying well over the odds.

Is there a stipulation for number of games played?

If not, it's a struggle to pick between Mark Wilkes and Rex Terp for standoff.

He was fantastic for 5 mins on debut! A "miracle" ofload later and he was done.

John Gallagher?

I can't let this thread slide without mention of Richie Eyres.

The chilling thing is, even though he was awful for us he still made the GB squads.

Also worth mentioning:

Ben Walker / Mullins / Eastwood (for different reasons) and David Bloody Barnhill

Jamie Mathiou ,David Barnhill ,Tuipolotu,Chris Feather .

Why?

He made up for his lack of ability with great work rate and effort when he played for Leeds.

You could also argue he was cruelly denied a Wembley place, even though Richie Teeth Blackmore played a belter.

Anyone remember Goldens hat-trick against Cas at HQ?

As I'm only a young 'um compared to most on here am I allowed to just say the team that played in SL1?

the 3 seasons before that were good and since have been quite productive. It's just that bloody season that Tars my memory.

What, Super Sub?

Yep, he made Wellens look like ET (actually, that might be a bit harsh). However, he was the reason for one of the least PC but, also one of the best crowd comments I've ever heard.

I think we were playing Saints and it was the start of the 1988 season. Spencer started at full back, if I recollect correctly, keeping ET on the wing.

The guy who was standing next to me bagged Spencer from the minute he stepped onto the field. However, the lad had a blinder and scored two (possibly three tries).

Anyway, after he scored the his last and best try of the day, everybody around turns to the guy next to me to see what he has to say. His response, with perfect comic timing, was "Not bad that Spencer.............................for a woman!"

I would also like to nominate, in no particular order, John Basnet (before anyone says it - I know he was alright at Widnes but, he was e for us), Ray Ashton, Richard Pratt, Andy Smith and Paul Delaney. Quite how any player who cannot pass or kick to any great alacrity can play scrum half for a professional team is beyond me.

Just never a big fan of his BB, never thought he was above "average" at any point

Drum Roll please.....






















.....Ben Walker

That particulalar Leeds team had lots of faults and Ben Walker was most of them. However, you simply cannot imagine the gulf in the lack of class between Walker and Rex Turp or Johnny Lyons or Ashton. On the other end of the scale, it is like placing Wellens against Billie Slater.

Having thought about it, there is no way that Spencer was worse than Warren Jowett.

my age pits me from doing that im affraid

You mean sort of brown and wrinkly with very short legs?


I agree that Golden was rarely above average, but we really are looking for something well below average here. Mentions of John Gallagher are harsh. He was over-hyped and never did enough to justify said hype, but he wasn't actually that awful. And I quite liked David Barnhill. Again, no world beater but certainly not poor enough for consideration for the Nightmare XIII.

From the OP's team, I was young at the time, but I don't remember Gary Divorty being that bad.

You've never seen Paul Wellens.....

Agree with all of this. Seem to recall Spencer playing pretty well against us when he signed for Wakey - IIRC he played well in their 17-0 victory over us at Headingley in ?1990. Morvin Edwards was a fine player when he signed for Leeds, although went off the boil a bit before he left.

How about Simon Irving? Seem to recall him being ok in his first season with us but after that didn't seem to contribute much to the team other than his goal kicking. And people whinge about Delaney at centre!

Carl Hall was a pretty good bit of business by the Bulls... And that's about it.

Mathiou and Kirke may be maligned in certain quarters but I'd take both over Wayne MacDonald and Chris Feather. Jamie Thackray had some decent spells in 2007 but his attitude to receiving criticism from his coach stank - look what happened to his career after leaving Leeds!