I was only on about £120 a week then, had to do a borrow from my dad about 3/4 the way through that list



Didn't miss one though.

I'd imagine the extra month of rest makes a big difference though, with regards to fatigue. Not only that, as Jonh said, representative jerseys are rotated a lot more there. Also, I'd imagine the fitness training is of a higher standard there, which makes the higher-intensity games easier to cope with presumably.

Hope you do not mind a Hull fan commenting on this topic, which I read with interest and remembered the fixture backlog Hull FC had prior to the great Hull v Wigan final of 1985. I am surprised that we (Hull) had the energy to stage that late fight back against you in that final 25 years ago. This was Hull run in leading up to the final, noting that you beat us 3 times in about a fortnight. 12 games in less than a month. 3 games in 3 days after the RFL refused to allow Hull to play two games at the same time two different squads of course.

Sat Apr 6. RLC(S/F) Castleford D 10 - 10
Mon Apr 8. DIV. 1 Barrow D 12 - 12
Wed Apr 10. RLC(S/F-REP) Cas W 22 - 16
Fri Apr 12. DIV. 1 Hull KR L 12 - 36
Sun Apr 14. DIV. 1 Castleford W 18 - 8
Wed Apr 17. DIV. 1 Bradford W 24 - 18
Fri Apr 19. DIV. 1 Wigan L 4 - 40
Sat Apr 20. DIV. 1 Workington W 64 - 18
Sun Apr 21. DIV. 1 Hunslet W 58 - 26
Tue Apr 23. DIV. 1 Bradford L 22 - 26
Sun Apr 28. PREM(1) Wigan L 12 - 46
Sat May 4. RLC(FINAL) Wigan L 24 - 28

I've just looked back at the same season to see what Wigan's run in was like(over the same timescale):

Fri 5 April St Helens Home Lost 19-30
Mon 8 April Oldham Away Won 28-19
Thu 11 April Widnes Away Won 6-0
Sun 14 April Hunslet Home Lost 16-19
Fri 19 April Hull Home Won 40-4
Sun 21 April Featherstone Rovers Home Won 12-10
Tue 23 April Barrow Away Won 28-14
Sun 28 April Premiership Trophy Round 1: Hull Home Won 46-12
Sat 4 May Challenge Cup Final: Hull Wembley Won 28-24


9 games to your 12. Now I can see that you had to replay the CC Semi, why were you a further 2 games behind so late into the season? Bad snow/ice in Hull back in 1985?

Yes, Challenge Cup semi replay did not help and I think it was a bad winter similar to the one we have had recently. May be the under soil heating at Central Park (?) got a game or two on when the Boulevard was frozen solid?