Sponsored by
Time we stopped showing Aussies too much respect
AFTER helping Great Britain defeat Australia in the 1972 World Cup, Brian Lockwood never contemplated his country would go nearly four decades without beating them again in a defining match.
They had triumphed over their fierce rivals in an Ashes series on Australian soil just two years earlier and such a long, barren spell seemed inconceivable.
The combative former Castleford second row, labelled 'The Animal' by some of the Sydney press when he headed for a successful stint Down Under, concedes he shares the blame for that record not being shorter, even if only by a single year.
"I'm one of the biggest culprits we didn't win the second Test match in 1973," recalls Lockwood.
"They kept pushing me and knew I'd bite. Every time Australia got near me they stood on me or kicked me until it got too much and I took it out on (Bobby) Fulton.
"If I'd have stayed on we'd have beaten them. It was the only time I ever lost a Test match against the Aussies."
England had already won the first series encounter at Wembley and were looking capable of taking an unassailable 2-0 lead at Headingley when the red mist descended.
They lost 14-6 following his dismissal and fell 15-5 in the decider at Wilderspool.
"Even to this day, Fulton keeps sending me messages thanking me for that Test win," Lockwood adds.
"We're both good friends with the chief exec of Qantas. When he rings he says he's been talking to Bozo and passes on his thanks again. I tell him to get lost."
As England prepare to try to end their suffering in tomorrow's Gillette Four Nations final, Lockwood believes the key now is in their mental approach.
"I honestly think we've gone out and shown too much respect in recent years," says the
ball-handling forward, who won the Lance Todd Trophy in Hull KR's 1980 Challenge Cup final Wembley performance.
"I never showed anyone any respect. Off the field, yes, but on it, no. I went out thinking I was the best player on the park and the players alongside me were good if not better. I could never see any of the Aussies beating us."
Controlled aggression is crucial in the eyes of Lockwood, who concurs with the views of one of his former opponents, the legendary Australian Arthur Beeston.
"England have got a chance," he says. "I watched the last match a couple of weeks ago on TV. We were 26-0 down and they interviewed Arty (Beeston). He said the Poms have got to put some biff into it and he was right.
"There was only Gareth Ellis showing any aggression until Sam Burgess came on and put a bit of biff on the Aussies.
"As soon as he started, everybody changed. (Eorl) Crabtree did the same, Ellis was great, they all started up, the half-backs were buzzing and that's what happened once the forwards took control. But it's got to be done from the off."
The Australian phrase "biff" generally means punch-up but also loosely eludes to a more heated, aggressive style of play, something England adopted as they fought back to 26-12 at Wigan.
A hardened operator in his time, one foolish journalist christened him Deadwood Lockwood on his arrival in Sydney from Castleford during the mid-1970s.
But he confounded his critics, getting to a Grand Final with Canterbury and enjoying three years with Balmain. The same reporter later wrote "Lockwood's more polished mahogany and strong as teak."
Looking back at the events of 1972, Britain actually drew 10-10 in the final at Lyon, taking the World Cup trophy by virtue of their superior position in the table having beaten France, New Zealand and the Kangaroos in their opening fixture.
They had defeated the famed tourists 27-21 amid the foothills of the Pyrenees in Perpignan.
"We beat them quite convincingly but no one had given us any chance," says Lockwood.
"I'd never played against the Aussies. I walked out for that first Test and we all looked up. We couldn't see the mountains behind because Australia were that big.
"It was the one and only time I got doubts on a rugby field. I wondered what I was doing there and whether I was good enough to go up against them.
"But then I realised, in for a penny in for a pound. We had a French ref and they'd let you get away with anything. We knew it'd get tough and I remember hitting someone with an elbow.
"After that, they were just names and I realised they weren't as tough or better players at all.
"I ended up getting named in the top 13 as one of the players of the tournament."
Lockwood, now 63 and retired to Methley near his hometown Castleford, admits the final was a surreal experience being played out in front of a paltry crowd.
"It was so low key," he recalls. "I don't think we actually realised what we'd done. There was only 5,000 or so people there to watch it. It was never televised.
"After the game, they took us to a bit of a reception. The Aussies came in. They were pretty disgusted with themselves and I bet they didn't last 15 minutes. They were that down.
"But we had a great side. Our loose forward George Nicholls was a hell of a player. He had the same attitude as me while nothing worried Terry Clawson.
"He was a great prop, not the biggest but real tough. Then I had Phil Lowe alongside me in the second row, Paul Charlton was probably the best full-back I ever played with, likewise John Walsh in the centres, John Holmes was outstanding at stand-off, while we had John Atkinson and Clive Sullivan, of course."
Lockwood, who won nine British caps and three more for England, set up their opening try for Dewsbury hooker Mick Stephenson, now more famously known as Sky TV's Super League commentator Stevo.
"I was absolutely shattered after the match and jut sat there with a towel over my head trying to cool down," he says.
"But I remember Stevo telling the reporters how Locky said he was going to sell a big dummy, then he was going to come back inside and find him with a pass and he'd score under the posts.
"But, when I got that ball I had no idea what I was going to do. Stevo was always a bit of a reporter, even in those days."
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
