Team of the Century

Bradford Bulls may only have been in existence for 12 years but three of the contenders for loose forward in Odsal's Team of the Century have played in the Super League era.

One is the current coach Steve McNamara, who came to Bradford in 1996 from home-town club Hull.

Although noted as a ball-playing prop forward in the early part of his career, it was as a creator that he made his mark with the Bulls.

Singled out as a future senior coach by then coach Brian Smith, Macca made 110 appearances for Bradford, kicking 319 goals and eight drop goals and scoring 16 tries.

Mike Forshaw took a circuitous route to Odsal, starting at Wigan and going to Wakefield, Leeds and even Saracens Rugby Union Club before resuming his league career with the Bulls in 1997.

An all-action performer, his great defensive skills and off-load game enabled him to win Great Britain honours.

Forshaw played 199 games for the Bulls, scoring 42 tries, and won 14 caps for Britain.

Jamie Langley came on in place of Forshaw to make his Bulls debut in 2002 and was originally noted as a wide-running player.

However, at 23 he has now developed into a top all-round loose forward, consistently leading the tackle counts and capable of busting the opposition defence with powerful runs.

Harold Young was the first Bradford Northern player to tour Australia with England in 1926, exchanging work down a Cumbrian pit for a job at a Bradford mill.

He had two spells at Odsal, scoring 88 tries in 12 matches and, as an excellent Cumbrian wrestler, it is no surprise that his main asset was tackling.

Not only was Ken Traill also a great tackler but he possessed a pin-point pass that would put his support away.

Joining Northern from Hunslet in the 1946-47 season, Traill played 315 matches for the Odsal club in ten seasons, scoring 37 tries and kicking three goals.

He played in the 1948 and 1949 Challenge Cup finals and was a Great Britain tourist in 1950 and 1954, being capped eight times.

Johnny Rae, a Cumbrian like Young, was the next player to make the No 13 shirt his own in 1964, forming a great partnership with the wily Tommy Smailes.

They fashioned many tries and helped to make Northern a force again in rugby league. Rae was only capped once by Great Britain but played 134 games over four seasons for his club, scoring 40 tries and kicking nine goals.

Stan Fearnley - son of the coach and general manager Albert - was the next loose forward to emerge at Odsal, having pace and footballing skills.

He played for Northern from 1964 to 1977, scoring 41 tries in 217 games including one in their losing effort at the 1973 Challenge Cup final.

Bob Haigh proved a bargain buy when he came to Odsal for the last three years of his playing career.

Having spent most of his time at Wakefield or Leeds, Haigh played a significant part in a team that was building towards Championship honours.

In his second season at Odsal, he helped Northern win the Premiership 17-8 against a great Widnes team, as well as the Yorkshire Cup against York.

He scored 18 tries in 67 matches and was followed in the loose forward role by the ball-playing Harry Pinner and the wily John Pendlebury, who was a master at heeling the ball from the opposition at the play-the-ball.

Other candidates include Billy Hutchinson, Jack D Moore, Brian Radford, Alan Rathbone, Len Casey and Mal Graham.

The choice is up to you. Just fill in and return the token in tomorrow's Telegraph & Argus or send your nominations to dave.craven@bradford.newsquest.co.uk.

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