BRADFORD Bulls have paid tribute to two of their former players, with both having passed away recently.
Graham Idle and Phil Sanderson made their debuts for Northern in 1980, the former at Odsal against Batley, the latter a few weeks earlier against Warrington.
Graham had an extraordinary career in the game, with his debut for Bramley in 1969 marking the start of a 24-year career in professional rugby league, where he made an incredible 740 appearances.
In Bramley’s own tribute to Graham, they refer to him as “a tremendous human being, respected by team-mates, opponents and fans of all clubs”.
Having helped Bramley to their first-ever silverware, the 1973-74 BBC Floodlit Trophy, the back-rower moved to top-flight Wakefield at the end of the following season.
A Challenge Cup final appearance followed for them in 1979, before Graham won the big one with Bradford, a Championship winners’ medal in the 1980-81 campaign.
Graham also reached the Yorkshire Cup final in 1981 and 1982 with Northern, but they lost those games to Castleford and Hull FC respectively.
He played 128 times for the club, before leaving to join Hunslet in 1984.
Graham played for the county three times between 1973 and 1981, while he also made three appearances for Highfield, which is where he finished his career in 1993.
Those 740 games in professional rugby league mean Graham has made the fifth-most appearances of anyone in the history of British rugby league.
Phil was also a part of that fine early 1980s side that reached those Yorkshire cup finals and won the Championship.
It was a deserved reward for the front-rower, who had started out at Hunslet, then joined Leeds, before dropping out of the professional game, pursuing his career as a firefighter.
When the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service set up a team of their own, Phil was naturally a part of it, but was understandably a level above his team-mates.
Northern head coach Peter Fox got wind of the fact Phil was playing again, and snapped him up for Bradford, for whom he made 34 appearances before joining Bramley during the 1982/83 season.
Phil also went on to play for Hunslet again, and clearly made an impression on those who knew him, with tributes after his passing referring to him as “a gentle giant” and “a true gent”.
