p32 - Re Artie - I remember Frank Foster telling me he was about the best forward he had ever seen or played with-
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Kevin Blackwell, England
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Hull Kingston Rovers
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28/03/2007
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A wonderful website. Keith Pollard who had a story about Frank
Foster has a wealth of stories about the game.
He played in the Newcastle competition in the 70's (I think
for Cessnock or Maitland).
Keith played in the same team as Frank, but the competition
was stiff: Bill Holliday, Foster, Phil Lowe, 'Flash' Flanagan
who died recently. We had, for an all too brief time Big
Artie Beetson. He played only about 12 games, but
left an indelible imprint on anyone who saw him; and in particular
those who saw him a reserve grade game against Huddersfield.
He flattened the huge forward Ian Van Bellen and another player
who had been baiting him all the game and just walked off the
paddock before the referee pointed to the tunnel. I remember
Frank Foster telling
me he was about the best forward he had ever seen or played
with. And Frank wasn't one for praising much. Keith Pollard
said Frank told him that Brian
McTigue, although not an enforcer, wasn't someone
to tangle with. I've got a lot of Frank stories myself as my
dad was a good pal of Frank's.
In 73 (touring Roos) Artie
was head and shoulders above the rest.
Personally, I deride the modern game. The scrums are a joke
and the 10 metre rule has killed off the great ball playing
backs like Murphy
and Millward
in the British game. Same in the forwards. In those days you
had to have the skills to break defences, because they were
stood on top of you. Artie
was the best ball playing forward I've seen and McTigue
wasn't far behind.
Appears in the following pages ....P118_Frank FOSTER, P32_Arthur BEETSON, P86_Brian McTIGUE
Date of posting ... 28-Mar-2007
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