Ray Hewson

The past may sometimes benefit the present＂ is a statement especially significant in sport where, often the performances of athletes of the current time appear to surpass those of great athletes that have gone before - when in many cases they do not! This situation is highlighted in team sports such as Rugby League.

One of my aims with this work is to give the reader the opportunity to widen his knowledge of many of the past stars of the game viewed from the angle of pace, as well as acknowledging the fact that many of the current crop of those that play the greatest game are outstanding athletes.

In doing so, I hope I have achieved a level of information which could well be described as the past benefitting the present!

This journey is via such venues as the Stawell Easter Gift Professional Sprint meeting in Australia. Wembley Stadium, Fartown, the former home of Huddersfield R.L.F.C. and even the Olympic Games. If, at the end, you disagree with me, then I’ve achieved one of my aims, for how uninteresting it would be if Saints supporters and Wigan followers, for example, finally agreed that there was anyone faster than Tom Van Vollenhoven or Martin Offiah !

The argument as to who was the fastest man ever to play Rugby League will, I hope, go on forever. In many cases it is a matter of opinion but this book is my attempt to clarify what I consider and have researched to be fact about many of the fastest athletes in world team sport that have played Rugby League.