Last updated at 14:08, Friday, 28 May 2010

RELUCTANT MOVER: Les Quirk running at full steam for Barrow RL

LES Quirk spent more than six years at St Helens, appeared in two Wembley Cup finals, scored 98 tries for the club and won a place among the list of all-time favourites at Knowsley Road.

But the former Dalton amateur was something of a long-distance reluctant hero.

“They were a great club to play for but I never really wanted to leave Barrow. I was very happy there,” he confessed.

The offer of a record £55,000 transfer fee was too good for Barrow to resist and after 105 appearances and 63 tries, the winger was on the move.

“I was at Saints almost seven years and my biggest regret is that I didn’t move there instead of spending hours on end behind the wheel of a car going down four times a week while I was still working at Vickers.

“It’s a lot different these days where the players are full-time and get the best of attention and training conditions. But they are still worlds apart from footballers – somebody like Kaka could earn enough in a week to keep a rugby club such as Barrow going for a year.

“Barrow will be massive underdogs when the two teams meet in the cup but miracles do happen and the win at Castleford will be a big boost for the players and supporters. Although I am not a regular I keep an eye on the results and still like to see them do well. As for the tie itself .... you just never know.”

It is with more than mere wistful thinking that Les remembers his days at Craven Park.

“You have to remember that Barrow were effectively a Super League team in those days. We were in what was Division One and used to beat teams like Bradford, Leeds and Saints and we only got relegated because there were four up and four down at the time. In one season we went down after finishing fourth from bottom and losing only two or three games at home. We were a bit of a yo-yo team – and that is something that can’t happen today.”

When his Saints stint ended and Barrow made no effort to bring him back to Craven Park, he headed up the coast to Whitehaven and eventually called it a day in 1998 at the age of 33. But not before he had made 110 appearances and added another 55 tries to his career total.

First published at 13:19, Friday, 28 May 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk