Leeds Rhinos top-10 - No 3 Lewis Jones

Dual-code international Lewis Jones comes in at number three in our countdown of Leeds Rugby League/Rhinos’ top-10 greatest players.
Another three points to Lewis Jones' remarkable total. Picture by YPN.Another three points to Lewis Jones' remarkable total. Picture by YPN.
Another three points to Lewis Jones' remarkable total. Picture by YPN.

Others on the illustrious list are: No 10 Eric Harris, No 9 Joe Thompson, No 8 John Atkinson, No 7 Mick Shoebottom, No 6 Jamie Peacock, No 5 Garry Schofield and No 4 Danny McGuire.

The runner-up will be revealed in Monday’s Evening Post, with our number one announced on Tuesday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Do you agree with our selections? Email your top-10 to [email protected] or Tweet @yepsportsdesk.

The great man at Emerald Headingley, with the Lewis Jones Suite in the background. Picture by Steve Riding.The great man at Emerald Headingley, with the Lewis Jones Suite in the background. Picture by Steve Riding.
The great man at Emerald Headingley, with the Lewis Jones Suite in the background. Picture by Steve Riding.

Number three: Lewis Jones.

Now the father of the house at Headingley, Lewis Jones was once the golden boy of British rugby and arguably the most sensational signing Leeds had ever made.

Jones played union for Wales and the British Lions as a teenager before - in a sensational coup - Leeds persuaded him to change codes for a record £6,000 fee in 1952.

It was money well spent.

Two days after he put pen to paper a crowd of 17,000 turned up to see Jones make his debut, at full-back, in a 56-7 rout of visitors Keighley, the new signing landing seven goals to get his league career off to a flying start.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

One of the most talented centres in the 13-a-side code’s history, Jones had an all-round game to rival anyone.

His change of pace could fool the toughest of defences, he specialised in a gravity-defying ‘hanging pass’ which created countless tries for grateful teammates and when he put boot to ball, he was a master.

Jones’ record speaks for itself.

An inaugural member of Rhinos' hall of fame, Jones still holds the club best for points in a season (431 in 1956-57) and only one player has scored more than his’ 1,244 goals and 2,920 points for Leeds.

The Welshman was a Challenge Cup winner in 1957, collected three Yorkshire League titles and the county cup once, but his finest achievement came four years later when he was a member of the first Leeds team to win the Championship.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And Jones was just as good on the Test stage, playing 15 times for Great Britain, scoring a record 278 points on the 1954 rugby league Lions tour.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. These are challenging times but the team at the Yorkshire Evening Post need your support more than ever in the weeks ahead.

While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you - wherever possible and providing it is safe for you to do so - to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Inevitably falling advertising revenues will start to have an impact on local newspapers and the way we continue to work during this period of uncertainty. So the support of our readers has never been more important as we try to make sure that we keep you connected with the city you live in during this time. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. We need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Our team of trusted reporters are working incredibly hard behind the scenes- from kitchen tables and spare bedrooms - to look at how we can do this and your continued support to the YEP will help to protect its viability in the days and weeks ahead.

For more details on our subscription offers please visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk/YEP, email [email protected] or call us on 0330 4033004

Thank you

Laura Collins

Editor

READ MORE: https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/opinion/were-therewithyou-now-your-yep-needs-your-support-too-laura-collins-yep-editor-2521777

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.