26th October 2024
When I was a young boy in Leeds in the 1960s – and enthusiastically memorising my Rugby League records – the figure widely quoted for the highest number of points scored in a season by one player was given as 505 by the great Lewis Jones of Leeds and Great Britain in 1956-57 – see, for example, A.N. Gaulton’s The Encyclopaedia of Rugby League Football, 1968. (Jones died in March this year at the age of 92) .
However, for many years now, Jones’s total had been reduced to 496. I’m not exactly sure when this amendment was made, but it was certainly in place by the time of the publication of the 1983-84 edition of the excellent Rothman’s Rugby League Yearbook. In An Ordinary Spectator, I suggested that “[p]erhaps, like the height of Mount Everest, these measures are revised with the use of more accurate recording equipment”.
The official record has now been broken. In the recently completed 2024 season, the Wakefield Trinity full-back Max Jowitt recorded exactly 500 points from 26 tries and 198 goals.
I am aware that I am re-visiting familiar ground here. In “Record Breakers” (24th April 2024), I noted that the Glamorgan batsman Sam Northeast had overtaken Graham Gooch’s record for the highest individual score made by a batsman in a first-class match at Lord’s. Northeast’s 335 not out was in a Second Division match in the County Championship; Gooch’s 333, made in 1990, had been in a Test Match against India. (I suggested that, had I been in Northeast’s position – he was the Glamorgan captain – I might have declared his side’s innings closed on equalling Gooch’s record, rather than surpassing it).
I shall refrain from attempting to attach any value judgements to the respective achievements of Lewis Jones and Max Jowitt. The near 70-year gap between their glorious seasons makes such an effort irrelevant.
There are differences in circumstance, of course. In 1956-57, the Leeds fixture list was predominantly against other Yorkshire sides – ranging from high-flying Hull to bottom-of-the-table Doncaster – though they also had tough fixtures against Wigan, St Helens and Oldham; Wakefield’s 2024 league fixtures were in the Championship (the code’s second tier) from which they were promoted.
More generally, Rugby League is a higher scoring game in the modern era. In 1956-57, the average number of points registered in a league fixture was 31; in the 2024 Championship, it was 44. There are various reasons for this, mainly the many changes to the laws over this long period, including the value of a try being increased from three points to four.
On the other hand, in playing terms, the length of the current season is much shorter. The sources indicate that Lewis Jones played in 48 games in 1956-57, Max Jowitt in 34 this year.
The overall conclusion must be that sporting records are there to be broken. Max Jowitt’s new benchmark represents a tremendous achievement.
Meanwhile… what happened to Lewis Jones’s missing 9 points – the ones that reduced his officially recognised total from 505 to 496?
The answer is relatively straightforward, I think. In August 1956, Leeds and Hunslet drew 21-21 in their Lazenby Cup match. This was an annual pre-season “friendly” (if any match between the two fierce local rivals could be so called). Jones scored a try (then worth 3 points) and kicked 3 goals (2 points each). I assume that it is these points that were initially included in the official records of his season total, but subsequently excluded.
In its match report, the Yorkshire Observer reported “… a return to form by Jones. In his first game since breaking a leg in February, he showed much of his old attacking power and scored one of the best tries through intelligent supporting play”.
Little did they know what was to come over the remainder of the season.
An Ordinary Spectator 