Inspirational Cup final effort from Dwyer lives long in memory

Finals are about being at your best when you really do need to be at your best. It was not until the 2000 Challenge Cup final that we finally got not just one monkey, but a barrel-load of primates off our back.

Everywhere was under water (at Murrayfield) and we ended up going through our final run at a council park. But no matter how bad the preparation, Bradford Bulls as a team reached maturity on April 29, 2000.

There was no shortage of confidence. We knew that if we all performed we could not be beaten, provided also that some players came up with some special plays. The emphasis here was on Henry (Paul) targeting the Leeds wing Leroy Rivett, who had eclipsed my hat-trick feat in scoring four tries in the Rhinos’ 1999 cup final rout of London.

It is said that one game can make a career and one game can also break a career. That was Leroy’s story in successive finals.

Henry was starting to perfect the spiral bomb and had Leroy in his sights twice. Although the two that he aimed Leroy’s way did not follow the smooth trajectory he wanted, they were still too much for him to handle as they plummeted to earth. His hands were low in trying to take the catch. At that point the ball momentarily eludes your vision. We profited with two tries on the back of those dropped balls and Henry won the Lance Todd Trophy man of the match prize.

We emulated what the Fox brothers, Neil and Don, had done in 1962 and 1968, although everyone in our dressing room agreed that our real hero that afternoon was Brian McDermott.

Nothing was going to prevent Brian Mac taking away a winner’s medal that day. He rolled his sleeves up and slammed into the teeth of the Leeds pack time and again. By about an hour they had just had enough of him. The Rhinos brought on Dave Barnhill from their bench, another strapping forward, to have a go at me. However, inspired by what I saw Brian doing, I launched everything I had at Barnhill.

It hurt because he was a big man, but I got up and yelled at him: “It’s gonna happen all day!” He came at me again and I gave it him once more. Whether he heard me or not, he eventually stopped trying.

The other outstanding figure was Bernard Dwyer, who two weeks before had torn his bicep, yet played his part at Murrayfield from the bench. Bernard had lost Cup finals with St Helens in 1989 and 1991, as well as twice with the Bulls. Bernard had waited his entire career for that victory.

He was a man among men, who was made of rocks, but there were tears in his eyes that day at the fulfilment of all he had worked for.

A few days after winning the Challenge Cup, we played at Hull.

He went into a tackle and tore the other bicep. Both his arms hung limp, but like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there was a staunch refusal in him to give up. He got back into the defensive line and went to tackle with his head and shoulders. Matty Elliott showed us the footage the following day, which has resonated with me ever since.

He put the video in slow motion, which showed the moment Bernard tore his other bicep. “Watch what he does,” Matty said. “He gets back and launches at them with his head. The guy’s career has finished in that moment, but he didn’t come off until we got the ball back.”

For everyone who witnessed that footage it became the stuff of legend. The bloke was an inspiration.

Robbie: Rugby Warrior – The Autobiography by Robbie Hunter-Paul published by Great Northern Books, 25th August 2012, £16.99. Hardback, 288 pages, ISBN: 9781905080106. To order a copy phone 01274 735056 or visit the website at www.greatnorthernbooks.co.uk.