Roger Owen | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Roger Owen |
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HERITAGE NO : 947 Roger Owen Obituary by Alex Service St Helens RFC Heritage Number #947 Born: Llanelli, 13th December 1953 Died: Llanelli, 20th July 2021 It is sad to report the passing of one of Saints’ Welsh imports - rumbustious front-rower Roger Owen - at the age of 67. The famous ‘Dad’s Army' team of the 1970s was breaking up by the start of the new decade and the club embarked on a period of re-building the playing squad to eventually mount a challenge for honours once more. Roger Owen was signed by the Saints from the New Dock Stars RUFC junior club, having established a reputation as a powerful and mobile front-rower. A miner, he had also played for Llanelli and at 5ft 10ins and just over 16 stones was a positively daunting player to nullify at club level, although he had not gained representative honours in the Union code. He joined several Welshmen at Knowsley Road, including full-back Clive Griffiths, centre Steve Bayliss, winger Roy Mathias and fellow front rower Mel James. Roger got off to a great start in the red vee with an impressive performance for the Reserves at Warrington and made his senior debut against Castleford at Knowsley Road on 26th October 1980, with Mel James in the front row and Dennis Nulty at hooker. Saints lost 5-8 with a try and goal from full-back Griffiths, but Roger certainly did not look out of place. The 26 year old ‘wrecking ball’ soon became a big crowd favourite as he smashed into the defensive line, his chunky, almost barrel-like appearance reminiscent of Leeds front rower Steve Pitchford. Long-time supporter Adrian Lawrenson recalls that the bearded one had “an intimidating on-field demeanour towards his opponents. He was a hard-working forward who would never shun the ‘hard yards’ whilst at the same time rousing the supporters with his aggression and never-say-die attitude.” One of the abiding images of Roger, by cameraman Brian Peers, showed him absolutely caked in cloying mud during a match at Knowsley Road against Warrington in those challenging winter conditions. He was a real character and was also rarely seen without his trademark fishermans’ hat. “He was a powerful man for sure,” remembers his former Coach Kel Coslett. “He was a great scrummager too, coming from Union, when scrums were well-contested in rugby league too in those days.”It was a challenging time for the club in the early 1980s, with inconsistent results and not much money available. Yet Roger did play in two semi-finals for the club, in the Challenge Cup during his first season [lost 5-22 against Hull KR] and a Lancashire Cup semi-final loss against Leigh on 2nd September 1981 at Hilton Park [6-20]. Roger was proud to represent his country on two occasions: against France at Narbonne on 31st January 1981 [lost 3-23] and against England at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on 8th November 1981, when they were narrowly defeated 15-20 by England. In both games Roger came on from the bench, replacing his team-mate Mel James, in France and Tommy David in Cardiff. He has the Welsh RL Heritage Number #326Coach Kel Coslett was replaced by another club stalwart Billy Benyon and Roger was utilised in place of the injured Mel James at the start of the 1982-83 campaign. When James returned, Roger was to make just one more appearance for the Saints, on 15th September 1982 in the 9-6 win at Barrow in a Lancashire Cup second round tie. Gary Bottell and Graham Liptrot were in the front row with him that evening, with future star forward Andy Platt on the bench. By the end of October, Benyon had signed the experienced Paul Grimes, which effectively signalled the end of Roger’s career at Knowsley Road. Roger was initially transfer-listed at £40,000 by the club and Cardiff Blue Dragons were interested, but Roger just called it a day after 45 appearances in the red vee and four tries. It is a great pity that his rugby league career was relatively short, but there were some unsettling off-field problems. A job with a tunnelling company saw him involved in a series of accidents. The last saw him receive a number of stitches in a wound below the left eye. “I have always been a 100% man and I have given Saints 100%,” he said shortly before returning to Wales and no-one could ever doubt his commitment on the field. Roger was always in contact with the Saints’ Player’s Association and visited the new Saints stadium a couple of years ago, renewing acquaintances with some old friends, although he was plagued by ill-health for several years. Everyone at St Helens RFC send their condolences to Roger’s family at this sad time, especially to wife Barbara; daughters Claire and Nicola and son Garry. Roger Owen an appreciation by Adrian Lawrenson This extremely strong Welsh prop forward played some 45 matches for the Saints between October 1980 and September 1982. He was a real crowd pleaser and possessed a very powerful hand off. Roger scored four tries for the Saints against Hull, Widnes, Fulham and Whitehaven. Saints finished the 1979-80 season on a low and were starting to regroup again when they again raided the Welsh Valleys for Roger Owen a 26 year old prop forward from New Dock Stars, who made his debut against Castleford on 26th October 1980 in a 5-8 defeat at Knowsley Road. The plan was for Roger to prop with Mel James and Graham Liptrot with a back three selected Eric Chisnall, George Nicholls, Peter Gorley and Harry Pinner. Potentially quite a formidable pack of forwards. However coach Kel Coslett didn’t have much luck with injuries and although season 1980-81 was an improvement given normal luck with injuries, the general opinion was that the team could have achieved more. Roger was barnstorming front-rower in the Steve Pitchford [Leeds] mould and certainly became a big crowd favourite, winning two Welsh caps against France and England in 1981 in the process. In the following season 1981-82 Saints started strongly and then flattered to deceive. Coslett was replaced by another former player of considerable repute, Billy Benyon, who began the following campaign with Roger, who was playing in place of his injured fellow Welshman Mel James. When James returned, Owen was to make one last appearance in the red vee on 15 September 1982 in the 9-6 win at Barrow in a Lancashire cup tie. By the end of October, Benyon had signed another barnstorming forward called Paul Grimes, which signalled the end of Roger’s career at Knowsley Road. Bearded and with an intimidating on-field demeanour towards his opponents, he was a hard-working forward who would never shun the ‘hard yards’ whilst at the same time rousing the supporters with his aggression and never-say-die attitude. |
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
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Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
1980~81 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
1981~82 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
1982~83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
TOTALS: | 4 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
1981~82 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
1982~83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
TOTALS: | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
ALL MATCHES |
Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
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26th Oct 1980 | 1 | L |
10 | Castleford | L | H | 5 | 8 | VIEW | |||
21st Dec 1980 | 2 | L |
15 | Bradford Northern | L | A | 0 | 11 | VIEW | |||
26th Dec 1980 | 3 | W |
8 | Oldham | L | H | 11 | 10 | VIEW | |||
28th Dec 1980 | 4 | L |
8 | Barrow | L | A | 8 | 11 | VIEW | |||
1st Jan 1981 | 5 | L |
8 | Widnes | L | A | 8 | 11 | VIEW | |||
4th Jan 1981 | 6 | W |
8 | Salford | L | H | 29 | 14 | VIEW | |||
11th Jan 1981 | 7 | W |
15 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | A | 12 | 10 | VIEW | |||
25th Jan 1981 | 8 | L |
15 | Leeds | L | A | 17 | 20 | VIEW | |||
8th Mar 1981 | 9 | W |
10 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | H | 11 | 5 | VIEW | |||
24th Mar 1981 | 10 | L |
10 | Hull | L | A | 15 | 18 | VIEW | |||
29th Mar 1981 | 11 | L |
10 | Halifax | L | A | 7 | 17 | VIEW | |||
4th Apr 1981 | 12 | L |
15 | Hull Kingston Rovers | CCSF | N | 5 | 22 | VIEW | |||
6th Apr 1981 | 13 | W |
15 | Warrington | L | H | 29 | 9 | VIEW | |||
12th Apr 1981 | 14 | W |
15 | Halifax | L | H | 31 | 22 | VIEW | |||
17th Apr 1981 | 15 | W |
10 | Oldham | L | A | 21 | 18 | VIEW | |||
19th Apr 1981 | 16 | W |
10 | Hull | L | H | 26 | 6 | 1 | VIEW | ||
21st Apr 1981 | 17 | W |
10 | Widnes | L | H | 24 | 9 | 1 | VIEW | ||
29th Apr 1981 | 18 | W |
10 | Bradford Northern | PT1 | A | 14 | 12 | VIEW | |||
10th May 1981 | 19 | L |
10 | Hull Kingston Rovers | PT2 | A | 17 | 30 | VIEW | |||
9th Aug 1981 | -- | L |
10 | Oldham* | Fr Ward Cup | A | 8 | 12 | 1 | VIEW | ||
16th Aug 1981 | 20 | W |
10 | Blackpool Borough | LC1 | A | 28 | 0 | VIEW | |||
23rd Aug 1981 | 21 | W |
10 | Barrow | LC2 | H | 40 | 17 | VIEW | |||
30th Aug 1981 | 22 | W |
10 | Fulham | L | H | 35 | 4 | 1 | VIEW | ||
2nd Sep 1981 | 23 | L |
10 | Leigh | LCSF | A | 6 | 20 | VIEW | |||
6th Sep 1981 | 24 | W |
10 | Castleford | L | A | 32 | 17 | VIEW | |||
27th Sep 1981 | 25 | W |
15 | Wakefield Trinity | L | H | 33 | 14 | VIEW | |||
4th Oct 1981 | 26 | L |
15 | Warrington | L | A | 11 | 13 | VIEW | |||
11th Oct 1981 | 27 | W |
10 | Bradford Northern | L | H | 20 | 8 | VIEW | |||
18th Oct 1981 | 28 | D |
10 | Barrow | JP1 | H | 16 | 16 | VIEW | |||
22nd Oct 1981 | 29 | L |
10 | Barrow | JP1 (rep) | A | 0 | 17 | VIEW | |||
25th Oct 1981 | 30 | D |
10 | Featherstone Rovers | L | A | 8 | 8 | VIEW | |||
1st Nov 1981 | 31 | L |
10 | Wakefield Trinity | L | A | 9 | 16 | VIEW | |||
15th Nov 1981 | 32 | W |
10 | Bradford Northern | L | A | 20 | 8 | VIEW | |||
31st Jan 1982 | 33 | L |
10 | Hull | L | A | 8 | 26 | VIEW | |||
7th Feb 1982 | 34 | L |
10 | Leeds | L | H | 6 | 15 | VIEW | |||
13th Feb 1982 | 35 | L |
10 | Wigan | CC1 | H | 12 | 20 | VIEW | |||
21st Feb 1982 | 36 | W |
10 | York | L | A | 19 | 7 | VIEW | |||
28th Feb 1982 | 37 | W |
8 | Whitehaven | L | H | 41 | 7 | 1 | VIEW | ||
14th Mar 1982 | 38 | W |
8 | Warrington | L | H | 18 | 10 | VIEW | |||
21st Mar 1982 | 39 | W |
8 | Fulham | L | A | 17 | 2 | VIEW | |||
18th Apr 1982 | 40 | W |
8 | Barrow | L | H | 15 | 6 | VIEW | |||
25th Apr 1982 | 41 | L |
8 | Wigan | L | A | 5 | 23 | VIEW | |||
5th Jun 1982 | -- | D |
10 | Welsh XIII* | Fr Testimonial | L | 18 | 18 | VIEW | |||
15th Aug 1982 | -- | D |
10 | Oldham* | Fr Ward Cup | H | 15 | 15 | VIEW | |||
29th Aug 1982 | 42 | L |
8 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | A | 10 | 31 | VIEW | |||
5th Sep 1982 | 43 | W |
8 | Widnes | LC1 | A | 14 | 12 | VIEW | |||
12th Sep 1982 | 44 | W |
8 | Oldham | L | H | 20 | 15 | VIEW | |||
15th Sep 1982 | 45 | W |
8 | Barrow | LC2 | A | 9 | 6 | VIEW |
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
WINS : 25 | LOSSES : 19 | DRAWS : 4 |
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GALLERY |
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