22 years old, 6ft 3 inches and over 16 stones, Toga arrived in Rochdale in January 1964 following the recommendation of his step brother Ravouvou, who was by then struggling a little to hold down his place in the side. They recovered slightly and had moved up to 15th position, fourth bottom, by late June. A ten-match losing sequence was ended as Hornets won at Featherstone Rovers in Fox's first match in charge. Both men were 28 years old and stood at over six feet tall, Dawai having made his name as a classy centre, while Levula – the Fijian sprint record holder at the time – had toured Australia, New Zealand and Tonga with his country’s union side. An appeal went out to supporters in July 1945 for help in renovating the ground, pitch and premises so that rugby league could restart at the Athletic Grounds after the war. He stepped in after the shock resignation of Steve Deakin who returned to Keighley after a few months in charge. The first Infirmaries' Cup game since 1938 was played at the Athletic Grounds on 24 August 1946, in which Hornets were beaten by Oldham. Eric Hughes coached Rochdale for the 1987-88 season. He left in November 2005, citing frustration at the club's financial problems and his lack of a proper contract.

Rochdale purchased the Athletics Grounds in 1913. No 7: 1922, Rochdale 10–9 Hull, Rugby Football League Championship Third Division, Founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union, Rochdale Hornets Rugby League Football Club, Graham Starkey (October 1974 – November 1975), Henry Delooze (November 1975 – November 1976), Paul Longstaff (September 1979 – May 1981), Charlie Birdsall (September 1984 – April 1986), Eric Fitzsimons (June 1986 – June 1987), Stan Gittins (April 1991 – January 1993), Peter Regan (January 1993 – October 1993), Steve Deakin (August 2000 – October 2000), Shaun Gartland (July 2007 – September 2007), Kingstone Press League One Play-Off Winners: 1. “He was an absolute gentleman and a big help to everyone. Twenty-five Rochdale players enlisted for the First World War, three of whom are known to have died, Sergeant Twigg, Archie Field (arras 1917) and Walter Roman (Somme 1916) (Rochdale Captain). The safety fence was unusual in that it was made of steel plates supported on wire ropes.

Hornets played in green and black for the first time in 26 years on 13 December 1947 in a match against Wigan. Tragically, Toga died in January 1969 aged just 27 years in Sydney. Bobbie Goulding arrived as player-coach in December 2003. Rochdale Hornets played host to a group of Fijians, men that had never played the sport before, but men that were incredibly talented and brought flair and colour to the British game. The annual Law Cup, then known as the Infirmaries' Cup, was first contested against neighbours Oldham on 7 May 1921. Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. This is the highest score ever achieved by a team in the cup.

Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. Steve Deakin joined Rochdale Hornets as head coach in August 2000 before rejoining Keighley as head coach in September 2000 when incumbent Karl Harrison left to become assistant coach at Bradford. and Rochdale Hornets R.F.L.C. In October 1998, Karl Marriott died following a training session and a couple of months later Roy Powell died in similar circumstances. The team were eventually eliminated in the semi finals of the competition. The most famous rider to progress from the Hornets was 1976 World Champion Peter Collins. In 1991, Hornets appeared in the final of the Lancashire Cup. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. A ground was taken at Oakenrod for the 1879–80 season but owing to poor gates, Rochdale Hornets returned to Rochdale Cricket Club ground. Rochdale Hornets ; What players we have had. Within a year they were all playing alongside new members when working-class men were allowed to join as well. The Forbidden Game - The Untold Story of French Rugby League, The remarkable story of Rochdale’s Fijian pioneers, ← The English school teacher at the heart of Russia’s Revolution, Up or down? Ravouvou made his mark in the first team almost immediately but it took a little longer for Driu to settle in, and he didn’t appear during his first season. Darren Abram was appointed head coach two weeks later. Dawai, on the other hand found the switch of codes more difficult, and appeared in Hornets colours only ten times. The club very quickly took a leading position in the game in Lancashire. File:David Hartley - Featherstone Rovers.jpeg, File:Stan Brogden - Pen Picture - Leeds.jpg, File:V. Armbruster - Rochdale Hornets.jpg, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Rochdale_Hornets_players&oldid=949484181, Template Category TOC via CatAutoTOC on category with 201–300 pages, CatAutoTOC generates standard Category TOC, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 April 2020, at 18:49. Toga was an immediate sensation with the Hornets fans, who loved his rampaging, destructive style of play. Hornets struggled early in the campaign when they occupied bottom spot for a couple of weeks. The club sadly struggled to sustain its position in the second tier winning just one league game all season and finally succumbed to relegation at the end of a turbulent (2019). He was in charge of Rochdale Hornets for two seasons, twice being nominated for coach of the year. Their story is an amazing one, not known by many outside Rochdale. Their arrival in England was big news at the time, as overseas players were hardly common, and certainly not of the sort that came from a small Pacific island where Rugby League wasn’t then played. The report that appeared in the Rochdale Observer described the Fijians “unorthodox tactics”, which “delighted spectators, with Dawai on the right often finding Levula on the left with his long passes.”. They won 12, drew one and lost the remaining 25. The co-op operates on a one-member, one-vote principle. We came to see the lights, the buses, the snow. Levula went on to have three highly successful seasons with Hornets, scoring 37 tries and 207 points in 80 appearances before leaving to join Bradford Northern for a fee of 1,500 pounds in 1964. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for, Note: preferences and languages are saved separately in https mode. Hall departed along with all the players after not renewing his contract after his failed bid to take over the club. Following a series of talks Andy headed up a consortium to include club president Paul Ormerod, and his former Swinton associates Tony Sheridan, Richard Hayes and Peter Smith. The track was not a good shape and proved to be unpopular with supporters. The club's record attendance at Spotland was set at 8,150 when Hornets played Oldham on Boxing Day 1989. One of the most popular men ever to play for Hornets, he collapsed shortly after a training session and died of a heart attack. They were founder members of the Northern Union in 1895. “We never played in boots back in Fiji,” Ratu explains, “but the cold weather over here meant that we had to – most of the time.” The next to arrive was winger Sitai Buroleva, during the 1962-63 campaign, but he made little impact, never appearing for the first team. On 30 June 1999, it was announced that Deryck Fox was no longer Rochdale's coach.

Hornets changed their colours from green and black to red, white and blue as the green and black strip was deteriorating in the wash. Their main local rivals are Oldham, Salford Red Devils, Swinton Lions, Halifax and Huddersfield Giants. No 7: 1922, Rochdale 10–9 Hull, Rugby Football League Championship Third Division, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rochdale_Hornets&oldid=975919837, Founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union, Articles needing additional references from December 2014, All articles needing additional references, Articles needing additional references from December 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Rochdale Hornets Rugby League Football Club, Kingstone Press League One Play-Off Winners: 1, This page was last edited on 31 August 2020, at 04:40. Hornets were formed into a limited company on 31 May 1929. Recently Updated; Title; Start Date; Most Viewed; Most Replies; Kel Coslett was coach between 1976 and 1979. CEO Steve Kerr who had been mandated to seek investment approached former Swinton Lions Chairman Andy Mazey. The original team colours were amber and black. Hornets beat Broughton Moor 75–13 in a cup-tie on 13 March 1915; it was their biggest margin of victory since 1871. Hornets had an open door approach to membership and were able to insist on gate money as they played on an enclosed field. “It would be nice to see some young Fijians carrying on an old tradition in Rochdale.”. Walker was impressed by the flamboyant skills of the Fijians, particularly the centre and captain Orisi Dawai and his rampaging winger Josefa Levula, and asked the pair if they wanted to try their luck at Rugby League back in England.

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