Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
105	105	0	62	0	0	186

Eric Batten was already a rugby league legend when he joined Featherstone as player-coach from Bradford Northern in June 1951.  The second son of the famous Billy Batten, he had played with Wakefield, Hunslet and Bradford and won almost every honour in the game with appearances for Yorkshire, England and Great Britain, a Lions tour of Australasia and League Championship, RL Cup and Yorkshire Cup final medals. Described as 'the strongest and most virile winger', he was a prolific try scorer and, like his father, developed the skill of leaping clean over opponents who went in for a low tackle.

'When he joined Rovers at the age of thirty-six, the club was attempting to pull out of the doldrums. There was a nucleus of young promising talent which benefited from Batten's experience and methods with remarkable effect. He believed that hard training was the key to success, and he transmitted this philosophy to his players.

He made his debut at home to Rochdale on 18 August 1951. The match report said 'little was seen of Batten until eight minutes from time when he showed that all he wanted was the opportunity and his purposeful dash gave Kent a try ... and he then scored a try to deprive Rochdale of victory'. Indeed, he scored 17 tries in that season, a total only one short of Jack Hirst's record of l8 in 1922/23.

With his inspiration and direction the Rovers began to move up the league table but it was their exploits in the 1952 RL Cup which set the RL world alight. Opening victories against Rochdale and Batley were followed by the historic third round, 14-11 defeat of the mighty Wigan on 15 March 1952, one of the biggest Cup shocks of all time. Batten's 400th career try late in the game helped seal the victory. Another shock win over Leigh in the semi-final sent Rovers to their first ever RL Cup Final. It was a record fourth Wembley appearance for Eric and although he scored yet another memorable try, illustrating his unfailing prowess, the Rovers lost 18-10, but gained the plaudits for their contribution to an excellent final. Batten's style of coaching - fitness allied with brilliant defensive work, backed by burning spirit and enthusiasm - had been justified and the stamina and fitness of the team was acclaimed,

Inevitably he set up a new club record of 26 tries in season 1952/53 in 37 appearances. 17 more tries followed in 1953/54, but after playing at Hull in September 1954, he announced his retirement from playing to concentrate on coaching. To score over 60 tries in just over 100 games in his late thirties and to amass a career total of 435 tries in 630 games was the perfect testimony to his fitness, dedication and talent.

For information on his coaching career, see here

Biography by Ron Bailey