Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
382	369	13	147	4	1	450

John Newlove almost played at Wembley in his very first season in senior football. He signed for Rovers from Ackworth in November 1966 and was enlisted straight into the senior team at centre on 19 November at home to Keighley. He was in the RL Cup squad and played in the semi-final against Leeds, but was then replaced by Jordan in the final. Any disappointment he may have had disappeared in 1973 when he returned to the famous stadium as captain and scored two tries in Rovers' defeat of Bradford Northern by 33 points to 14. He particularly enjoyed his second try, in which he started the move and finished scoring under the posts. He also scored upon his return in the following year, again as captain, but this time it was the bitter pill of disappointment as Warrington won 24-9. After the exhilarating final of the previous year, this ill-tempered clash was an anti-climax.

Although he established himself in the senior team after Wembley 1967, he fluctuated between wing and centre. He began the 1967/68 season comparatively late when he appeared at centre on 23 September 1967 at Wakefield. He had a run of 58 consecutive appearances which ended when he when he was injured in the cup game with Doncaster on 26 January 1969, during which he had featured 26 times on the wing and 32 in the centre. He was obviously adaptable and talented in whatever position, but coach Peter Fox wanted to get the best out of him and decided to switch him to stand-off in the home game with Whitehaven on 4 November 1971.  Rovers won 31-17, Newlove scored two tries and Fox knew that the switch was worth persevering with. He gradually developed into a most astute tactician and with his exceptional ability to read a game he was in the best possible position to influence games. His uncanny perception resulted in many interceptions and his ability to accelerate from a standing position carved out many openings and the Rovers back line prospered.

He made his debut for Yorkshire at centre against Cumberland at Bramley on 12 September 1973, the first of three appearances. As an endorsement of his conversion, the last two appearances were at stand-off in 1975. Although an excellent captain, he eventually considered that it was affecting his play and he handed over to Vince Farrar. The Rovers now had their sights set on the First Division championship and moved to second position in 1975/76, when Newlove's 19 tries as leading try-scorer for the second time, were significant. The club wanted to go one better in the following season and Newlove again played his part with 22 consecutive appearances and 14 tries. As the momentum for the title chase gathered pace, he was injured at Widnes on23 January 1977 and that was the end of his season. This was his first major injury and he could only stand on the touchline and cheer his team on to the First Division Championship. He was back in action the following season, his testimonial season, and added 14 more tries to his career total. He played in the opening match of 1978/79 season at home to Huddersfield in the Yorkshire Cup, but was then transferred to Hull to join his former Rover colleagues Vince Farrar and Charlie Stone (his brother-in-law). He played two seasons there and made his fourth and final visit to Wembley in 1980, when local rivals Hull KR beat Hull by 10 points to 5. This was his swan song as he pulled down the curtain on a fantastic rugby career.

John Newlove was an important cog in probably the most successful Rovers team ever in the glorious 1970s. Although he was disappointed not to gain a Yorkshire Cup final winners medal after defeats in four finals - 1969, 1970, 1976 and 1977 - he gained many honours in his Rovers career. He was the first winner of the John Jepson Trophy in 1975/76, the club's Player of the Season award, and also awarded the James Harrison Award for Yorkshire's fairest and most loyal player. He gave wonderful service to the Rovers and was well respected throughout the game. His career total of 147 tries is still the second highest for a Rovers player (Don Fox had 162) and his 381 appearances place him in the top ten all time appearances list. Both these achievements are testimony to his football ability and loyalty. His best match return was four tries v Batley (at home) in November 1971 and his best return for appearances in a season was 40 in 1972/73, the season when he also achieved his highest total of tries (21). After retiring, he used his experience in coaching junior teams and of course has produced three sons, all of whom have played for Featherstone - Paul, a Great Britain international, Shaun, whose career was ended with a fractured leg, and Richard, who made over 100 appearances for Rovers in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

 

Biography by Ron Bailey