Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
171	171	0	11	0	0	33

Every team needs a Norman Hockley – the type of player who rarely hits the headlines, but who consistently turns out solid workmanlike performances and provides the solidity and power source to the pack.  Featherstone were fortunate to acquire Hockley, whom they signed from Hull for £750 in August 1956. He made his senior debut on the following day v Leeds (away) on 27 August and ironically then made an immediate return to the Boulevard in the Yorkshire Cup. The Rovers gained a surprise 7-6 victory, with Hockley leading the pack superbly and outshining his former colleagues.  He 'ran like a second-row forward should and as the present breed at Featherstone do not'.

Hockley certainly provided that solidity to the Rovers pack in his first season and had a very effective second-row partnership with Albert Fearnley - each with their contrasting styles. Later, he alternated between prop and second row and was always dependable. Not being a spectacular player, it was perhaps inevitable that there were occasions when he was replaced by more expressive players but, inevitably sooner or later, the selectors turned back to him, and Hockley invariably responded. Occasionally (and naturally) he rebelled and asked to be transfer-listed, but it never affected his performances.

When not in the team he was certainly the best reserve to have around, and that was his lot in the Yorkshire Cup final of 1959 against Hull, when he gained his second Yorkshire Cup medal (he had played for Hull against Halifax in 1954). He did however, gain particular satisfaction earlier that year as he participated in the RL Cup run to the semi-final. He scored against St Helens in the emphatic 20-6 defeat of the cup favourites in the third round.

He made 32 appearances in 1961/62, his highest seasonal total, but with young starlets Ramshaw and Broom appearing on the scene, he again seemed to be on the fringe. In December 1962, in a complete reversal, Hull approached the Rovers for him to be transferred back to add experience and solidity to their pack. The Rovers agreed a concessionary transfer fee of £750 in recognition of his service - a gesture they would not have made to any other club.

Biography by Ron Bailey