Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
130	129	1	24	269	0	610

Tommy Smales was the one that got away initially, in that as an outstanding junior with Sharlston and Featherstone, he signed for Wigan in 1958. It didn't quite work out there and he was transferred to Barrow in 1960. Five years later, his career seemed to be going nowhere when Rovers came along and he returned to the fold. The Rovers paid £750, but what a bargain he proved to be as he enjoyed a new lease of life. He made his senior debut at Bradford on 25 September 1965.  Although he did not score then, it was the beginning of a remarkable sequence. From then until 22 October 1966, he played in all 45 matches, amassing 321 points and only failing to score in two matches.

He had kicked 90 goals in his first season and as he continued his run into 1966/67,he raced to the fastest century of points for the club in only nine matches and by the end of that season, he had also scored the fastest century of goals, finishing with 122. Even more significant was his part in the historic Challenge Cup run which more than compensated for the disappointment of defeat in the Yorkshire Cup final v Hull KR in November 1966. He kicked eight goals in the defeats of Bradford, Wakefield, Castleford and Leeds on the way to the final, where his three goals and a try against his former club, Barrow, contributed to their 17 -12 defeat. His marksmanship was vital in that season, but he happily took a back seat in goal-kicking with the arrival of Cyril Kellett from Hull KR in January 1968. 1o goals in the 50-15 Yorkshire Cup defeat of York in September 1966 had been his best match goal tally, but seven goals and three tries v Dewsbury (at home) on 16 September 1967 gave him his best points tally (23 points), a game in which he reached his 500th point for the club.

Apart from his goal-kicking, Smales was a creative loose forward and was never challenged in his career at Featherstone. After injury had restricted his appearances to 22 in 1968/69 (his lowest season's total), he made a positive start to 1969/70 with 14 successive appearances, which included another successful route to the Yorkshire Cup final.  He even kicked a rare goal in the semi-final against Hull KR which with four goals from Cyril Kellett, gave his team a narrow 10-9 victory. Regrettably, Rovers miserable record in the Yorkshire Cup continued as they lost their third successive final with Hull winning 12-9. Two weeks later he played at Dewsbury and then decided to retire at the age of thirty and later turned to coaching.

For details of his coaching career, see here

Biography by Ron Bailey