2013 Super Bennie Westwood Testimonial Brochure

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DAVE HADFIELD There was a malicious rumour that went around at the time, alleging that Warrington had signed Ben Westwood by mistake. He had been part at Wakefield of what looks with hindsight like a jaw-dropping centre pairing with Gareth Ellis. When it was Ellis who made the more rapid progress, there was a theory that the Wolves had recruited the wrong man. With all due respect to Gareth – who will no doubt show his continuing excellence at Hull next season – there’s no-one at Warrington quibbling about the deal now. If there has been a bigger favourite at the club over the last 20 years, I must have missed him. There is no danger of missing how important he has been to the side. I’ve never known a player to be praised to the skies after almost every match the way Bennie is by Tony Smith. Not that he doesn’t deserve it, but you get embarrassed for him on occasion. My opinion of him soared even higher on the trip to play France a couple of years ago. Waiting for the flight back from Avignon, he was the one who ensured that the entire media party had all the take-away pizza they could eat. There had been a bit of confusion with French numbers, so dozens of pizzas had been delivered to the departure lounge. He saw to it that flight crew, ground crew, customs officers and the rest all got fed. That’s class for you and that’s rugby league. ANDY WILSON Who could honestly say they identified Ben Westwood as a future superstar of the Super League in his early days with Wakefield and Warrington? He was a sufficiently promising centre for the Wolves to target him, with Nathan Wood, as two key signings in their desperate battle against relegation back in 2002. But his development into a second-row tough and good enough to command respect from Australia and New Zealand at international level - as well as kicking the odd handy goal - has been an admirable story of hard graft, with the odd bit of daftness thrown in. That daftness made the young lad from Normanton a good fit with his first coach at Wakefield, the eccentric Australian John Harbin. Harbin was in charge when Westwood first made his impact on the Wire, at Belle Vue in July 2001 when he was sin-binned by a young Richard Silverwood for fighting with Alan Hunte and Toa Kohe-Love in a 19-18 Warrington win- in Darryl Van de Velde’s last game in charge. “If I controlled my kids the way Silverwood controlled the game, I’d be in trouble.” Harbin said afterwards - he was always good for a quote, and even a beer after Wakefield had avoided relegation on the last day of that 2001 season at Salford, and the Queenslander brought a crate of XXXX into his post-match press conference. But it was David Plange who made the move for Westwood and Wood in the summer of 2002, with the funds provided by a chap called Simon Moran, shortly after he had made a typically low-profile move on to the Warrington board. Those were the days when the Guardian - the one that used to be called the Manchester Guardian before decamping to London, not the proper one here in Warrington - used to cover rugby league properly. We even had Peter Roe, the no-no sense Yorkshireman who had succeeded Harbin as Wakefield’s coach, doing a weekly column, and as his ghostwriter it was through his eyes that I viewed the Westwood move. Roe referred to the off-field shenanigans as “the seedy side of the game” after Wakefield had suffered a 24-12 defeat at Wilderspool in the immediate aftermath of the double deal, even though Wood and Westwood were prevented from making their Wire debuts against their former club. “Wakefield has always been a family club, and losing Ben had a huge effect on his colleagues,” Roe reflected when I contacted him for this piece. “In many ways that’s a tribute to how influential he had become in a fairly short space of time. So it did leave a bad taste at the time, but I’m happy it’s proved to be the right move for Ben and worked out so well for him. “It’s fair to say he had a few rough edges when he started out with us at Wakefield, and a few problems off the field. I think having to travel across to Warrington was a big help because it forced him to sort out his attitude to training and timekeeping - living so close to Wakefield in Normanton, it had never really mattered if he was five minutes late.” While on the subject of Westwood and his coaches, this seems like the right forum to make an official apology to Tony Smith for causing a little disharmony in the Warrington dressing room at some stage last season. I can’t remember the exact details, but I’d wondered aloud in the column I used to do for League Weekly why Smith was so fulsome in his praise for Westwood after a game in which the other Ben in the Wolves pack, Harrison, had excelled. It’s always a shock when you discover that people read your stuff, let alone take notice of it, so I’d never dreamed this could cause any bother. But it left our beneficiary in danger of being labelled a teacher’s pet - not something that can have happened often in his career. Anyway coach Smith has reminded me of it at regular intervals since, usually looking my way when he praises a non-stop Westwood performance in a post-match press conference - which he tends to do most weeks, without any hint of favouritism. That says everything about Ben’s courage, consistency and durability - qualities that would have made him a genuine Man of Steel contender in each of the last three seasons had journalists still been involved in the judging process. Congratulations on a terrific career. PAGE 26 SUPER BENNIE WESTWOOD TESTIMONIAL 2012 12 11 12 SBW Testimonial Programme.indd 26 12/11/2012 11:19
MARTYN SADLER ‘The Warrington Wrecking Ball!’ That’s how Ben Westwood was described when the RFL launched its new marketing drive to promote the Super League play-offs, and I can understand why Rugby League’s governing body chose Ben as one of the representatives of Super League in its campaign to draw more supporters into the fold. If I were picking a team of my favourite players Ben would definitely be in it. And that isn’t just because of the way the RFL describes him. It’s because I enjoy watching players who, when they are on the field, look as though they enjoy playing the game. Ben isn’t the only Warrington player who looks as though he is having fun, of course, and in the last few seasons there has been a lot to enjoy at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, both for the players and their supporters. Warrington have made astonishing progress, and much of it stems from the move to the new stadium, which opened up so much potential for increased crowds and greater corporate support. And the club has to a very great extent realised that potential. But it couldn’t have done it without the contribution of Ben and his colleagues. If we go back to the beginning of Ben’s career, we do find one rather quirky fact that possibly makes him unique among today’s generation of Super League players. I would guess that he must be the only current Super League player who made his debut at the Gateshead International stadium. Back in season 1999, as an 18-year-old he made his debut off the bench for Wakefield against Gateshead Thunder in the northeast, in Thunder’s one season in Super League. Sadly for Ben, his debut was memorable for the wrong reasons, as Wakefield went down to a 66-6 defeat on 5th September 1999 at the venue known as the Thunderdome. Ben was a 54th minute substitute for Willie Poching, who of course is now a member of the coaching staff at Warrington. Ben’s first try in Super League was for Wakefield at Bradford on May 7 2000, in a 44-16 defeat at Odsal, and that was the first game in which he was actually in their starting lineup. He quickly became a fans’ favourite among Wakefield supporters, but two years later they were deeply upset when Warrington pounced to sign Ben along with Nathan Wood. He played his last game for Wakefield on 2nd June, and the following week, when Warrington hosted Wakefield at Wilderspool, he was introduced to the media after the game, which Warrington won 24-12, as a future Warrington player, and he explained his reasons for changing clubs mid-season. “I have to think about my family and making them secure, so that was the main reason,” he said. “I also think Warrington are a side with a great Super League future, whereas I’m not that sure that the same can be said about Wakefield.” To be successful in life you have to take opportunities when they arise. Ben, proving to be a good judge, certainly took his, and in the last ten years he has never looked back, enjoying great success at club level, and becoming a regular for Great Britain and, in more recent years, England. In all that time he’s given me a great deal of pleasure. And I’m sure the same goes for every Warrington supporter, and every genuine supporter of Rugby League. Ben, thanks for the great memories you’ve given me, and I’d like to wish you the very best for a tremendous testimonial season. JONATHAN DAVIES Good luck to Bennie in his testimonial year! He deserves to have a good one especially as it’s an achievement in itself to survive 10 years in the game! He’s had an interesting career as starting as a centre and ending up in the second row is never easy! Bennie is one of those players that if you are playing against him he’s a proper nuisance but you would always love to have him on your side! The fact that he’s been awarded at international games and his nomination for Man of Steel 2012 says everything! I only wish I’d had the chance to play alongside him. Have a tremendous year and I hope that you do well! FRANK ENDACOTT I have only met Ben on one occasion but I have watched him play on many occasions. I found Ben to be a very sincere person with a passion for the game and watching him play confirms this. On the field he is the type of player his team mates would love to play with, he is tough, uncompromising and plays every game like a test match. I wish Ben all the best for his testimonial, he deserves everything he gets. SUPER BENNIE WESTWOOD TESTIMONIAL 2012 PAGE 27 12 11 12 SBW Testimonial Programme.indd 27 12/11/2012 11:19
Page 1 and 2: THE SUPER OFFICIAL TESTIMONIAL BROC
Page 3 and 4: WARRINGTON VICE PRESIDENTS ASSOCIAT
Page 5 and 6: 12 11 12 SBW Testimonial Programme.
Page 7 and 8: FORWARD-WORD BY BIG NICK FOZZARD It
Page 9 and 10: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR TESTIMONIAL
Page 11 and 12: Trevor Hunt speaks to Head Coach TO
Page 13 and 14: WILLIE POCHING I first met a young
Page 17 and 18: MIKE ‘STEVO’ STEPHENSON Westwoo
Page 19 and 20: Congratulations on your testimonial
Page 21 and 22: MICHAEL MONAGHAN I’ve being lucky
Page 25: PAUL WOOD When Bennie signed for Wa
Page 29 and 30: STEVE MCNAMARA I had the pleasure o
Page 31 and 32: RAY FRENCH Westwood……. Time was
Page 33 and 34: ANGELA POWERS In all walks of life
Page 35 and 36: WHO IS SUPER BENNIE WESTWOOD? FULL
Page 37 and 38: MY HERO.. MY PARTNER.. MY ROCK How

2013 Super Bennie Westwood Testimonial Brochure

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