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On this day: Andy Gregory makes Challenge Cup history

Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 7:38 am
by josie andrews
Andy Gregory became the first man to win seven Challenge Cup titles on May 2, 1992. Here,we take a look at his achievement.

Racking them up

The scrum-half’s first victory at Wembley came as a 19-year-old where he scored a try for Widnes in the 1981 final against Hull KR. He lost in a re-run of the final the following year and had to wait until 1984 for his next success, winning the competition with the Vikings. It was his 1986 move to Wigan Warriors that opened up the door to multiple success as he joined the most dominant club in the league’s history. Warriors won eight successive titles between 1987 and 1995, with Gregory being involved in five of them.

Seventh heaven

Gregory claimed a piece of history in the 1992 final against Castleford as he became the first man to claim seven winners’ medals. It was a comfortable victory for John Monie’s side at the national stadium as they racked up a 28-12 success over the Yorkshire club. Gregory played scrum-half but it was winger Martin Offiah who stole the show with two tries.

What happened next?

Although Wigan went on to win the Challenge Cup three more times in a row, Gregory was not part of it. He left after the 1992 triumph due to a contract dispute following his return from a Great Britain Lions tour to Australia. He joined Leeds and spent two seasons there. He lost his record of most Challenge Cup wins to former Wigan team-mate Shaun Edwards, whose nine wins remain the most by any player.

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... ry-2665557

Re: On this day: Andy Gregory makes Challenge Cup history

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 8:55 am
by morley pie eater
Enjoyed reading this, Josie. I think lockdown makes us look back more, maybe to make up for what we're missing out on now.

Could I try to make a point without starting another argument?

The article refers to "Vikings" and "Warriors" but those names didn't apply at that time. To me it doesn't ring true. Imagine a report saying "At the 1895 meeting in Huddersfield, the Hull Sharks chairman proposed . . ."

(This is regardless of whether you're in favour of having childish, Americanised names for teams.)

:P :P

Re: On this day: Andy Gregory makes Challenge Cup history

Posted: Fri May 08, 2020 1:37 am
by shaunedwardsfanclub
Greg was probably the greatest scrum half that has played for Wigan. The club, even for all its success has not had many top class number sevens. Lam would probably qualify, but you need to go back a long way to find a homegrown player who was in that category - Tommy Bradshaw. There has also been a dearth of stand offs as well, Edwards and before him Dave Bolton. We have been fortunate though to have acquired the services of quite a few Barrett, Kenny, Mountford to name but three.