A Lions tourist on four occasions, Garry Schofield equalled Mick Sullivan’s 46-cap Great Britain record when appearing in his sixth Ashes series, as substitute, in the final two Tests in 1994.

A former BARLA Youth tour captain, he marked his debut season with Hull by topping the game’s try chart with 38, as a teenager, in 1983-84. Schofield toured with the Lions at the end of that season and announced himself on the test stage by scoring unforgettable solo tries in Sydney and Brisbane as Frank Myler’s side lost a lamentable series.

He equalled the try-scoring records of Jim Leytham, Billy Boston and Alex Murphy when crossing for all four touchdowns in Great Britain’s 25-8 second Test defeat of New Zealand at Wigan in the drawn series of 1985.

And he joined the elite band of players to score tries in each game of an Ashes series (five tries in total) as GB lost all three tests on home soil to the Wally Lewis-led Kangaroos of 1986.

As vice-captain, Schofield excelled in conjunction with his captain, Mike Gregory, on the 1990 Lions tour to PNG and New Zealand, revelling in the switch to stand-off as GB savoured a 2-1 victory in one of the most closely-fought series in history. His drop-goal proved the difference in the opening test at Palmerston North and he scored tries in Auckland and Christchurch. Aggregate scores in the series were level at 45 points each.

He captained his country on 13 occasions, including the 1992 World Cup Final against Australia at Wembley, throughout the 1992 Ashes series in Australia and when Great Britain produced their finest performances of modern times when white-washing the Kiwis, 3-0, in 1993.

At domestic level, apart from a couple of Yorkshire Cup wins in 1983 and 1984 and a substitute’s appearance in the epic 1985 Wembley final defeat against Wigan, Schofield’s career with Hull yielded few honours despite a prolific try return.

His £155,000 transfer to hometown Leeds in1987 broke the transfer record and within a year he was starring in the Yorkshire Cup defeat of Castleford. That was to be his only winners’ medal as two Wembley appearances brought defeats against Wigan in 1994 and 1995. He took the Man of Steel award for a sensational year in 1991.

The arch try-poacher scored 328 touchdowns in a British career of almost 500 games and that was complemented by four close-season stints in Australia, with Balmain in 1985, 1986 and 1987 and with Western Suburbs in 1989.

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Garry Schofield OBE

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