Halifax Panthers vs London Broncos

Hero is a word that is thrown around more often than not in the sporting world to elevate everyday occurrences.

Children across the land looking up to footballers revered for making a routine pass that their multi million pound contracts dictate should be second nature (Roy Keane eat your heart out), or over exaggerated tales of calmness under pressure blown out of proportion.

Genuine displays of valour and courage, and putting the needs of others above your own, are not seen as much as we'd like in this modern world we live in.

One game day back in Super League's third ever season, Paul Rowley lived up to that tagline and much more. A young girl was in danger by the water, so up stepped the Blue Sox and England International hooker to do what he needed to. Ahead of the 1998 clash with today's visitors London Broncos, Rowley was called into action by a sudden knock on his front door.

"I remember the whole day vividly. I've got a really weird memory about games, even from being a child, I could tell you everything that happened - about all the tries, where they were scored, all the games I've played in, everything."

"It's no secret I've been a bit OCD all my life, certainly in my playing career. So my preparation as you can imagine was always pretty regimented. That day, I was just getting ready to set off to The Shay from my house in Bolton. I'd just played the sad music and got my emotions going and all that, and I was just ready to get changed and start the drive over when there was a knock at the door. I lived in a cottage with a stream in the front with a waterfall in it. Basically, I opened the door and was greeted with a horses head, and not in The Godfather kind of way."

"It was a woman on horseback leaning down saying that there's a girl stuck in the water, and there was a bit of a crowd there. She couldn't get out because there's a man made part and then there's an old part that serviced the local mill. The older part, when there was heavy rain, it was easy to get stuck and this is what had happened to the young girl that day."

"Everybody looked at me to jump in so I had no choice, I had to jump in! I couldn't get her back to where I'd gone in as the wall was too high so I had to get her to the other side. It was a bit like trying to break into Sleeping Beauty's Castle, there were thorns and all sorts of stuff going on. I managed to get her up on the banking and get myself up, but then we realised we were stuck. So eventually, the fire brigade had to come with the blankets and stuff so we didn't get cut to shreds. But we got her out in the end and all was well."

For a strict disciplinarian, this put Rowley behind schedule, much to his chagrin.

"I turned up late and got the customary rollocking and fine, as you would in those days. But I didn't have much time to think about it as I quickly got changed and the game started soon after. Sky Sports got wind of the story, it's like any journalism, they elaborated and make it bigger than what it is so when I scored that try, it became this whole thing."

The four pointer Rowley refers to was no mean feat a dead certainty in itself, and although he may be modest about his exploits in the water, there can be no doubt he pulled off a brilliant piece of individual opportunism and persistence on the field that day.

"It was a bit of a pinball moment really. I beat one tackle and then bounced the other way and almost went backwards. I would always back my speed to get around people and put myself in better spaces so it didn't concern me that, and I probably coach that way a bit as well. The old school is probably head down, backside up and try and go forward but I don't mind going sideways to try and find a little more space and better opportunities. And that was the case with that try."

"I bounced off and was probably a bit deceptive, I'm obviously not a massive bloke by any means but as you know, I trained pretty hard so I had decent strength for a little fella. I found the London half back slightly out of position and we always backed ourselves, I thought 'I've got him here' as he was a bit of a turnstile, to be honest. I went through him into the open space and backed myself all the way then. Head back, opened the legs and away I went."

The Blue Sox would go on to win the game 34-14 that night on their way to a third placed finish in Super League that season. When quizzed on whether his heroics earlier that day inspired his performance that night in front of the TV cameras, Rowley was quite philosophical.

"At the time, I remember shouting at the poor girl thinking 'what the hell are you doing in here' because my head would've fallen off, anything that disrupted my prep or anybody who was going to interfere with what was the most important thing in the world to me - playing. It wasn't like it inspired me or I was a dashing hero or anything, I just did what needed to be done at the time."

"But my heart rate was through the roof and I was running on adrenaline, and maybe I was working in a little bit of fast forward come game time. I probably learned a lot of lessons from that experiences, how to cope and become more resilient to change in a world where anything can happen at any minute."

"I loved my time at Halifax. Both at Thrum Hall and The Shay, we had some brilliant days. I'm fortunate enough that I played with some really good players who were even better blokes off the field, we had some quality individuals who were big characters and we loved each others company. They were great times and great memories."

So we knew it was going to be tough at the start of the season. The biggest thing that the girls have taken away from their part of the game at the beginning is the fact that they've stuck together and stayed connected.

They've really respected each other and had each other's backs. And that's one of our biggest core values this year at the Panthers is the fact that we stick together. We don't speak to each other not in the right way. We encourage them and we try and get the best out of each other.

So when we look at our first few games, yeah, tough, some big scores. And then we've obviously come into the Cup. We've recognised some of the stuff that was taken away from those games and worked on in training once we've been on the field. We've actually seen some big results and big changes.

One of our values is also being resilient and keep going even when it's tough. Because the thing is, we've put ourselves into this league which is a higher level than we've seen before.

We've finished well in the league below, division below. But it just wasn't competitive enough, we weren't playing enough games. So for us to go up a league, it was a risk that was taken and I think it's a great thing that we've done that because of what the people that we've kept in the squad, but also how we've built on that as well.

And I do believe that in them harder games, that's where you learn so much about yourself. Like when you're winning big results, sometimes you don't take away or go to those places where it's questionable and, you know, can you actually give that a bit more?

So I'm proud of the girls, the fact that they've stood up into a league so far where, apart from Wakefield, of course, they've been learning and responding well. We've been together, so I'm proud of the girls and following some of the values that we've got.

I'd like to finish top four. If we don’t, I'm not bothered because we've put ourselves into a league where there's absolutely no pressure on us. So for me, I'd like to finish top four, and if not, that's fine, but we've had an experience this year. But if we stay connected, then we'll continue this journey into next year where we'll all be a bit more experienced and continue to progress.

I think off the field, it's just about trying to keep the momentum going and what we're trying to do at Halifax and build on that.

And hopefully, you know, the people that are supporting us, the sponsorship is to continue to do that so we can continue and make the journey a little bit easier, which makes the environment good for the girls, which then impacts onto the field. So, you know, it's just good behaviour away from Rugby and for them it's just getting their 1% right as well.

I would also personally like to thank Nathan Swarbrick at the foundation because he's worked endlessly on, you know, the girls' kit, sponsorship, sorting medical stuff out. He's just gone above and beyond. And without Nathan's support this year, we possibly wouldn't have been anywhere near where we are. So I'm very grateful for Nathan and all the hard work that he's been doing.

We'll all continue working hard to improve, playing for each other, and enjoying what we do.