It was a sad sad day when we learned of the passing of one of our own greatest legends, a major force in the rugby world and, in the words of our President, Bill Lyon, the biggest influence in the history of Orrell RUFC.

The tributes and sympathies that have been posted over the last few days show just how well respected and loved he was and, on behalf of his family and the club we would like to thank all those have posted tributes for Des in the last few days

But what did he mean to Orrell RUFC? Here in Bill’s own words, is his personal view of the role Des played in the history of our great Club.

Des Seabrook

How do we begin to quantify the influence and effect of Des Seabrook in raising Orrell to the heights of club rugby in the amateur era, and his contributions to Lancashire, the North and England rugby?

Des played for the first team in the 60’s but it was in the early 1970’s when as captain and player coach he led the club to national recognition through the national knock out trophies and eventually full-blown league competitions.

As a player he led by example, and as a shrewd ball-playing number 8 guided the team in every sense of the word to ever improving performances. As well as an innate rugby knowledge there was a real ambition to succeed. He provided the driving force and impetus to push players on to ever better standards. To be accepted as a major force in English rugby was a dream which he believed was achievable from the beginning.

As the seasons progressed new and ever more difficult (and famous) opposition were challenged. His belief in his players’ ability assured them that their style of play was the right way. This was reflected in the players’ enjoyment and the ever-growing number of spectators turning up at Edgehall Road.

Training focused on fitness (to be fitter than the opposition), match preparation, game structure and final small points of detail on match day. The club acquired floodlights and played between 40 and 45 games per season. The first team squad continued to grow and there was considerable competition for places that had to be managed.

Team spirit was of the highest order and the work hard play hard attitude prevailed. Des drummed into the players the principle of mutual respect and instilled the disciplines of punctuality, organisation, dress code, kit duties etc.

Just a small example of his approach, in order to emphasise to players (backs) awareness of what the forwards had to endure to provide possession, he put 3 of us backs on the scrummage machine as a front row with the normal back 5 forwards in behind. Needless to say, all 3 ended up peering up their own backsides, but we got the message.

His successful involvement with Lancashire came as no surprise - again captaining a championship winning team and leading the county as coach on some challenging overseas tours.

His greatest achievement internationally was as coach to the north of England team that beat the All Blacks at Otley in 1978. Suffice to say the accolades from the international members of the team (Fran Cotton, Steve Smith, Tony Neary) regarding the “Des effect” should leave no one in any doubt of his influence on games at the highest level.

His involvement with England is best commented on by those around him at the time. Needless to say, that everyone at the club was delighted to see “one of our own” operate at the pinnacle of the game.

I make no apologies that my take on things has been very weighted towards the 70’s when I played for and alongside Des. These were formative years for the club and in my opinion and many others were our best. Des gave structure, advice, leadership for me and others that went on to lead the club in the 80‘s and 90’s.

It is impossible to overstate Des’s contribution to what the club achieved over 3 decades of rugby. He is surely the biggest influence in the history of Orrell RUFC

Rest in Peace Des