Rugby League Ashes: ‘I’d love to see a great Wembley try so they don’t have to show mine’
The match started in the middle of the GB half. Bobbie Goulding evaded a charge and cleared Offiah, but was tackled by Australia’s pacey full-back Brett Mullins. From the possession area, Alan Hunte, Goulding and Phil Clarke passed the ball towards Betts, who fed Davies long range on the halfway line.
“I had noticed Mullins getting into a little argument with Alan Hunte during a dribbling match,” Davies recalls.
“There was a good wide pass when the ball went out, then I straightened up a bit and there was a bit of a dog leg [where the defensive line is not straight]So I threw a dummy and then suddenly I found myself in space. And it was like slow motion at the time.
“As soon as I hit the gap, I hit the open field. And the noise hits you. It hits you, but it doesn’t affect you because it’s like playing on the field when you’re a kid.”
“And Brett Mullins was closing in and I knew if I controlled him a little bit, got my head down and then accelerated off my left foot, I would have a good chance of beating him because he was out of position from the little tackle he had.
“Ten meters away, I knew I had finished it.”
Wembley’s best ever try? There’s a friendly disagreement there. Six months earlier Offiah had scored an astonishing length-of-the-field try in the same corner of the stadium for Wigan against Leeds in the Challenge Cup final.
“I got around Brad Fittler and Steve Renouf and then got around Brett Mullins,” says Davies. “Martin Offiah always says he scored the best goal at Wembley and I say: ‘Wait a minute, who did you beat, mate? Who did you beat?'”
Offiah recalls: “I always joke with Jiffy that he scored the second-best try ever at Wembley. He always says it was against better opposition. But yeah, it was an incredible score. I’d say that was the moment Jiffy will be remembered for.”
There is a poignant touch to the trial viewed in 2025. BBC television commentator Ray French, who memorably described the incident, died in July.
A short tribute appeared on BBC One’s latest news the night he died. There was an archive clip: Davies’ essay, with French words.
“It was a really touching moment to remember that and to remember Ray as well,” says Davies.
