The Biff!

 

I’ve seen it happen anywhere

Rochdale on a pouring down Sunday afternoon

Melbourne on a baking hot Saturday

Featherstone on a cold midwinter Friday night

Sydney on a misty winter Wednesday

The Biff!

 

At the eruption of a scrumdown wrestle

The stiff arm of a bewitched fullback

As a dancing standoff sidesteps his frame

A punch that comes from the second row

Through the stooping hips of a prop

The Biff!

 

A collision of flesh and bone

The head to head down rampage

A tackle that cuts a winger in half

The gang grapple that twists a player down

The taunt of a hooker in passing

The Biff!

 

Castleford player on Wakefield player

Australian on a British Lion

Maroon on Blue at Origin

Warrior clashing with Saint

Red rose flashpoint with white rose

The Biff!

 

They say it’s gone from our game

A remnant of the ‘good old days’

where fitness wasn’t necessarily the aim

and the after match routine

involved Tetley’s bitter and fish and chips

and that was the players

The Biff!

 

I stood with my uncle on the terraces at Belle Vue

Floodlit giants collided on bone crunching battle

And suddenly there were twentysix men boxing

Wrestling and Judo and northern Kung Fu

And a lone voice shouted ‘never mind the ball – get on with the game’

The Biff!