Hall of Fame - Gerry Helme : 1945-1957
Gerry Helme was discovered when Warrington staged a number of trial games before the resumption of fixtures in 1945/46. Helme had everything. He was quick, with a good pair of hands, he could kick with great length and pinpoint accuracy, his tackling was a joy to behold and his temperament and stamina were magnificent. In short, he was world class and his international record of 12 Great Britain caps and 5 England caps is testimony to that. He also played 11 times for Lancashire.
Gerry Helme was the first player to win the Lance Todd Trophy twice, as man of the match in Warrington's Challenge Cup final victories of 1950 and 1954. In the years that followed his long, raking kicks created many tries for Brian Bevan, but one of his tackling techniques, which became known as the "Cumberland throw", was banned by the Rugby Football League. Helme, who was 5ft 6in and 10st 10lb used to grab the wrist of the oncoming opponent and, at the same time, duck under and with the inevitable result that the opponent flew over Helme's back and hit the ground with a resounding thud. Opponents decided not to use the hand-off when Helme was in their path.
His finest hour for his club was the never-to-be-forgotten Challenge Cup final replay against Halifax at Odsal Stadium, in 1954, which was played out in front of a then world record crowd of 102,569. Helme capped a magnificent display by scoring the match-winning try in an 8-4 victory. Inevitably, Helme was an automatic choice for the 1954 tour of Australia and New Zealand, playing in five of the six Test matches. On his return to England, Helme was one of three tourists selected to play for Great Britain in the inaugural World Cup in France and this proved to be his finest hour as an international as he helped his team to victory. Helme even scored the match-winning try in the first World Cup final as the hosts were defeated 16-12 in front of 30,000 demonstrative Parisians at the Parc des Princes.While at Wilderspool, Helme also played in three Championship finals, emerging victorious in 1948, 1954 and 1955. He played his last game for the Wire at Workington on 2 February, and then went on to coach Leigh and Oldham.
He died just before Christmas 1981 at the age of fifty-nine. Gerry Helme played 442 games for Warrington, scored 101 tries, kicked 19 goals for a total of 341 points
