Doug was a great motivator style coach, with a talent scouts eye, those Widnes teams of the 80's were awesome and every bit as good if not better than the Wigan sides that over took them. I believe one of the reasons he came to Leeds was to be able to match Wigans financial clout, after they were cutting his junior supply lines to stem them. so he did indeed revamp our at the time awful junior development and pave the way for what was to come. we were unlucky not to win some silverware but to (and lost) lost 4 finals under him in about 4 seasons.
he was a great player as well often overshadowed in his era by the likes of Mal Reilly steve Norton phil lowe etc but was a world class international back row. Gb captain, (think ashes and works cup winner as well)
