The Most Iconic Super League Commentary Ever? Eddie Hemmings' 'Wide To West!' | Rugby League Newsnews24 | News 24
Dark Mode Light Mode
Dark Mode Light Mode

The most iconic Super League commentary ever? Eddie Hemmings’ ‘Wide to West!’ | Rugby League Newsnews24

There has been many an influential try in Super League played but with the 5000th game on the horizon, none have had quite as an iconic commentary as ‘Wide to West’.

Picture the scene: St Helens take on Bradford Bulls in the play-offs on September 22, 2000. The defending champions Saints went into the elimination portion of the season in second spot.

Wigan were in first, with Bradford just behind them in third. It was a three-horse race to be crowned Super League champions.

The opening play-off match had reached fever pitch with Bradford leading 11-10 with just a second left on the clock when the immortal moment then occurred.

Sean Long, Kevin Iro, Sean Hoppe, Steve Hall and Tim Jonkers, Dwayne West, then Chris Joynt then put together a play which would put former Sky Sports Rugby League commentator Eddie Hemmings’ words into the history books.

“Long fancies it…it’s wide to West…Dwayne West, inside to Joynt…Joynt…Joynt!”

This is the last play. Long kicks it wide to Iro. Iro to Hall, Hall is trapped.
Back it goes to Hoppe, over the shoulder to Hall, there is Jonkers.
Here is Long and Long fancies it, Long fancies it.
It’s wide to West, it’s wide to West, Dwayne West, inside to Joynt, Joynt, Joynt, Joynt!
Oh! Oh! Fantastic! They have won it. They have won it. Chris Joynt has won it.
It is unbelievable here. It is frankly unbelievable. Chris Joynt has won the match for St Helens.
What a final passage of play.
What a run. What a try. What a match. What drama.

That iconic commentary…

St Helens stole the match with no time remaining on the clock, Bulls head coach Matthew Elliott collapsing to the floor in his coaching box as Knowsley Road went into pandemonium. St Helens went on to eventually win the Grand Final against arch rivals Wigan.

For Hemmings, it is a piece of commentary that could have only come from the heart and he is more than proud for it to be his legacy.

“It felt like a very special try. It was the last play of the match, the final siren had sounded, St Helens were sweeping from left to right as we watched,” he said.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Some of the biggest names in Rugby League have picked out their favourite moments from 30 years of the Super League

“I don’t think, in honesty, I thought that the commentary would be as memorable as it obviously has been. But I knew it was a very special moment.

“And as all commentators do, we all have our charts and we all have our biographies. And I have to thank Ian Proctor for that, the man who is the glue that holds rugby league on Sky Sports together. He is a fantastic statistician.

“Anyway, he gave me all the facts and figures about former matches, great players, current players, heights, weights, inside leg measurements, the lot. But at that moment, when that try started unfolding in front of me, I just put that piece of cardboard down and just spoke from the heart.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

One of the most memorable tries in Super League history saw Keiron Cunningham score the last try ever at St Helens’ old ground Knowsley Road back in 2010

“And as it built and built and built, it was just fantastic. The crowd helped, obviously, because they were on the way with them.

“A fantastic, magical moment. They say it is rugby league’s equivalent of Kenneth Wolstenholme’s ‘They think it’s all over, it is now’. And if that is the case, that’s my legacy and I’ll die a happy man.”

Burrow, Paris, and THAT Good Friday fight

While ‘Wide to West’ is Hemmings’ crowning glory, over the thousands of Super League matches he covered, he has more than a few highlights.

“The first night of Super League in Paris, that was an unbelievable start,” he said.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Ryan Hall scored in the closing moments against Huddersfield, ensuring Leeds lifted the 2015 League Leaders’ Shield in memorable fashion

“The first ever Grand Final, people said it wouldn’t work.

“‘What, you want to kick off at 6pm on a Saturday night? Under lights, you’re having a laugh. It’ll never ever take off.’ It did. And I think there were about 38,000 in that night and it grew and grew and grew and eventually we got it to full capacity.

“That night, Jason Robinson underneath the sticks.That’s a very proud moment.

“Kevin Sinfield, the great Sir Kevin Sinfield getting sent off. You know, the altar boy getting sent off .I think he head-butted Luke Dorn. He hardly touched him to be fair. And the referee brandished a red card. We were all absolutely gobsmacked.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Wigan Warriors’ Bevan French scored the only try in the 2024 Grand Final against Hull KR, which closely resembled Rob Burrow’s Grand Final try for Leeds Rhinos against St Helens back in 2011

“The other one, of course, was Andy Farrell and Paul Sculthorpe trading blows in the Good Friday derby at Knowsley Road. It seems that Knowsley Road produced some magical moments in the Super League history.

“That would never happen now because, of course, you’re not allowed to throw a punch. But that was an incredible moment.

“Luke Gale’s dropped goal for Castleford Tigers in 2017.

“And of course, Rob Burrow. Burrow’s try also against St Helens in the Grand Final at Old Trafford. Without doubt, one of the finest tries you will ever see.”

Watch the 5,000th game of Super League between Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos live on Sky Sports Action from 7.30pm on Friday.

Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+

Add a comment Add a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Post

Former Spurs chief Buchler sails to rescue of Fairline Yachts | Money Newsnews24

Next Post

2025 Sweet 16: Bracket, schedule, locations, teamsnews24