Players who Shook the Crumbie #27: Paul Dodge

[Iain]

This write up from dailywaffle

The 'oil can' will go down as one of Leicester's, and probably England's, most reliable centres. He acted as the perfect foil for the two free spirits alongside him; Cusworth and Woodward, and was the glue that held Tigers' midfield together for almost a decade.

First played for the Tigers 1st team as a teenager, only 16 on his very first appearance as I recall. He came to the England selectors attention as an 18 year old after excelling against the Barbarians and became one of England's youngest ever players at the age of 19.

From 1980 Dodge became a permanent fixture for England, and was one of Leicester's 'famous 5' with only a 'dodgy' hamstring preventing him from getting more than his 32 caps. Regularly overlooked by the Lions (lost out twice to Woodward), he still played twice on the '80 tour against SA. Made over 400 appearances for the Tigers, despite that hamstring and a badly broken leg against Pontypool; a testiment to his fitness and resilience.

Paul was one of those unflashy players that just did everything well. Great pass and hands, big left foot, strong runner and good tackler, without him Les and Clive could never have done the spectacular stuff. I remember games against Gloucester, Harlequins and Neath (to name but three) where he utterly dominated the opposition and seemed to constantly have his hands on the ball. Was also known to combine with Les on the 'American Football' move - with varying degrees of success !

As we all know, very much part of Tigers' succession, having been part of the coaching set up from '93 with both his sons having featured for the Tigers. A true Leicester legend.

[Chesterfield Chris]

Great player and servant ot the club - I was privileged to see him play many teams being just a few years younger than him.

[Pellsey]

He was a regular for the first few years I watched the Tigers. Very very solid player with hardly a weakness (only his thigh - which was constantly bandaged, I seem to remember). I'm very glad I could watch him play.

[BrumJim2]

A player who, IMHO, would have fitted well into the professional game.

Paul Dodge was a solid tackler - any player tackled by Dodge remained tackled, and knew about it!! He also had a good eye for the gap, scoring many a try through a sudden burst of pace through the defensive line. Furthermore, he had a very powerful left boot. In the early years of Dusty he took the right field kicks, and could convert attempts from the half way line and beyond at will.

Also perfected the cross-field diagonal, turning line-out possession on the 10m line to attacking line-outs well inside the 22.

Definately a legend.