Big Charlie ‘the best’ – Round

Paul Round, the £65,000 former St Helens forward who became an Oldham legend and an undoubted fans’ favourite, hadn’t the slightest doubt over his answer when Braddy asked him to name the best player he ever played alongside at Oldham.

It could have produced a tricky silence for a few seconds in the Boundary Park Broadway Suite at the Newcastle game and I remember thinking it was a good question that would cause the big second-rower to put on his thinking cap.

How wrong can you be?

Quick as a flash, and with no thinking time needed, Roundy said: “There’s only one – Charlie McAlister. He was brilliant. I always felt his true potential never came out.”

To many nods of approval, Roundy said the big Kiwi, whom I can still see walking into ‘Sheddings on a snowy winter’s night for training wearing shorts and flip-flops, was talented in the extreme.

He added: “We had some great times at Watersheddings. It was always a pleasure to play at Oldham.

It was great to meet up again with second-rower Martin Ellswood, who looks young enough and big enough to still be playing. Had he not introduced himself I wouldn’t have known him

Jay Chapelhow, whose arm is in a caste after surgery on a wrist, wont play again this season. The latest recipient of the Brian Walker player-of-the-month award is already thinking of 2025 and speaks highly of the coaching and backroom staff.

Said Jay, interviewed last Sunday in the Broadway Suite: “Players get all the limelight, but we must never forget the value of preparation. Organisation is the key. We were always going to be talked about because of the quality of our players, but that’s only part of the story. We must never forget what goes on behind the scenes. The overall organisation has to be right too, and I can say it is spot-on here.”

I am indebted to the Heritage Trust for the following information. Cian Tyrer’s five tries against Newcastle took his OLDHAM total for the season to 27 which is the club’s best this century, beating the 25 scored by Nick Johnson 20 years ago.