Continuing our look at signings that shook the RL world, Leigh drafted in Joe Egan in 1950.
£5,000 was the figure that Leigh paid neighbours Wigan and Egan moved from Central Park to become captain and coach - succeeding Emlyn Jenkins.
Despite only playing twenty games in his debut season at Leigh, the hooker scored three tries and went on to represent England, Lancashire and the Tourists.
Egan made a try scoring debut for Leigh in a 12-4 defeat of Oldham at Watersheddings, a win that also brought a try from former Oldham player Norman Harris and three goals from Ledgard.
Joe played 40 of Leigh's 47 games during a busy 1951-52 season and grabbed tries in home wins over Barrow (25-16 in October) and Widnes (11-6 in December).
He then played 35 of the club's 47 fixtures the following season (1952-53) and no games at all in 1953-54. With his body telling Egan the time had come to put the playing boots away, his final season yielded nine appearances and he remained on board with Leigh until 1956.
His seasons in charge of Leigh saw league finishes of 4th (1950-51), 7th (1951-52 plus Lancashire Cup Finalists and Semi-finalists in the Challenge Cup), 7th (1952-53 plus Lancashire Cup Winners), 13th (1953-54 plus Lancashire Cup Semi-finalists), 6th (1954-55 again Lancashire Cup Semi-finalists), 11th (1955-56 and Lancashire Cup Winners).
Egan later spent a similarly long spell in charge of Wigan where he was also a great success.
After celebrating his 90th birthday in March, the following article appeared about Joe on the Wigan Today website: http://www.wigantoday.net/leisure/Joe-Egan-39I39m-not-so.5122566.jp
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