A hero forgotten in history

Len Killeen, who died last week aged 72, was a rugby player whom Danie Craven wanted to paint right out of history. Up to a point, the Doc succeeded.

A legend of the game in Britain, especially in the north of England, and Australia, Killeen is almost unknown in his homeland. He was a prophet without honour in South Africa - if not in the Eastern Cape where he grew up, and where he was well known and well liked.

Killeen's sin was that he went overseas to play rugby for money at a time when the game was still "pure" and before shamateurism came in the form of under-the-counter payments.

Professional rugby was anathema to Craven, who spent much of his time as president of white South African rugby fighting it and the Broederbond, which he imagined (often with justification), was trying to unseat him.

Much of Craven's paranoia was reserved for professional rugby, which at the time was the 13-man league code played mostly in Britain and Australia. Any sign of it in South Africa was ruthlessly crushed by the Doc.

Killeen became a victim in this purge. When he returned from his hugely successful years of playing rugby league for St Helens and Balmain, he was banned from all rugby by Craven.

And when he died last week, Killeen rated only brief mentions in the local press. In Britain and Australia his passing was marked by revered obituaries. There was a genuine sadness from those who had seen him play, had heard of his accomplishments or who had had the good fortune to play with him or against him.

When he returned to England in 1998 to be inducted into rugby league's hall of fame, he was treated like a returning hero, his son Michael remembers. "He was like Elvis was in America," said Michael with understandable exaggeration about a father who was loved and is now much missed.

What needs no exaggeration are his achievements on the field. Born in Uitenhage, Killeen played fullback and wing for Swifts as a promising 18-year-old and had seven games for Eastern Province before he was spotted by a St Helens scout.

A poor kid who was an apprentice on the railways, he could hardly ignore the lure of rugby league lucre and he left for England in 1962 at the age of 23. He joined St Helens, where he played with the great Springbok Tom van Vollenhoven, another whom Craven would never forgive.

When he left the club in 1967 for Balmain in Australia, he had scored 1161 points from 115 tries and 408 goals. His finest moment in England came in the 1966 Challenge Cup final, played at Wembley before a crowd of 98356. He scored 13 points in the 21-2 win over Wigan and won the Lance Todd Trophy for man of the match.

A week later, St Helens beat Halifax 35-12 in the league championship final with Killeen crossing for three tries and landing six goals.

He also played in Australia's 1969 Grand Final when the Balmain Tigers beat South Sydney, kicking two goals. His 207 points in that season is still a Balmain club record and 40 years later he returned to be inducted into its hall of fame.

From 1972, he has lived with his wife Cathy in East London, no longer remembered much in South Africa, but a huge figure in those places where his amazing rugby achievements are not forgotten.