Jamie Stokes had actually made his
debut in 1996 but managed just 17 games in his first three seasons as he was
brought along slowly by David Ward and Steve Sims. His first match was off the
bench against Whitehaven in July 1996 and he made an immediate impact, grabbing
two tries, and showing his trademark speed off the mark and eye for the line that
would bring him so many more. He served his apprenticeship in a very good
Academy and reserve side that included the likes of Jamie Rooney, Steve Dooler,
Stuart Dickens, and Neil Lowe. It wasn’t until 1999 that he finally got an
extended run in the side coached by Peter Roe, and Jamie repaid the faith shown
in him with quality try scoring, good hands, and an appetite for the hard work
of bringing the ball away from acting half-back.
He was a
permanent fixture in the first team for the next six seasons, rarely absent
through injury, displaying a high level of consistency. His major asset though
of course was his pace and he was difficult to catch over any distance. Despite
having an array of centre partners, including Martin Law, Richard Newlove,
Chris Spurr, Brendon O’Meara, and Fred Zitter, his try tally always remained
impressively high. He was the club’s top try scorer in 2000, 2001 and 2003and his
season by season totals went 18, 23, 21, 10, 22 and 16. Among numerous long
distance tries and hatricks, one outstanding effort against Doncaster in 2003
stands out for me when he scooped the ball up from acting half-back inside his
own 25 and then mesmerised the whole Doncaster team with a mazy run before
accelerating clear to score.
When he
reached 100 tries in his career during the 2003 season, he was at the time the third
fastest player ever to reach that number, as it took him just 167 games. Only
Martin Pearson and Paul Newlove and then recently Andy Kain have done it faster.
Troubled for the first time in his career by a shoulder injury during 2004, this
turned out to be his final season and after that he joined Batley. He played a
further four seasons at Mount Pleasant before retiring. His Featherstone Rovers
career total stood at 117 tries from 197 games, seventh on our all-time list.
Testament
to Jamie’s consistency and durability would be a quick look at the number of
players who filled the opposite wing during the same 1999 to 2004 time period
when he played. Matt Bramald, Ian Thompson, Adrian Flynn, James Ford and Matt
Wray all made their mark.
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