Day 7 Codebreaker – Johnny Freeman

Born in the heart of Tiger Bay in 1934, he went to South Church Street School where he was in the same team as Billy Boston and his cousin, Joe Erskine. He played with them both at the CIACS before joining Halifax in December, 1954. Over 13 seasons he scored 291 tries in 398 first-class matches. In 1963-64 he helped Halifax win the Yorkshire Challenge Cup and the Eastern Championship and then the Rugby League Championship the next season. He appeared in another Championship final in 1966. A regular attendee at WRL matches in the Super League era, he died in Butetown on June 22, 2017, having returned to live in his home town. He still holds the Halifax club records of 48 tries in 45 games in 1956-57 and 290 tries in his career.

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