Rugby League Ashes: ‘I’d love to see a great Wembley try so they don’t have to show mine’

It all started halfway through the UK half of the field. Bobby Goulding broke free of the scrum and pushed Offiah but was tackled by Australia's speedy fullback Brett Mullins. From the start, Alan Hunt, Goulding and Phil Clarke passed possession to Betts, who passed to Davies on the halfway line, who still had a long way to go.

“I noticed Mullins getting into a little fight with Alan Hunt during the game,” Davis recalls.

“And when the ball came out there was a nice wide pass and then I straightened up a little bit and there was a little bit of kicking. [where the defensive line is not straight]so I just threw the dummy and suddenly I was in space. And then it was like slow motion.

“As soon as I fall into the abyss, I find myself in open space. And the noise just hits you. It hits you, but it doesn’t affect you, because it’s like playing as a child in a field.”

“And Brett Mullins was coming and I knew if I just stopped him a little bit, leaned my head down and then accelerated with my left foot, I had a good chance of beating him because he was out of position from that little fight he was having.

“Within ten yards I knew I had him.”

Wembley's best try? There's some friendly disagreement here. Six months earlier, Offiah had scored a stunning long-range try in the same corner of the stadium for Wigan against Leeds in the Challenge Cup final.

“I went through Brad Fittler and Steve Renouf and then Brett Mullins,” Davis says. “Martin Offiah always says he scored the best goal at Wembley and I say, 'Wait, who did you beat, mate?' Who did you beat?

Offiah recalls: “I always joke to Jiffy that he scored the second best goal at Wembley. And he always says his try was against better opposition. But yeah, it was an incredible result. I would say that's the moment that Jiffy will be remembered for.”

Looking forward to 2025, this attempt looks very sharp. Ray French, the BBC television commentator who so memorably described it, died in July.

On the night of his death, a short tribute was published on BBC One's latest news. There was an archive video: Davis' attempt with French's words.

“It was a really touching moment to remember that and also remember Ray,” Davis says.