First game 28/01/1911, Last game 21/03/1925, Played 259 Tries 49 Goals 1 Points 149.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

Arthur Skelhorn was a Great Britain forward who refused to play for Warrington or even watch rugby league on Good Fridays because of his strong religious beliefs.

Skelhorn worshipped at St James’s Church, Latchford, 100 yards away from Wilderspool, and when he was called up by Great Britain for the 1920 tour the news was included in the parish magazine.

It reported: “We extend congratulations to Mr A Skelhorn, who has been chosen to go out with the representative English NU rugby team to Australia. Mr Skelhorn is a regular attendant at St James’s and we take it as an additional honour to the Church.”

The tourists left home in April and on the first leg of their journey, from Tilbury to Marseilles, a fellow passenger was David Lloyd George, the prime minister. He was introduced to each member of the party, shaking hands with them and wishing them well for the tour.

Skelhorn and his Warrington team-mate Billy Cunliffe both made their Great Britain debuts in the front row in the third Test at the Royal Agricultural Ground in Sydney on July 10.

Both did well as the Lions, against all expectations, won 23-13, although Australia had already won the first two Tests to reclaim the Ashes.

When the Kangaroos made the return trip to England during the 1921-22 season, Cunliffe was at number eight and Skelhorn at number 10 as Great Britain regained the Ashes to start an incredible sequence of 10 successive series victories which stretched until 1950.

Skelhorn had a remarkable record against Australia. Throughout his career he played against them seven times for Warrington, Lancashire, England and Great Britain and was on the losing side only once.

His seven Great Britain caps, three England caps and six appearances for Lancashire were mainly as a prop forward, but for Warrington he was much more versatile. He played in every position in the pack and was even the club’s leading try-scorer in the 1920-21 season – with 10 in 27 games – when he operated exclusively as a loose-forward.

George Arthur Skelhorn, GAS to his friends, had joined Warrington from the Stockton Heath junior team in early 1911. He received a £5 signing-on fee and so did his amateur club. It was money well spent.

Skelhorn made his debut at Oldham at the end of January and scored his first two tries at Coventry in a Challenge Cup tie the following month, the match in which Jack Fish made his final appearance for the Wire.

By the 1912-13 season he was a first-team regular and was a member of the side who reached the Challenge Cup final at Headingley, only to lose 9-5 to Huddersfield’s “team of all the talents” in a classic match.

The First World War soon interrupted his career and Skelhorn served with the South Lancashire regiment, seeing much active service.

In December 1921, when Warrington won the Lancashire Cup for the first time, by beating Oldham at The Cliff, Skelhorn pulled out of the team shortly before kick-off with a leg injury, saying he did not want to jeopardise the team’s chances.

Another injury, a broken collarbone, suffered at Wigan in March 1924, ended his hopes of making a second tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Skelhorn’s standing within the game and inside the club was recognised for the 1924-25 season when he was named captain.

He made his 259^thand final appearance for the Wire in March 1925 and scored a try, his 49^thfor the club, in an impressive 23-11 victory over Huddersfield at Wilderspool.

The game was, in fact, a benefit match for Skelhorn and Jim Tranter who, between them, had made more than 500 first-team appearances. A crowd of 11,000 – Warrington’s biggest home crowd of the season – turned out to honour the pair and give generously to the half-time collection.

After that Skelhorn concentrated on life off the pitch, he was elected to the committee at Wilderspool and became the licensee of the Hawthorne Hotel in Orford Lane, both posts he held for the next six years until his death, aged just 45, from bronchial pneumonia, in April 1931.

Hall of Fame: Bevan, Chisnall, Greenough and Skelhorn