Centenary Review: The era stretching from 1948 through to 1957 saw a changing of the guard at Bradford Northern.

The talented crop that guided the club to three successive Challenge Cup finals between '47 and '49 had established itself as one of the great sides of all time.

Players like Ernest Ward, Trevor Foster, Frank Whitcombe and Willie Davies became real legends of the game.

Northern, however, lost the 48 Challenge Cup final 8-3 to Wigan, their opponents gaining sweet revenge for an epic Championship semi-final defeat at Central Park a week earlier.

Dai Rees' side were clearly jaded from their Wembley heartache when they followed up in the Champ-ionship decider at Maine Road.

Warrington were victors there as well to make sure Northern side finished the season with nothing.

However, they bounced back in style, reaching a record third successive Wembley appearance to beat Halifax 12-0 in May 1949 in front of a highest-ever crowd of 95,050.

It was the first time a side had been nilled at the famous stadium and Eric Batten and Foster got the all-important tries to clinch an historic triumph.

Great names such as Whitcombe, Davies and George Carmichael were ageing though and they would all soon move on, making way for another clutch of heroes to stamp their mark on the club.

All Black winger Jack McLean and fellow New Zealander Joe Phillips were part of the new era in the early 1950s.

McLean set a Northern record of tries in a season with an astonishing 63 in just 46 games during 1951-52, grabbing five in one match against York at Odsal.

They finished top that year for the first time since 1904 but were denied the title by Wigan, who won the championship final 13-6 following some controversial refereeing decisions at Huddersfield.

It would be the last time Northern played in such a contest until the Super League era. The legendary Foster retired in 1955.