REG Parker, a doyen figure in Rugby League, received a merit award for his lifetime commitment to the sport from the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group last week.

Reg, who is now 77, and has lived in Grange-over-Sands all his life, was "completely surprised" by the presentation after going with his wife Shirley as unsuspecting guests to the group's annual dinner at the House of Lords.

It's been a busy week socially for he also attended the Great Britain Lions' yearly bash at Bradford last Sunday Reg's career in Rugby League started after he had played one game of Rugby Union for Ulverston Grammar School, where he was a 15-year-old pupil.

"The Sports Master told me he would not be picking me again because I was useless," says Reg, who turned to rugby's other code by joining Barrow ATC (later the White House) team and rose to wear an England international shirt.

A distinquished career spanning 17 years followed with Barrow, Wakefield and Blackpool.

Highlight of his playing days was when he won a Challenge Cup winners' medal with Barrow in 1955, the second-row forward featuring in the club's only success in the competition when they beat Workington 21-12 in a memorable Wembley final.

He also appeared in a second Wembley final but was on the losing Barrow side they went down to Leeds 9-7 two years later.

After he finished playing, Reg became director and then chairman of Blackpool RLFC and was appointed manager of the Great Britain Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1974, and manager of the Lions squad which contested the World Cup, again Down Under in 1977, where they lost 13-12 to the Australia in the final at Sydney.

Reg has been a major campaigner for youth development and at the forefront of the grass-roots initiatives to develop the game in schools.

He was a founder of the North-West Development for Rugby League and also chairman of the Rugby League in 1985.

Perhaps the most unusual fact about his career in the game is that he was both manager of the Wales and England Rugby League teams, having taken up the cause to resurrect the Welsh side.

Reg and Shirley took over the running of his family's business, the Grayrigg Hotel, for 30 years until they retired.