Pinched from Bilko re Liam Marshall

[pedro]

I always thought mark preston was faster than offiah....... he scored some great tries for us but we got rid coz he couldnt tackle........ then we signed offiah lol

wasnt in offiahs class for speed

[No straw damn us]

Very impressive stats for Liam even though it's difficult to compare different eras. Bearing in mind that Offiah was a fully developed player when we signed him and he played in a very dominant side Liam's figure look good. The one who interests me most is Johnny Ring who has a phenomenal record yet is hardly ever mentioned as one of our greats like Billy. Can any of our older/better informed fans explain why this is the case please?

I think it's simply that there are still many of us who remember Billy playing, and a few clips of his tries.

Johnny Ring last played for Wigan in 1931, so you'd need to be almost 100 to remember seeing him play. I do remember being told how good he was when I was a lad back in the 50s/60s.

Here's the reason Wigan signed Boston. A clip from the Army RU final in 1953. Big thanks to Jukesays for finding it and posting it on RL fans.

Enjoy. The best there has ever been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHA9iTWn5xI&app=desktop

[jinkin jimmy]

I always thought mark preston was faster than offiah....... he scored some great tries for us but we got rid coz he couldnt tackle........ then we signed offiah lol

wasnt in offiahs class for speed

You're exaggerating. There was very little in it speed wise for me. Also (for Firestarter) my understanding was that he had a decent job and wouldn't turn full time?

[Lazy J]

Around that time we picked a few players up from Flyde RU, Preston was one, David Stephenson was another (he may have come via another club) but was from that area. Most of them had good daytime jobs with the CIS so turning full time pro was a big risk, so they stayed semi pro or retired.

[the pieman]

I always thought mark preston was faster than offiah....... he scored some great tries for us but we got rid coz he couldnt tackle........ then we signed offiah lol

wasnt in offiahs class for speed

You're exaggerating. There was very little in it speed wise for me. Also (for Firestarter) my understanding was that he had a decent job and wouldn't turn full time?

to be honest i would say Preston / Robinson would probably have been quicker than Offiah over 1st 10-15 yards, but Offiah was poetry in motion over the longer distances and it took something special to stop him

[Wintergreen]

Preston and Offiah were pretty well matched for pace.

Offiah was the better predator though and had an instinct for the line.

[widdenoldboy]

Very impressive stats for Liam even though it's difficult to compare different eras. Bearing in mind that Offiah was a fully developed player when we signed him and he played in a very dominant side Liam's figure look good. The one who interests me most is Johnny Ring who has a phenomenal record yet is hardly ever mentioned as one of our greats like Billy. Can any of our older/better informed fans explain why this is the case please?

I think it's simply that there are still many of us who remember Billy playing, and a few clips of his tries.

Johnny Ring last played for Wigan in 1931, so you'd need to be almost 100 to remember seeing him play. I do remember being told how good he was when I was a lad back in the 50s/60s.

We were interested in signing his grandson, Mark Ring I think just before RU starting paying over the table?

[moto748]

We were interested in signing his grandson, Mark Ring I think just before RU starting paying over the table?

I wondered if he was related to Mark Ring, and looked both men up on Wikipedia, but it didn't mention that, which they usually do.

[moto748]

Wasn't it Mark Ring who was sanctioned by the WRU for (successfully) back-heeling a conversion over the bar? Sounds like a bit of a character!

[wildbeast]

Gary Henley Smith signed by Wigan in mid 80's -recommendation by Ces Mountford-Supposed to have been fast but never showed anything and looked absolutely terrified on the few occasions I saw him. Was apparently almost an all black !!!!!