Best set of Wigan backs?

Discuss all things Wigan Warriors. Comments and opinions on all aspects of the club's performance are welcome.
CheshireWarrior
Posts: 1126
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2019 7:58 pm

Re: Best set of Wigan backs?

Post by CheshireWarrior »

PJC wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:08 pm The team of 88-95 were rugby entertainers. Fitness , strength and tactical awareness have all increased. You couldn’t and shouldn’t decrease those. However natural flair has suffered. To me it’s a problem with today’s game. How does off the cuff flair come back.
I always thought Jarrod Sammut (in the few games he played) had exactly "off the cuff flair"......what could have been 🤣.
CheshireWarrior
Posts: 1126
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2019 7:58 pm

Re: Best set of Wigan backs?

Post by CheshireWarrior »

morley pie eater wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:29 pm
Wintergreen wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:22 pm
Sutty wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:35 pm I was just watching a video of us from 1994 and we had

Radlinski
Offiah
Connolly
Tuigamala
Robinson
Paul
Edwards

As our backs. I can't remember seeing a full set of backs that were so brilliant, certainly not since I first started watching Wigan in 1986. Yes, we've had other players of a similar calibre, but not all at the same time. I feel genuinely privileged to have seen some of the rugby that we played back then.
In terms of footballing ability that team, not just the backs would wipe the floor with any English Team before or after.

Any team before the late 80's would be totally destroyed by a modern team. The backs of a modern side are stronger than the forwards previously and the fitness levels are night and day.
You're obviously right about fitness and strength from full-time training, conditioning, diet etc.

But surely the point of comparing teams of the past is to look at the skills of players in the context of the era they played in? Would Billy B have stood out in any other era? You bet he would!!!

Here's a controversial thought: How good would our all-conquering team of 85-95 have looked if they hadn't been full-timers playing part-timers?

The truth is that we don't know. Everybody can have an opinion, but there are no definitive answers because it didn't happen. Equally we'll never see Billy B or Brian McTigue against Tommy Makinson or Alex Walmesley.

(Sits back and waits for the flak.)
Very good point indeed, certainly not controversial, lot of logic to it.
Wintergreen
Posts: 1611
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 2:13 pm

Re: Best set of Wigan backs?

Post by Wintergreen »

morley pie eater wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:29 pm
Wintergreen wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:22 pm
Sutty wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:35 pm I was just watching a video of us from 1994 and we had

Radlinski
Offiah
Connolly
Tuigamala
Robinson
Paul
Edwards

As our backs. I can't remember seeing a full set of backs that were so brilliant, certainly not since I first started watching Wigan in 1986. Yes, we've had other players of a similar calibre, but not all at the same time. I feel genuinely privileged to have seen some of the rugby that we played back then.
In terms of footballing ability that team, not just the backs would wipe the floor with any English Team before or after.

Any team before the late 80's would be totally destroyed by a modern team. The backs of a modern side are stronger than the forwards previously and the fitness levels are night and day.
You're obviously right about fitness and strength from full-time training, conditioning, diet etc.

But surely the point of comparing teams of the past is to look at the skills of players in the context of the era they played in? Would Billy B have stood out in any other era? You bet he would!!!

Here's a controversial thought: How good would our all-conquering team of 85-95 have looked if they hadn't been full-timers playing part-timers?

The truth is that we don't know. Everybody can have an opinion, but there are no definitive answers because it didn't happen. Equally we'll never see Billy B or Brian McTigue against Tommy Makinson or Alex Walmesley.

(Sits back and waits for the flak.)
Yes, this is the more interesting question, I agree.

I think you can make a case for some players more than others, but as you say it's all conjecture, and it's possible, or indeed likely that some players would have changed their style to adapt to different demands.

Take someone like Andy Gregory. A player who imo, was a joy to watch. Would/could he have changed his diet/training to play in today's competition? There is no doubt he had the skill but would he have had the fitness/discipline? Perhaps, perhaps not.

Brett Kenny was fantastic for us in the 1985 season, but with tighter defences would he have been as dominant? Could he have changed his game to compensate or was that not in his locker?

I appreciate it's a decade or so later but I think every one of these

Radlinski
Offiah
Connolly
Tuigamala
Robinson
Paul
Edwards

Would have made it in todays game.
morley pie eater
Posts: 3219
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 2:01 pm

Re: Best set of Wigan backs?

Post by morley pie eater »

Wintergreen wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 9:34 pm
morley pie eater wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:29 pm
Wintergreen wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:22 pm

In terms of footballing ability that team, not just the backs would wipe the floor with any English Team before or after.

Any team before the late 80's would be totally destroyed by a modern team. The backs of a modern side are stronger than the forwards previously and the fitness levels are night and day.
You're obviously right about fitness and strength from full-time training, conditioning, diet etc.

But surely the point of comparing teams of the past is to look at the skills of players in the context of the era they played in? Would Billy B have stood out in any other era? You bet he would!!!

Here's a controversial thought: How good would our all-conquering team of 85-95 have looked if they hadn't been full-timers playing part-timers?

The truth is that we don't know. Everybody can have an opinion, but there are no definitive answers because it didn't happen. Equally we'll never see Billy B or Brian McTigue against Tommy Makinson or Alex Walmesley.

(Sits back and waits for the flak.)
Yes, this is the more interesting question, I agree.

I think you can make a case for some players more than others, but as you say it's all conjecture, and it's possible, or indeed likely that some players would have changed their style to adapt to different demands.

Take someone like Andy Gregory. A player who imo, was a joy to watch. Would/could he have changed his diet/training to play in today's competition? There is no doubt he had the skill but would he have had the fitness/discipline? Perhaps, perhaps not.

Brett Kenny was fantastic for us in the 1985 season, but with tighter defences would he have been as dominant? Could he have changed his game to compensate or was that not in his locker?

I appreciate it's a decade or so later but I think every one of these

Radlinski
Offiah
Connolly
Tuigamala
Robinson
Paul
Edwards

Would have made it in todays game.
I totally agree with you. Individually and collectively, those players would be stars in any generation. It's probably harder to compare forwards across the years. Remember "ball-handling props" like Brian McTigue and loose forwards like Reilly, Knocker Norton or Douggie Laughton?

In our memories, there's also the influence of the time/age when we watched them.

For example, one of my favourite players is Bill Francis, who hardly gets a mention. I think it's because I was just starting to appreciate the subtleties of the game. Watching him, it was like time stood still - you could see he was weighing up his options, and he'd slip a pass or sidestep a defender, then pause to see what to do next.

Nigel Wright was similar but injury-prone. But I'm not sure how this kind of player would cope today.

Another factor is the team they played in. George Fairbairn was a star, but had little chance of success with some of the squad he played in.
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Exiled Wiganer
Posts: 2677
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:18 pm

Re: Best set of Wigan backs?

Post by Exiled Wiganer »

Someone mentioned Brett Kenny above. I have absolutely no
doubt that he would have succeeded in any era. He was an utterly complete player. As for entertainment in our era, Field is the most exciting fullback we have had since young Sam played there. Worth every penny of the season ticket to see him play.
archiekeith
Posts: 374
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:17 am

Re: Best set of Wigan backs?

Post by archiekeith »

It's. An impossibility to determine the(best set.......) for the reasons stated. So I'll mention just some I couldn't leave out. George Fsirburn,Billy Boston,Dean Bell,Gene miles,Ellery HanleyPhil Blake et al. Found myself agreeing with all the posted selections hence my dilemma Still it was great to walk down memory lane :D
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