Sam v Shaun

[Kittwazzer]

In fairness doc, I did say 'at the same age'.

[lucky 13]

Both class, Only time will tell how great Sam will be. At the moment I would say he's more like Lockyer(if he turns out half as good he will be a legend) in the way he plays than Edwards. Edwards did not have the natural talent like Sam does but his self determination more than made up for it. Edwards was a coach on the field, just thinking about it I can't remember him knocking on, or missng a tackle, if the ball was bad he would trap it on his foot, the other thing on Edwards side was the players around him, Greg, Hanley, Bell and fantastic quick ball from Martin Dermot,the list goes on . Sam is a one off make the most of watching him

[Wes]

I think we are extremely lucky that we have a player to genuinely compare to Edwards.

Personally I think they are uncomparable though the game has changed and evolved a lot so in theory if you dropped Sam into Shauns team he would have killed it if you dropped Shaun into Sams team he would be average at best.

Still nice idea and sentiments though!

[yoda warrior]

I was just watching some old youtube clips of wigan when i first started watching about 18 years ago. The most obvious difference to todays game was how Edwards dominated almost every play. He recieved the ball at first reciever on probably 80% of plays. Made me wish we (England) had a half back now who had the confidence and ability to dominate a game like that. The Australians always have plenty.

The other thing i noticed was how the attack was less structured than now. Watching Wigan today, there's normally a couple of drives setting up the play with two dummy runners, half backs as second man trying to get Sam into space on the outside. They have a few moves but that is the usual go to play. This means the halves can be less reactive and arguably less creative and dominant because it's all planned out in advance. Watching Edwards, it was clear he often got the ball with no plan in mind and he, and consequently his runners would have to react to opportunities presenting themselves in the defensive line. He was brilliant at it. He would spot a defender not quite on his mettle and go towards him. The runners would sense the chance and follow him, often being put into space. Edwards never got tackled with the ball, late in his career.

He would be brilliant in todays game, and i think we may have won a series against Australia in the last decade if he'd been there.

[TedMac]

This might sound daft but Sam's abilities are beginning to scare me!
Against Wire when he chipped through to King, he knew King would get that ball but he'd already calculated that if he got in quick, he could maybe make King drop the ball for Lockers to pick up.

Against Hull, he pushed other Wiganers out of the way to be receiver from Lockers because he could see the gaps in the broken play and he had to have that ball. Ten seconds later, the match was over.

I've watched Wigan since the 1960s and I've seen no-one, not even Edwards, who had such a combination of talents. Speed, ball handling, unbelievable balance, determination AND a brain that seems to work twice as fast as anybody else's. That's not to put Sean Edwards down - the guy was phenomenal and a joy to watch - but this lad I think is unique. If he stays fit, there is no real limit to what he can do. Other teams try to flatten him or shut him down but they're wasting their time.

My brother in law, who's an exiled Wiganer and a big fan of both codes, reckons that there's no union player in Europe that can match him and that Wasps would offer £500,000 tomorrow if they thought they had a chance.

[Pedrotheexile]

Unfair comparison as they have totally different styles of play.

Sam wins on open field running.

Shaun wins on organisation, kicking, tactical awareness, support play and an almost psychotic desire to win.

Have to give it to Shaun at the moment but Sam's got plenty of time to catch him up.

Agreed except where does "almost" come into it-he was /is psychotic in his desire.

[cpwigan]

Both class, Only time will tell how great Sam will be. At the moment I would say he's more like Lockyer(if he turns out half as good he will be a legend) in the way he plays than Edwards. Edwards did not have the natural talent like Sam does but his self determination more than made up for it. Edwards was a coach on the field, just thinking about it I can't remember him knocking on, or missng a tackle, if the ball was bad he would trap it on his foot, the other thing on Edwards side was the players around him, Greg, Hanley, Bell and fantastic quick ball from Martin Dermot,the list goes on . Sam is a one off make the most of watching him

:eusa2:

Top man Lucky. I am glad somebody else remember the Edwards trapping bad passes with his boot. IMO, it should be in every coaching manual and yet nobody does it.

[slimshady]

I think we are extremely lucky that we have a player to genuinely compare to Edwards.

Personally I think they are uncomparable though the game has changed and evolved a lot so in theory if you dropped Sam into Shauns team he would have killed it if you dropped Shaun into Sams team he would be average at best.
Still nice idea and sentiments though!

Iam sorry but you cannot call Edwards average he was anything but. He was a one off, in todays era he would have no problem adapting his style and I have no doubt he would still be a stand out player and if we had half backs that were half as good as he was we would be beating the aussies regularly. Quite simply he is a legend.

[pedro]

I think we are extremely lucky that we have a player to genuinely compare to Edwards.

Personally I think they are uncomparable though the game has changed and evolved a lot so in theory if you dropped Sam into Shauns team he would have killed it if you dropped Shaun into Sams team he would be average at best.

Still nice idea and sentiments though!

the game when edwards played was far more skillful I feel. people are just fitter now.

[platt-warrior]

the game when edwards played was far more skillful I feel. people are just fitter now.

Quite right Pedro


:eusa2: