All time best team: a personal perspective from players watched from 1931 to 2023

[fozzieskem]

Brett Kenny what a player saw him and thought this rugby league it’s not bad is it,went from being a football fanatic to going purely and simply to seem him play,only managed a few games but he left an imprint on me that’s never left.

What followed of course was sublime but let’s be fair there’s always a reason certainly I feel as someone who didn’t come from the town,to fall in love with a team and Brett Kenny was my reason and as reasons go I don’t think it was a bad one.

[craigo]

Only one with Rads. None with Hampo. So hard to determine mine. Make it easier, You can have interchanges !. Oh, Who is the best Coach ?.
I'm not taking part !.
Edit. None for Sean O'Loughlin !. Are you all sure ?. Other notable absentees, Lydon and Richards.

[pedro]

Monie for me, just ahead of Lowe

[craigo]

Monie for me, just ahead of Lowe

Same for me. He led the way. Remember the, Monie box in the stand ?. He was way ahead of the other coaches back then.

[Stanfax]

Just love how she's 99 years old and says Ellery is the best she's seen "so far"!

[bertina]

1. G fairburn
2. B. Boston
3. I. Tuigamala
4. G. Miles
5. M. Offiah
6. D. Bolton
7. A. Gregory
8. K. Skerrett
9. J. Egan
10. B. Mctigue
11. B ashurst
12. A. Farrell
13. E. hanley

[Wintergreen]

Is it the off season already?

All these lists have to be "favourite" players rather than "best" as the game progresses and the "norm" becomes different.

e.g. McTigue - I don't know much about him but a prop??? I'm sure he was a great player, but he looks tiny and would be absolutely steamrolled by today's props. Offiah would struggle to get into the top teams today as his defence would be exploited etc

My "favourite and good for their era" team would be:

1. Radlinski
2. Robinson
3. Bell
4. Miles
5. Offiah
6. Kenny
7.Edwards
8. Skerrett
9. McCormick
10. Platt
11. Goodway
12. Farrell
13 Hanley

As I said the above were entertaining/good for their era's imo.

Would they make it in today's era, (assuming they retained the size/fitness of their own era)?

I think a few above would, not sure about all of them.

Radlinski, Farrell and Hanley would be the most certain for me, and probably Edwards.

[DaveO]

Is it the off season already?

All these lists have to be "favourite" players rather than "best" as the game progresses and the "norm" becomes different.

e.g. McTigue - I don't know much about him but a prop??? I'm sure he was a great player, but he looks tiny and would be absolutely steamrolled by today's props. Offiah would struggle to get into the top teams today as his defence would be exploited etc

I don't know much about McTigue and the other older players either but I do know my late Dad would frequently mention those players as if they were in a league of their own.

As to Offiah struggling to get into a top team today, don't be daft. He'd be a shoe in not least because the standard of play today is not as good as it was IMO. That suspect defence of his also won us a Challenge Cup v Castleford where he saved two tries by getting back to defend no other winger would have the speed to do.

Here is my team:

1. Hampson
2. Robinson
3. Bell
4. Connolly
5. Offiah
6. Kenny
7.Edwards
8. Skerrett
9. Dermott
10. Platt
11. Betts
12. Farrell
13 Hanley

They would all be fine today. Most of that list approached the game in a dedicated and professional manner. There may be a doubt over Connolly who was famed for his drinking but I'd argue the rest of them would be better than any contemporary SL player today simply because all of them had more natural skill than just about anyone you could think of today.

An interesting question to ask is who out of our current team would stand a chance of getting into that side if you could send them back in time? In my opinion the answer is one player, Bevan French. Faz might have made the bench.

[the pieman]

Is it the off season already?

All these lists have to be "favourite" players rather than "best" as the game progresses and the "norm" becomes different.

e.g. McTigue - I don't know much about him but a prop??? I'm sure he was a great player, but he looks tiny and would be absolutely steamrolled by today's props. Offiah would struggle to get into the top teams today as his defence would be exploited etc

I don't know much about McTigue and the other older players either but I do know my late Dad would frequently mention those players as if they were in a league of their own.

As to Offiah struggling to get into a top team today, don't be daft. He'd be a shoe in not least because the standard of play today is not as good as it was IMO. That suspect defence of his also won us a Challenge Cup v Castleford where he saved two tries by getting back to defend no other winger would have the speed to do.

Here is my team:

1. Hampson
2. Robinson
3. Bell
4. Connolly
5. Offiah
6. Kenny
7.Edwards
8. Skerrett
9. Dermott
10. Platt
11. Betts
12. Farrell
13 Hanley

They would all be fine today. Most of that list approached the game in a dedicated and professional manner. There may be a doubt over Connolly who was famed for his drinking but I'd argue the rest of them would be better than any contemporary SL player today simply because all of them had more natural skill than just about anyone you could think of today.

An interesting question to ask is who out of our current team would stand a chance of getting into that side if you could send them back in time? In my opinion the answer is one player, Bevan French. Faz might have made the bench.

i used to play golf with a former Wigan player - Len McIntyre. Even when he was in his 60s-70s he was fit a as a fiddle and was a monster. He regularly talked about McTigue as a player and a hard man, so i can only go off what Len told me. He was basically as skillful as say Andy Farrell, but as hard as Skerret. If he told you to be on his shoulder and wait for him to pop a ball out the tackle, and you wasnt there, then you knew about it. Len very often spoke about the game when he played, but McTigue always seem to stand out head and shoulders above anyone else he played with or against

[jobo]

Is it the off season already?

All these lists have to be "favourite" players rather than "best" as the game progresses and the "norm" becomes different.

e.g. McTigue - I don't know much about him but a prop??? I'm sure he was a great player, but he looks tiny and would be absolutely steamrolled by today's props. Offiah would struggle to get into the top teams today as his defence would be exploited etc

I don't know much about McTigue and the other older players either but I do know my late Dad would frequently mention those players as if they were in a league of their own.

As to Offiah struggling to get into a top team today, don't be daft. He'd be a shoe in not least because the standard of play today is not as good as it was IMO. That suspect defence of his also won us a Challenge Cup v Castleford where he saved two tries by getting back to defend no other winger would have the speed to do.

Here is my team:

1. Hampson
2. Robinson
3. Bell
4. Connolly
5. Offiah
6. Kenny
7.Edwards
8. Skerrett
9. Dermott
10. Platt
11. Betts
12. Farrell
13 Hanley

They would all be fine today. Most of that list approached the game in a dedicated and professional manner. There may be a doubt over Connolly who was famed for his drinking but I'd argue the rest of them would be better than any contemporary SL player today simply because all of them had more natural skill than just about anyone you could think of today.

An interesting question to ask is who out of our current team would stand a chance of getting into that side if you could send them back in time? In my opinion the answer is one player, Bevan French. Faz might have made the bench.

i used to play golf with a former Wigan player - Len McIntyre. Even when he was in his 60s-70s he was fit a as a fiddle and was a monster. He regularly talked about McTigue as a player and a hard man, so i can only go off what Len told me. He was basically as skillful as say Andy Farrell, but as hard as Skerret. If he told you to be on his shoulder and wait for him to pop a ball out the tackle, and you wasnt there, then you knew about it. Len very often spoke about the game when he played, but McTigue always seem to stand out head and shoulders above anyone else he played with or against

Len was a rum un. I was in hospital with him, back in 2010/11. He kept trying to sell the doctor some of his spare golf clubs.