Re: Best set of Wigan backs?
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 5:59 pm
I always thought Jarrod Sammut (in the few games he played) had exactly "off the cuff flair"......what could have been .
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I always thought Jarrod Sammut (in the few games he played) had exactly "off the cuff flair"......what could have been .
Very good point indeed, certainly not controversial, lot of logic to it.morley pie eater wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:29 pmYou're obviously right about fitness and strength from full-time training, conditioning, diet etc.Wintergreen wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:22 pmIn terms of footballing ability that team, not just the backs would wipe the floor with any English Team before or after.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.
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.
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.morley pie eater wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:29 pmYou're obviously right about fitness and strength from full-time training, conditioning, diet etc.Wintergreen wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:22 pmIn terms of footballing ability that team, not just the backs would wipe the floor with any English Team before or after.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.
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.
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.)
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?Wintergreen wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 9:34 pmYes, this is the more interesting question, I agree.morley pie eater wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:29 pmYou're obviously right about fitness and strength from full-time training, conditioning, diet etc.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.
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.)
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.