The greatest of them all......Andrew Staniland

Plus the ones before those stars Joe Thompson etc

Andy Smith - John Player Trophy winner.

Yes some other top stars before my time Lionamour. I am not as old as you so I only mentioned the ones I have seen play

On the cap, a recent BBC article said only one Premiership RU side made a profit last year. The difference in wealth of their owners compared to most of SL is a big factor - they can afford to pay to their much higher cap because their backers can afford it.

Until Douggie signed Fallon and Innes we were generally spectacularly bad at signing RU players in the 80s and 90s. Our sole Welsh signing was David Young, one of those RU props utterly unsuited to RL. Meanwhile some truly class Welshmen signed for other clubs - Devereux, Davies, Bateman, Gibbs, Ellis etc.

Wasn't the great Sateki Tuipolutu from Union?

That's an astonishing fact isn't it. What is the cap now? 7.5 million? You are right about owners, rumour I heard is James Dyson is after buying Bath because the current owner fancies selling up and buying Toulon.
Gloucester just threw away 30 grands worth of kit after the badge re-design. Not just the first team but all the age groups now can't play or train in the old stuff.

On the subject of Union players - if there was one I could sign to league it would be Christian Wade. He'd be sensational.

My God he was terrible that lad

Yet, there was a time when he was our most pacey and dangerous attacking player. And he did have gas. I saw him go the length of the pitch at Leigh chased by Des Drummond.

Go on then I will...

"If Des Drummond had been chasing me, I'd have gone the length of the field too..."

Where do I collect the prize?

Excellent BBC programme on iplayer at the moment "Rugby Codebreakers" about the welsh players that left union for league

Damn you beat me to the punch. Without doubt one of the best wingers the game has seen.

And a Karate Black Belt if Ray French is to be believed. "this young man from .... former .......... amateur, tremendous player...."

And what a grim time that was.
Was des Drummond pulling a fridge? He scored some belters at Headingley. The day Leigh won at Headingley to win the league he was brilliant.

“Making his way in the game....”

Codebreakers well worth a watch. Great social history of our game and the Welsh, particularly the black Welsh players who helped make our game great.
RU converts not mentioned...Tuigamala, Botica, Fairburn, and for those who think Union forwards have no guts......ladies and gentlemen i give you Big Jim Mills

It certainly is worth watching, you can see why it made sense to play as Great Britain in those days, although you have to think a golden opportunity was missed at international level. A yearly tri nations should have been played between England, Wales and France. With the talent Wales had they’d have stood a real chance and Rugby League could have gained a real foothold in Wales.

Absolutely. And the game is much poorer now for not establishing the international game then.