Loughlin was good, but Newlove was better, IMO. His purchase was one of the catalysts for saints success over the last 13 yrs or so.

Loughlin was a big strong centre who hit the line hard and delivered excellent service to his winger, but he was no Newlove.

Prime Newlove was the most balanced rugby league centre I've seen. I recall him playing for Fev at Old Trafford and falling for 25 YARDS to score a try.

In his early career Newlove was a more selfish player and his mind boggling try tallies reflected this. But as he got older he became more aware of his wing man and he formed an excellent partnership with Sully.

I feel a bit sorry for Loughlin because he had a terrible final season for saints in which he blew countless tries for his winger and it kind of tarred his reputation. During one game against Wigan he cost Saints at least three tries. After this debacle the fans turned against him, which was unfair because he had provided excellent service to the club prior.

Loughlin wasn't anywhere near Newlove class. Good player, but when Newlove could be bothered he was as good as anybody.

Lockers was vastly underrated by many Saints fans, yet IMO at his peak was a genuine world class centre.

He was 6ft 3 fast big and was a great wingers centre. He could also play fullback quite well and was an excellent punt kicker of a football.

He however was no Paul Newlove. who is the second best British centre i have seen. Schofield being the best.

only one word .......NEWLOVE

newlove all day long.....

Lockers lived the dream, great centre, biggest stride in RL FACT ! Qulaity player and deserved more from teh game in terms of winners medals. But even lockers would say Newy was just out of this world and one of the very best centres to grace the game of RL.

It was a shame that he got that grief, but his last full season was actually something of a swan song. That horror game against Wigan where he drew the man then passed to the touch judge three times was in 93-94, and his form was dreadful all that year, whereas in 94-5 he was being talked about in some quarters (not by me) as warranting a recall to the international setup.

Good player, but not a patch on Newlove, who is still my favourite of all the outrageously good centres we've been spoiled with over the last few years.

Loughlin cost us the league in 92/93 by his incompetent goal kicking. Discuss.

I blame Dwyer for being a poor backup, and the rain/snow/mud also

No he never, Francis meli did

By some distance. The long-legged freak could chew up the metres in few strides.

Cost us a fortune in socks N shorts and shirts, his kit was hand made by 55 virgin dwarfs in the hills of down town bangcock.

Increased gusset capacity?

Yip, extended jermoe's career by 3 seasons.

I agree he was vastly underrated by many, perhaps because of unspectacular way he went about playing the game, and perhaps because the period in which he played in the team coincided with Wigan's dominant years. Yet he remains the clubs third highest points scorer and was an automatic choice for GB for a number of years when the GB team was more competitive.

It should also be remembered that although he was merely a makeweight in the deal that brought Newlove to Saints he filled the gap left at Bradford by Newlove's departure and helped them to two CC Finals, and a championship in '97.

Loughlin was a better tackler than Newlove, who was a bit weak in that department. He was also a deceptive runner in terms of his speed and turn of body.

Newlove was a good player, but I don't see why everyone is up his backside. Good runner, check. Good service to his winger, yes we know all that. Played for GB when he was still in nappies; fair enough, he was a big lad. But he couldn't tackle.

Chair Maker - don't talk daft about Schofield.

A serious topic?


Loughlin couldn't lace Newlove's boots. He was a wingers centre true but Newlove in his younger days didn't need a winger and still put his winger over for more than their fair share.

That's not saying Loughlin was a bad player because he wasn't.

Myth.

Newlove didn't myth thackles ofthen!

Newlove had one of the highest tackle completion ratios at the club. And that includes the forwards. Where you're getting this "can't tackle" notion from I've no idea.

Newlove was dynamite Loughlin was quite often e.

It's not, actually.

From watching him, obviously. if you took your blinkers off, you'd understand.

Statistics are nothing - you know full well that a 'tackle' is counted no matter where in the tackle you come in, whether you manage it on your own, to if you're the third man in over the top.

One on one, Newlove was shaky.

Did Stevo tell you that?

I bet you also think that Gary Connolly has better upper body strength than Marius Pudzianowski, and could beat him in an arm wrestle with one finger.