That is pure speculation on your part.
When I have seen Roby at Test level he has not done enough or have a rounded game that includes top level distribution or tactical kicking, being a tackling machine is not enough, in tonight's SOO Robbie Farah made over 60 tackles as well as distributing the ball and hitting it up and taking tactical kicks.
Its not like Roby would be replacing Cam Smith any time soon either is it? He is regarded as one of the best and most influential players in the game.
If Roby was top shelf the NRL would have made him an offer he would find hard to refuse.
Keep in mind Ellis, Burgess and Graham are all playing for NRL Clubs that have not been Premiers in the last six Years

you and saddend would make a lovely couple you know. you both type as much poopie as each other anyway.

but i will bite at this, attributes? you mean the main attribute for a hooker which is qaulity distribution which Mcilourm is far better than both of those pick it up and run hookers.

He is not good enough without a QPTB. That is why we will never see him rip through the aussies.

For clarity (And hillarity), do you Wigan fans really, honestly, believe McIllorum to be a better player than James Roby?

Every Wigan player is better than any other player in the world in that position, you should know that by now!

I'll throw some stats in:

Roby has:
2 More Tries
10 More Try Assists
60 More Tackles
26 Fewer Missed Tackles
12 More Tackle Busts
7 More Attacking Kicks
219 More Carries
972 More Metres
5 More Clean Breaks
194 More Dummy Half Runs
1 More Goal
8 More Offloads
11 Fewer Penalties

McIllorum has:
6 Fewer Errors
20cm more per carry

It's a close one, I'll give you that.

he is better form no doubt about it. alot of the times when they come up against each other i know which one id choose.

so with hes 219 more carries he has only 5 more clean breaks, only 8 more offloads, only 2 more tries, only 10 more try assists and 12 more tackle busts. the only things this shows is how much saints are dependent on him and how he plays for himself.

just look back at 2010 grand final he pasted cunningham all over the place then roby when he come on. and 3x this season you wouldnt have even known roby was on, didnt roby only average a 4.5 meter carry in them games?

You are a typical Wigan fan. Whenever your team wins, it's because every player smashed their opposite number. Wigan have been dominant in the games against Saints, but that's not primarily down to McIllorum or Roby. At the start of this season there were threads on your forum calling for him to be dropped, saying he wasn't Wigan quality and never had been etc, calls for him to be replaced by Lueluai etc. Wigan win a few games and suddenly McIllorum is Benny Elias. I've seen McIllorum several times this season and he doesn't stand out. He's aggressive in defense but lacks creativity and plays a very basic game. I think the strength of the team he plays in is making him appear better than he is, he's no better and a very similar player to Scott Moore. You put Roby in that Wigan pack at the moment and you'd have carnage.

with out reading any more than the first sentence if Mcilorum wasn't playing we wouldnt have been nowhere near as dominent. the lad is a monster in defence and the best in the league he sets the example for others to follow.

now i have just read the rest. put roby in the wigan team and players like finch, tommy, goulding, carmont, charnley and tomkins wouldnt be half as effective because he wouldn't give the same distribution as mcilorum. i know we will never ever agree. terry newton the first thing he did when he went from prop to hooker was learn how to pass of the floor with both hands fast and accurate.

you haven't watched wigan enough if your saying he hasn't stood out because every televised game he has been sensational he just doesn't pick up the ball and scoot all the time and he is a proper hooker not a micky mouse superleague scoot hooker.

No Danny Brough on Saturday???

How come?

Isn't it strange that when Wigan had a scooter hooker their try tally dropped, when we got Piggy to replace him we started scoring tries again. Saints replace Cunningham with a scooter and they score less tries. Coincidence, I don't think so.

What is this obsession with scooting? That hasn't been in the game at all for a couple of years since they changed the interpretation of the play the ball. Teams are allowed to slow it down so much now that it's very rare any hooker gets a decent hole the run at. Good forward play is no longer getting the rewards it should as teams just lie on and set their defense.

Possibly, just possibly, Saints scored fewer tries because we've been on the decline for the last few seasons losing players like Albert, Lyon, Sculthorpe, Cunningham, Long and not replacing them. Just a thought.

Roby is an outstanding player. He's better than McIllorum in every single aspect of the game. He's better defensively, he's got a much better engine and work rate, he's more creative, he's a better offloader, a better support player.

McIllorum is no better than Scott Moore. 110% aggression and no brain.

i will bookmark this and read it when im having a poopie day to cheer myself up, thanks mate

Or more likely I'll drag this thread up once McIllorum's stock has fallen a little. He's a solid SL pro, nothing more.

Mickey Mac.

He also wears his socks rolled down. Players like that shouldnt be playing for England

Tomkins
Charnley
Ablett
Atkins
Hall
Sinfield
Chase
Crabtree
Roby
Peacock
Hock
Tickle
O'Loughlin

Burrow
Mossop
Carvell
Jones-Buchanan

Jesus.

It was something I'd heard, was more a question than statement

Ablett over Goulding is the biggest joke of the year.

What a joke of a team. That man has no idea how to pick a team at all. The Exiles must be quaking in their boots.

Not a bad 18th man. Would rather have had him at stand-off.

Sinfield and JJB? Do me a favour...