The best Non Wire i'll go Shaun Edwards

Langer and his cumberland throw was pretty awesome.

Yep, back in the day you'd partner a tackling second rower with a runner.

It was always Sanderson and perm any one from Roberts/McGinty/Duane/Richards/Cullen/Gregory/Mercer et al

A defensive machine

Jon Clarke - for all his faults is actually decent at D. His tackle count used to be so high because he would be 2nd or 3rd man in. Maybe not the most 'hollywood' of styles, but when your playing, you're thankful for the help!

Tommy Conroy for me. He was a first class defensive full back but as the mind set in those days (1960s) was that your full back had to kick goals, he could never make the No 1 slot his own.

best defender-sanderson
biggest hitter- les davidson

I agree with Side Burns, Mark Gleesons technique of 'bend to a right angle and hope you dont get crushed' always made me laugh. Never really missed many either.

Alan Bateman for technique.

Adrian Morley for big-hit-using-shoulder smashability.

Now: Ben Westwood

Then: Gary Sanderson.

My Top 5 - Gary Sanderson, Paul Darbyshire, Ben Westwood, Mick Monaghan, Paul Cullen.

this

Not sure if he was the best but one I always remember is Craig Innes at Leeds, if you had Innes and Bateman in the centres nobody was coming through there!

Andy Holbrook for me. Made Cull look like Mother Teresa

Forwards: Ian Potter and John Dalgreen
Backs: Eigar and Bateman

Mostly without. Joe was a strange player. He played mostly 'A' Team for a few years and wasn't at all intimidating. Then all of a sudden he seemed to realise that he could be a bit of a hard lad. He played in a Wardonia Cup Match v Wigan at Wilderspool, scored a try from close range and promptly stuck a haymaker on the player trying to tackle him. The try was allowed, but Joe got sent off too. After that he spent more time in front of the disciplinary committee than he did on the pitch.

My favourite defender was Bob Eccles. Lacked in technique but shag all got through.

Lee Briers.

Agreed.

The value of Westwood was clear for all to see on Friday, the shot he put on the opposing player in the first set was felt by every member on the Castleford team. Bam.

He was hugely aggressive all game.

Biggest hitter: Mike Nicholas

Best defender: Allan Bateman.

In his short stint at Cronulla he gained the nickname 'the Clamp' for his defensive qualities, praise indeed from Aussie RL players. I also recall that in his autobiography, he wrote that, when preparing for a match, he couldn't set himself a target for tries, breaks, assists and so on as so much was dependent on the day's play. However, he could set one target: don't miss a single tackle, so he made that his golden rule.

Cannot believe Adrian Morley has been mentioned a few more times for this subject!

Ben Harrison smash on Fielden last season at the DW always puts a smile on my face!

as an unruly teenager i once pinched a botttle of milk from bob ecccles' front doorstep, he saw me legged after me in his y fronts tackled me on a lawn abit further down the street and taught me a valuable lesson..........don't mess with big bob's milk! i was mortified as a wire fan i couldn't really tell people but i was mightily impressed with his defence that day!

i remember getting jumped in warrington town centre and i ran into a taxi office asked them to call ambulance and police and kevin tammerty was in there (huge kiwi ex forward for warrington) he walked out with me saw the 2 guys that did it kicked the crap out of them and got my stuff back he was hard as nails on the pitch aswell

Mike Wainwright was very good defensively, very rarely missed a tackle and never shriked his responsibility. In a time when we were not known for our defence when he was on the field along with Chris Leikvol we were solid up the middle, not flash, but two players I expect the team appreciated for their work ethic.