Top 3 players for me is anyone but Brough.

Larne Patrick - Absolute animal. Always runs in at about 100mph and always comes off the best.. love watching him.. hard as nails.

David Faiumu - What an amazing sidestep! We've scored so many tries from it this season.. his tackling is top notch also.

Lunt - My favourite player... just awesome, going to be sad to see him go after next season.


IMO Brough is improving with each game, we're still yet to see his best though.



EDIT: Please Mr Brown sign Larne Patrick up long term!

100% agree he will be a miss if he goes! ... but I don't feel we have seen the best of him this season been very hit & miss.

1 Kev Brown By a mile best player. Finally lived up to the potential at number 6 he had when at Wigan

2 Luke Robinson - Hard as nails and tackling has come on a ton.

3 Leroy Cudjoe - Played in every position he has been asked to and done well in them all.

Young player of the year - Larne Patrick getting better by the game.

Gilmour was unlucky to miss out over 600 tackles and very few missed. The unsung hero.

As for Dodgy in the top 3. Sorry but the majority of his tries have been walk ins. We need a faster winger who beats people. time and time again Dodgy goes inside rather than take on the man. Nothing against him but age has caught up with him.

If you really think scoring twenty plus tries in a season is acheived without skill and technique then you obviously have little understanding of the game. He is only behind the two Wigan wingers in tries scored and up with the two warrington wingers. And with the way those two sides play they will have had more ball in attacking positions than Hodgson. Compared to other wingers he has 4 more tries than ryan Hall, 5 more than Cudjoe and 10 tries more than so called fliers Fox,Briscoe and Gardner.
I would take someone anyday who gets over the whitewash than some speed merchant with little positional sense.

As for my top three

1)Brown
2)Robinson
3) Faiumu

1) Patrick
2) fuey
3) dodgy

1) dodgy (he's done exactly what it needs) try try try try and no fancy stuff
2) patrick (progressive and next year could be awsome)
3) grix / aspy grix has come on strong towards the end of the season, however had aspy not been injured he would have been my no.2

I'm not sure how you are qualified to comment on my understanding or not of the game but that aside I didn't say the Hodgson didn't have skill or technique. I said that he wasn't in my top three because most of his tries are walk ins and that he is now past his best. The David Hodgson at Wigan had the speed to go with his technique. He has never recovered from his injuries a few years ago and now has to rely on his technique.

In relation to chances for Wingers I would say that Huddersfields wingers certainly have more than those at Leeds. Huddresfields game is based on getting the ball out wide, hence all the tries for wingers. Leeds have not done that this season nor for that matter have Hull KR or Hull. the three teams that spin the ball wide Wigan, Warrington and Hudds have plenty of tries for wingers. The thing is that both Warringtons and Wigans wingers score plenty of 50 metre plus tries. For us McGilvery and Cudjoe might but Dodgy will not. He still warrants a place in the side (if nothing else for his defence and technical skills) but he is not the complete winger he once was (and hence not in my top 3).

On the Daid Hodgson issue bot sides have a point but they are both emphasising different aspects to his game and comparisons with other teams and wingers are unfair.

IMHO there are two types of wingers Finishers and Creators.

Finishers score tries that are set up by the centres or the teams players eg Hodgson, gardner etc

Creators are wingers who through there own flamboyance and skill can create a try on the basis of their indavidual play ie Amos Roberst, jason Robinson.

Creators are always more exciting and interesting to watch and tend to attract the plaudits. they are however Expensive and very sought after. that is why lots of teams have finishers or a combination of two . Wigan have Roberts but they also have Goulding. Would you swap Goulding for Hodgy i wouldnt.

Our teams style of play is based on teamwork rather than indavidual flair players. Hodgson fits in very well with that approach , he is a finisher and a team player. he fits into the ethos of the team very well. I have been impressed with him this year but i do thrill at seeing the likes of Roberts scoring a 70 metre try.

Do you want a team of big names who produce one week and do not the next ie wire of a couple of years ago or a team that produces week in and week out

You cannot however have players like Roberts without paying a premium which might mean us not having a fa alogo or a Brown or Brough.

I am happy we can have wingers who score walk in tries because that shows the centres and halves and forwards are doing there job.

Nice post Durham. I think you have explained both sides argument quite well.

For eaxample Wigan had Dennis Ramsdale (dependable) on one wing and Henderson Gil (uber flamboyant)l on the other.

As for Goulding I would certainly sign him as a potential replacement for Dodgy. He's younger and a similar type of player.

I agree that Hodgson is not the fastest but that is a problem that runs through the side. Even Mcgillivary did not look that quick when he scored his interception the other week.
Some real pace in the side would be nice but their are not many players around who fit the bill. I would though like to see an outside back signed for next season but certainly not at the expense of Hodgson.
Other than interceptions you see very few long range tries by any team.

As for suggestion Hodgson is past it. I would suggest he is actually playing better than he ever has. He has scored 22 tries this season and scored 18 last season. The most he ver scored at Wigan was 16 and the most he ever scored at Salford was 13.

I am finding it difficult to list my top 3. My list, in no particular order, goes:

Mase - continued his outstanding, never-put-a-foot-back form of last year;
Fooey - for his tackling, his side-step, and now his offload;
Robbo - simply shown outstanding form;
Patrick - agreed, young player of the year, and when he becomes prop size, well!!;
Leroy - apart from the extremely rare dropped bomb, Mr Dependable.

Hodgy seems a far better player with Bruno alongside him. It's as though he knows he doesn't have to worry about cutting inside to defend leaving his winger free.

Lunt and Eorl haven't yet shown last season's form - but there's time!

I've been a fan of Grix since his arrival and really felt for him when Brough arrived. I hope he can make FB his own.

It will be a shame to split the 'twins' up - Wild has been our forwards' rock for many years now. It will be interesting to see where Gilmour plays next season. [Well, can [i:1ikvdp81you[/i

And no disrespect to the players I haven't mentioned, especially since I was only supposed to name 3!

1 Brown
2 Mason
3 Robbo
most improved Patrick

l wish fans would stop having a go at Brough, like him or not, he is a Giants player, and we should back him, we should back them all, especially if they are struggling. l do not see a single bad player in our squad, our entire squad, we all have our favorites, but thats as far as it should go.

most players have had a fantastic season. when we play well the whole team has played well and when we play bad no one has played good. my top 3 though will be:
1) larne patrick - runs the ball in really hard scored some good trys and he is my favourite player.
2) luke robinson - i think robbo has played well both at 7 and 9 and keep improving every week and for me he is a key player if we are to progress in the play offs and in the next few years.
3) kev brown - deserved his england call up because he is brilliant. mixes it up all the time and very dangerous to oppostion players

Jermain did not look quick, maybe because it was in the 79th minute of the game, just for that one statement i cant take the rest seriously.

my top 3 are
brown to me is the best no 6 in the comp for his all round game, can pass well take the line on and his defence is spot on

2- fuey best sidestep ive ever seen the number of trys hes created this year with the step and offload

3- robbo really impressed me this year how england dont see his talent is beyond me.

1. Faiumu - by a mile our best player, most creative and biggest influence on a game.
2. Brown - excellent pass, makes lots of tries for others.
3. Robbo/Griffin - most consistent.

1. Brown - the heart of the team, and boy it shows when he isnt there
2. Fooey. Wow, the guy is just dynamite.
3. Hodgy - Clubs top tryscorer in SL, utterly dependable, great defence and great team play.

I have still to see any evidence that he or any one else at the Giants is really quick. Last minute or not he still looked quick for about thirty metres only and was then slowing down.

just a point on Dodgy - i agree everyone is entitles to an opinion but to suggest most of his tries are walk-ins ins a bit disrespectful in my opinion.
Yes he has had some walk ins but just because he doesnt run 50/60 yards doesnt mean its a walk in, a lot of his tries have took great skill to get the ball down in the situations he has found himself in, gettin the ball down in tight situations with defenders tackling you / trying to throw you into touch isn't exactly easy and he does this A LOT !!.
there's only one winger in SL at the moment i would swap for him and that's Pat Richards, i for one am glad David Hodgson is on my team !!

Spot on Daz

Those "walk ins" take some scoring. And the nouse to be in the right place to take the passes, how many times do we see other wingers coming off their line to be flashing and the pass going astray.

And those decisive man and ball tackles on the centres to stop a 2 on 1. He did a couple again last Sunday.

my 3 would be

1. kevin brown, for me he has run almost every game for us this season, his passing,kicking and ability to create has been 2nd to none,and has someone has said has now developed into a cracking stand off.

2. larne patrick, we all knew this lad has potential, but WOW! he has come on leaps and bounds and stood up well when we were down to the bare bones in the forrads,as unstoppable a prop i haven't seen in a long time, had he played in primrose/blue, blue/amber, cherry/white or a red V he would be lauded as the best thing since sam tomkins!

3. david fauimu, might be a bit of a one-trick-pony in some people's eyes, but what a bloody good trick to have! has the ability, and has , turned a lot of games for us with his direct running and amazing offload, again, like larne had he been playing for one of the darling clubs he would be called amazing,world class etc.

just on the hodgson thing,yes a lot of his tries might look like walk ins but a good winger has to be able to create the space and position for his centre to give him a decent pass where he's able to score, and also dont forget how many tries he's scored when under pressure from defenders and managed to squeeze in at the corner? good wingers score those, poor wingers get bundled into touch or lose the ball.
for me hodgson is one of the best [ufinishers[/u in super league not neccesarily one of the best wingers, a gary lineker of super league.

1-Larne Patrick, If everyone ran as hard as he does then no-one would touch us, Will be England class in the not too distant future and is England class now compared to Mcarthy-Scarsbrook and Scruton!!!!!!

2-Kev Brown, Unsure about him being a standoff initially but he has proved me and many other wrong, has been recognised by his England call up which was well deserved and has given him added confidence, perfect his kicking (one or two bad ones still) and he will have the perfect game.

3-Too many to mention who have done well for us, bar injuries the likes of Mason and Fa'alogo have been immense when played , Dodgy scored some very important tries and all take scoring, Fuey and his sidestep and offload, slimline bulked up Griffin has ran well, Robbo who has moved to hooker well, too many to mention but think D Hodgson gets it for his tries