Richards by plenty for me, Richards was much better than Dallas because he had so many strings to his bow. He was a far greater aerial threat, could bump players off to score in the corner, hit hard coming out of our 20m, made the high kick to the corner a waste for the opposition, physically dominated his opposite number when defending, plus he can kick a touchline conversion, 50m dropout, drop goal from halfway, cover at full back. The only places where Dallas beats Richards IMO are speed, agility, and getting a quick ptb. He won us penalties as well as he was a high-tackle magnet.

1. Radlinski
2. Charnley
3. Renouf
4. Carmont
5. Richards
6. Barrett
7. S.Tomkins
8. O'Connor
9. Leuluai
10. A.Farrell
11. Hoffman
12. Hock
13. O'Loughlin

14. Bateman
15. Lam
16. C.Smith
17. J.Tomkins

(I never got to see Robinson play so haven't included him). Honourable mentions to Dallas, Connolly, Green, Newton, Furner and L.Farrell

The sun worshipper was Luisi Sione, by the way. Glad someone else remembers him. I was talking about his to some others involved in rugby a couple of months ago and they thought I was making it up

Did he also refuse to play on Sundays

I think Carney should get a mention too. Thinking back, at his peak I think he was better tan Richards and Dallas. Very strong carrier of the ball, defensively sound, bags of pace and the ability to beat a man one on one which I don't think Richards ever had.

A very good player, not sure I'd agree about him defensively though. I remember Vainikolo scoring 5 past him, and him getting dropped after a howler for GB. I think in today's game with teams kicking to the corner more with tall wingers he would be exposed. Agree about him being very good at beating a man one on one though, he was also very hard work to put down on scoots/returning kicks as well.

A bit harsh to judge him against Vainikolo. He was a monster and ran over many wingers, centres and second rows.
I always liked exciting wingers. Gill, Robinson, Smyth, Carney, Dallas, Manfredi, Marshall... All capable of beating someone one on one. Sadly that's something Richards never had and, on a slightly different note, neither did Radlinski.
With regards to Radlinksi I'd have Lydon, Hampson, Paul, Blake, Roberts and Tomkins all ahead of him. I'm sure I'm in a vast minority with that view though.

Only changes i would have with your side is Lam to 7 and Tomkins to 1 and Robinson for Josh. Really shocked that your the only one in 4 pages that has put Hoffman in. Last true world class player we signed. We had him for 1 season and you knew he was just waiting to go home. But for that season he was class.

True, but Vainikolo didn't score 5 every week, and I'd rather have Richards defending against him than Carney. Yeah it depends what you're looking for I suppose. Richards is definitely less exciting than the guys you mention, but I think he was an incredibly valuable player for all his attributes.

Picked Radlinski ahead of Tomkins because of his defensive abilities really. He won us the' 02 cup final almost single handedly. Not a bad attacker as well (think he was top try scorer in '01). Again, depends what you're looking for in an FB. I judged players over the course of their whole time at Wigan, rather than just at their peak, hence no Roberts or Fielden, who were brilliant on their day, but not on an average day.

Thats the guy! What a terrible era when we signed him along with Jonkers, Botham and Jordan James etc. He couldnt play after it went dark because the sun was his God or something along those lines. I dont think he even played one game did he?

Agreed, Hock could of been the best back rower in the world when he was at his peak and on form. He was fast, strong, hurtful, fearsome defender, could offload, had a great pass in him and could make the hard yards if needed. He could of gone down as one on the greatest Wigan players ever.

we will never know as Hock blew it

We don't seem to score many tries from high kicks anymore. Can't work out if it's because our wingers aren't great in that respect, or if it's because our halves can't stick up kicks like that.

The Aussies respected and feared Hock. They dont know who Joel is.

Odd, really. In the NRL, it's the way Fusitua, Rapana, Ferguson etc score half their tries. And three of our four wingers are fairly tall.

Purely because we have halves that can't kick that well, high kicks and long range kicks are mostly average to poor. Burgess & Manfredi would be very effective with a half who could put up good high kicks.

Personally I prefer tries to scored from smart moves passing etc but I will accept some tries from kicks

The problem is that too many of our players think in-play kicking is all about the Hail Mary Ball, when in fact it requires a lot more forethought and finesse than that.

Even George, who, though on occasion he produces something wonderful, misses the mark 7 times out of 10, which is a poor rate of return.

I'm loath to say this, but two of the most big-headed players ever to walk on a field - Lee Briers at Wire and Tommy Martyn at Saints - were both excellent close-in kickers, and way better at it than anyone we've currently got.

The same Jordan James that scored the same amount of tries as Stuart Fielden in 6 games compared to Fieldens 6 years, JJ gave excellent value for money, Where as Fielden stole a living after his first 2 seasons

Agreed Jordan James looked a promising player and had he stopped would have done well imp

Oh i see, so by your logic Jordan James was better than Andy Platt, Craig Smith and Kelvin Skerrett. In fact, by your logic, Jordan James is possibly the best prop to ever play for Wigan in the modern era.

Ok folks, we have a new way of determining how good prop forwards are. Just count the numbers of tries they have scored.

OOOOH have I hit a nerve, was Fielden your most favourite player of all time, 3 tries in 6 seasons is abysmal for a top grade prop

Craig Smith scored 3 tries between 95 and 01. At the time of joining Wigan he was considered by many to be the 2nd best prop in the world behind Shane Webke. According to your backwards logic, Jordan James was a better player









Shane Webke scored 18 tries in 11 years for Brisbane

Jordan James scored 16 tries in 3 years for Crusaders

So obviously Jordan James was the worlds greatest prop forward





















Are you Jordan James in disguise?

The posts of Sniffy Crapper are always a giggle..

Craig Smith wasn't knackered for 4 years, you can't win, If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine