I agree that he disgraced the shirt but as isaid i picked the team on playing ability and in his first few games when we saw the real Tronc he was simply the best prop i have seen in a Trin shirt.

Nigel Bell, first name on the sheet for me.

Bill Ashurst , second on the sheet ( most gifted player I have ever seen in the red white and blue )

Trevor Skeritt

Lampkowski Toppo and Keith Smith would get a game

Used to love watching Paul Round as well

As a young lad my favourite player was Big George Ballantyne

Steve Ella , Ray Price Gareth Ellis all in with a chance

Holland

Tadulala
Ellis
Domic
Hughes

Paul
Brough

Massella
Hudson
Snitch
Solomona
Poching
Jackson

Me too!

I have to say shocked to see Tronc get a mention on this thread.

Alot of people are but you must admit that in those first 5 or 6 games he was the best prop we have had since 2000 and i am willing to argue with anybody who dissagrees with me on that.

Yes i know he spat his dummy out but as i put on my original post, i based my judgement on playing ability alone.

While I agree he did show early promise once he decided he did not want to be there his performances really dropped off which left a real sour taste in my mouth and I am not an out and out trinity fan.

I've watched Trin since the early/mid-80's and maybe struggle to recall a full team. However for me, based on what I've seen then I'd certainly include Nigel Bell, Billy Conway, Ray Price, Wally Lewis and Toppo.

I'd agree with you; he was superb when he came to us and one of the reasons we had such a great start to the season - continued to top some of the stats for yards and offloads for months after he'd left.

His departure did leave a sour taste, but since we don't know excatly why he spat the dummy, I'm disinclined to completely condemn him.

Pffft... tricky. I started watching Trin in the early 90's as a proper young 'un. Here's a quick list of players that stick out from the various major phases of the club since then. Wittling down to 13 and including the greats of Parkin, Toppo, the Foxes et al is going to be tough...

Early days of watching Trin; Spencer, Mason, Wilson, Bagnall, Wright, Paul, Fritz, G Price, Kelly, Belly, Thomson, B Conway, M Conway, Slater, Jackson (out of interest does anyone remember or liked Benson or Goddard? I remember I had an irrational hatred of them for some reason, but can't remember why...)
1st Div; Casey, Stephenson, Southernwood, Lord, Holland
Early SL; the Marches, Poching, Law, Fisher
McNally era; Solo, Tadulala, Domic, Ellis, Korki, BJ, JD
Kear era; Brough, Watene, Moore, Fox, Rooney, Elima

...off the top of my head, there's more I'm sure

My choices from players I have seen play:
1. Martyn Holland
2. Peter Fox
3. Andy Mason
4. Sid Domic
5. Semi Tadulala
6. Nigel Wright
7. Danny Brough
8. Jonny T
9. Nigel Bell
10. Darren Fritz
11. Willie Poching
12. David Solomona
13. Gareth Ellis

Unlucky to miss out were:
Gary Spencer
Andy Kelly
Paul Round
Henry Paul
Michael Jackson

An exercise like this certainly shows people's age.

Can't wait to see your list

1 Henry Paul
2 Andy Wilson
3 Andy mason
4 Sid Domic
5 Semi Tadulala
6 Nigel Wright
7 Geoff Bagnall
8 Darren Fritz
9 Billy Conway
10 Nigel Bell
11 Gareth Ellis
12 Micheal Jackson
13 Ray Price
14 Richard Slater
15 David Solamona
16 Mark Conway
17 Willie Poching

As a young lad Lampo & Keith Smith were my hero's & I used to run on the pitch at full time home & away to get Smithy's tie ups - eventually got them at Rochadale! How about this lot

Midgley
Fletcher
Smith
Domic
Juliff
Lewis
Bell
Ballantyne
Maskill
Burke
Skerritt
Idle
Lampkowski

Topliss
Ashurst
Keith Rayne
Kelly

When I think of Tronc, I think back to the Leeds home game (must have been one of the first home games this season). In his first 20 or 30 minutes it's the best prop performance I've seen at Belle Vue, granted I've only been watching for about 5 years.

He must have made about 4 or 5 offloads which resulted in line breaks.

What a shame he cried off back to aus!

Agreed - if that's what happened, it's a crying shame.

I'll post it as soon as I can remember who I picked last time this exercise was done. I know I had Gerry Round at Fullback though.

I thought Tronc was great before spitting his dummy out. I would have to compare him against Skerrett, Burke, Fritz, I did also like Shelford but I think I may get shouted down on that one.

See someone's got Trevor Midgley as fullback.









Wonder if the club will run a worst 13 ever competition. I've got my choice ready for one position.

I agree. Thought Shelford was awesome.
Burke and Skerrett were my favourites.

I never saw any of them play but I used to train with John Burke at Sandal RU gym. He was a really nice guy but started struggling with illness I think.

I didn't realise how he played as a player....until my dad gave me the full run down!

He sounded pretty hard.

Well I could have had Les Sheard, Willie Oulton, Henry Oulton or Harold Box

VERY HARD!

funnily enough, I was doing a feature on this for the next 4FS fanzine - but it never went any further as we failed to publish!

Bear with me on the length of this post, as it includes some unique perspective on players deemed 'hall of famers' prior to 1973.

The problem with this type of voting is that recent players get a dissproportionate amount of votes, because peopl vote on who they've witnessed - how do these players compare with the real greats of yesteryear? I've tried to be realistic and apply my own experiences with those of history.

I reviewed the book ‘100 Years Of Rugby – The History Of Wakefield Trinity Football Club – 1873–1973’ by J.C. Lindley with ‘personal recollections’ by D. W. Armitage. Where there was a 'Hall Of Fame' listed from the first 100 years of the clubs history - with details on why each player was included.

So – to start with, here’s the original Hall Of Fame as selected by Lindley & Armitage in 1973. Listed by their common position and year of debut:

Coach:
Ken Traill (195icon_cool.gif

Full Back:
Jimmy Metcalfe (1897), Charlie Pollard (1919), Frank Mortimer (1951),
Gerry Round (195icon_cool.gif, Gary Cooper (1966)

Wing:
Richard. ‘Dicky’ Lockwood (1895), Ted Bateson (1925), Stanley Smith (1927),
Freddie Smart (1930), Dennis Boocker (1947), Fred Smith (1955), Berwyn Jones (1964)

Centre:
C.E. ‘Teddy’ Bartram (187icon_cool.gif, Harry Hayley (circa 187icon_cool.gif, Tommy Poynton (early 1900’s),
Billy Batten (1924), Ernest Pollard (1927), Billy Stott (1944), Don Froggett (194icon_cool.gif,
Neil Fox (1955), Ian Brooke (1961)

Stand Off:
Herbert. Hutchinson (1880), Ron Rylance (1941), Harold Poynton (195icon_cool.gif,
David Topliss (196icon_cool.gif

Scrum Half:
Tommy Newbould (early 1900’s), Jonathan ‘Jonty’ Parkin (1913),
Herbert Goodfellow (1932), Keith Holliday (1952), Ray Owen (1964)

Hooker:
Sam Lee (1937), Len Marson (1939)

Prop:
Jack Wilkinson (1959), Don Fox (1965), David Jeanes (1967)

Second Row:
A.K. Crossland (1905), Bill Horton (1924), Mick Exley (192icon_cool.gif, Harry Wilkinson (1929),
Harry Murphy (1937), Don Robinson (1950), Don Vines (195icon_cool.gif, Bob Haigh (1962)

Loose Forward:
Herbert Kershaw (1905), Len Bratley (1937), Derek Turner (1959)



Based on a pro-rata basis, that meant we should expect a further 16 players to be included since 1973 - and my choice for those 16 were, based on the same criteria for the first 47 - as follows:

Andy Fletcher, Keith Smith, Andy Mason, Gareth Ellis, Wally Lewis, Nigel Wright, Mike Lampkowski, Brad Davis, David March, Trevor Skerrett, Johnny Thompson, Nigel Bell, Michael Jackson, David Solomona, Ray Price and Willie Poching.

And so – the $6,000,000 question – Trinity’s greatest side selected from the 63 Hall Of Famer’s – a tough one, but based on reading up on the centurions, having seen the last 35 years and trying to strike a balance between history and personal experience – I would go with:

Full Back: Gerry Round
Wings: Fred Smith and Berwyn Jones
Centres: Billy Batten and Neil Fox
Stand Off: David Topliss
Scrum Half: Jonty Parkin
Props: Jack Wilkinson and Trevor Skerrett
Hooker: Len Marson
Second Rows: Don Vines and David Solomona
Loose Forward: Rocky Turner
Coach: Ken Traill