: Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:47 am  

Ali will certainly be remembered as one of the best ever imports. Funnily enough I'll bet a whole raft of the current team will go be rated as amongst the best ever. Amazing what hindsight can do.

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:34 am  

Should go down as one of the best imports for us in SL. Huge natural ability. Can undo teams on his own. Pace, power, skill.

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:21 am  

A Leeds legend. What a fantastic player. He is always smiling and skipping when we score and rallying the troops when we are down. No-one can rival his energy or enthusiasm. It will be a sad, sad day when he leaves us.

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:32 am  

One of the best ten overseas imports of SL era along with the likes of Big Joe and Vainikolo for us.

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:57 am  

when he arrived here he was one of the most exciting back rowers in the game at that time and was awesome with the Warriors.
He has been amazing sparodically and the good points far outweigh the bad, but he does have that lazy samoan attitude sometimes, and he also has a habit of being on form when its contract renewal time.
I think he could have been a world great if he really wanted to.

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:23 am  

Ali is simply devasting.

Look at our last 2 games when we clawed back, he was leading the fight.

Huge bloke, obvious great hands, but his technicaL ability to step and change is line is sublime. And for a huge guy that is not an easy thing to do.

When he has ball in hand he is a defenders nightmare. Raw power blended with deadly hands.

He is THE force of Super Leagu.

When he first arrived he was all about 'the hands'.

Now he's happy enough to back himself and finish.

We can talk about fitness and injuries but look at if from an opposition point of view. When Ali doesn't play they always breathe a sigh of relief.

That sums him up.

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:01 pm  

Rhino Roy wrote:

I think he could have been a world great if he really wanted to.

I reckon you've just summed him up in one sentence.

With the size and skills he has, he could have been one of the best players in the NRL and a NZ regular over the last five years. There's only one reason he wasn't (and that he ended up at Leeds) and that's his work rate and attitude during the end of his time at the Warriors.

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:04 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

I reckon you've just summed him up in one sentence.

With the size and skills he has, he could have been one of the best players in the NRL and a NZ regular over the last five years. There's only one reason he wasn't (and that he ended up at Leeds) and that's his work rate and attitude during the end of his time at the Warriors.

He wasn't the only one like that was he? Daniel Anderson had a part to play in this IIRC

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 1:07 pm  

His reputation would have been even better had Smith not fattened him up and misused him for a year or two

: Mon Jul 20, 2009 1:21 pm  

Without doubt one of the best overseas imports Leeds and the English game has ever had.

A game-breaker, simple as. Absoloutley devastating when he's on form. I remember his debut against Salford, wasn't going to go to the game before he signed (didn't have a season ticket that year) and he put in a huge hit on his first tackle, my jaw dropped and i couldn't stop smiling at what we'd just brought to HQ.