: Sat May 23, 2009 10:43 am  

ROBINSON wrote:

Ok to describe Myler as shiit was an overreaction, but he was nothing like as good as people make out, and certainly in no way is he the third best stand off ever, definitely not in front of Edwards in any case.

Quite how he was selected for GB in the 1986 test series is beyond me. But then again, Maurice Bamford was in charge, who also selected his mate, Deryck Fox at scrum half instead of Andy Gregory, played Joe Lydon (a winger/centre) at full back, and selected Castleford centre Tony Marchant on the wing, solely because he scored at Wembley the a few months prior, so no surprises there.

Myler? Nah.

Its a long time ago, but i recall in 1986 that Gregory was injured and therefore unavailable for selection in the first test.
At the time many fans favoured Neil Holding for the half back spot, ahead of the uninspiring Derek Fox. (The Paul Deacon of his era)
Lydon at fullback proved a good ploy as evidenced by the sensational try Lydon scored against the Roos. The alternatives were Keith Mumby or Mick Burke which dont bear thinking about.

: Sat May 23, 2009 10:47 am  

ROBINSON wrote:

WHAT?

Schofield and Myler? Really? Honestly?

Myler, in particular, was shiit.

Tony myler was world class!!

Did you see him play? How can you call a man that was pure class.

He was just very injury prone.

: Sat May 23, 2009 1:52 pm  

The Chair Maker wrote:

Its a long time ago, but i recall in 1986 that Gregory was injured and therefore unavailable for selection in the first test.
At the time many fans favoured Neil Holding for the half back spot, ahead of the uninspiring Derek Fox. (The Paul Deacon of his era)
Lydon at fullback proved a good ploy as evidenced by the sensational try Lydon scored against the Roos. The alternatives were Keith Mumby or Mick Burke which dont bear thinking about.

Well no, the alternative was Steve Hampson, a specialist fullback who was simply brilliant. You can compare Wellens and Radlinski all you like, but Hampson p155es all over the pair of them.

Lydon scored a good try. Great! What else did he do apart from get sin binned for shithousing right in front of our own posts about 5 minutes later? I remember him being absolutely garbage in the second test.

As far as I'm aware, Gregory was actually in dispute with Warrington at the time and therefore wasn't playing any rugby, which I think is why he wasn't selected. By the time he came back for the third test, he'd signed for Wigan by that point, or at least was about to.

As for Neil Holding, I'm with you. He was great wasn't he? Very dangerous player and streets ahead of Deryck Fox. But like I said, he was Bamford's mate, wasnt he?

: Sat May 23, 2009 1:53 pm  

St pete wrote:

Tony myler was world class!!

Erm, yeh. Which is sort of how I came to that conclusion. Pretty obvious, really.

However, see my earlier reply on the subject.

: Sun May 24, 2009 12:46 am  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

His performance in the 2002 Cup final will live long in my memory.
Julian O'Neil was laughing at him, that must tell you a lot.

Tippling Tommy was never fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Edwards.

Martyn never rode on the backs of others to get success. He won it for himself. Edwards was in the right place at the right time. Any other and he'd have slid into obscurity.

As I said before the rep coaches didn't rate him, ...

And they all sank without trace like the second-rate bums they were. Goodway - [snigger].

: Sun May 24, 2009 8:57 am  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Tommy Martyn was one of the most over rated players I have ever seen.

Rogues Gallery wrote:

He was never good enough for Great Britain, that's why he wasn't picked.
Your correct about his lack of pace, and he was a poor defender.

Rogues Gallery wrote:

How many caps did terrible Tommy get?
he was another Lee briers, flattered to deceive, and just like Briers couldn't tackle.

Even if don't agree about his quality you can't suggest that any of the reasons you've put above were why Tommy God never got picked for Great Britain because Tony Smith got capped ahead of him.

Rogues Gallery wrote:

And that's why NO coach ever picked him for England or GB.

He wasn't picked because we didn't have any British coaches who could handle his quality which is further evidenced by Tommy God's performances under McRae and Millward.

I suppose it stops him from being blamed for us not winning the Ashes. If we'd have picked the on true footballer we had at the time we'd have beaten the Aussies. Instead we ended up getting lumped with stiffs like Smith, Harris, Farrell and Sheridan playing in the half backs despite the continued success of The S half back pairing in Super League (which IIRC was the only all-British one out of the top four before McGuire and Burrow came along).

Funnily enough the Saints half back pairing regularly guided The S to trophies and yet no coach would pick them together because it was thought that other players, who had achieved and contributed less should get the nod. I can understand Harris getting a run after his good season, however there is no argument in the world that could make a case for playing Farrell at stand off ahead of Tommy God at international level. Tommy God with his two dodgy knees was still twice the ball player of anyone else we had whether you like it or not.

Oh and let's not forget Goodway playing the most electrifying half back in the competition, pre-Lance Todd Legend Days, on the wing.

: Sun May 24, 2009 9:24 am  

Mugwump wrote:

Martyn never rode on the backs of others to get success. He won it for himself. Edwards was in the right place at the right time. Any other and he'd have slid into obscurity.



And they all sank without trace like the second-rate bums they were. Goodway - [snigger].

Absolute rubbish.
Edwards, the man who WON more winners medals than any other player, scored more tries than any other halfback, captained his club and country, led the ONLY English club team to victory in Australia the WCC, and he was according to you, just a support player.
If it was so easy, why didn't others do it?

And as for the coaching, what are the coaches doing now who picked Martyn in their team.

And with all this wonderful ability that Maryn had, why is he not coaching.

Isn't Edwards now one of the most respected rugby coaches?

: Sun May 24, 2009 10:47 am  

McClennan wrote:

He wasn't picked because we didn't have any British coaches who could handle his quality...

He wasn't picked because he was too good?

That's a new one on me.

: Sun May 24, 2009 10:48 am  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Absolute rubbish.
Edwards, the man who WON more winners medals than any other player, scored more tries than any other halfback, captained his club and country, led the ONLY English club team to victory in Australia the WCC, and he was according to you, just a support player.
If it was so easy, why didn't others do it?

And as for the coaching, what are the coaches doing now who picked Martyn in their team.

And with all this wonderful ability that Maryn had, why is he not coaching.

Isn't Edwards now one of the most respected rugby coaches?

Natural talent at playing the game doesn't always transfer to coaching.

In fact the more successful coaches are usually those with limited playing talent...

: Sun May 24, 2009 11:26 am  

ROBINSON wrote:

He wasn't picked because he was too good?

He wasn't picked because the coaches we appointed were useless.