Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:39 am  

James Leuluai and hate to say Garry Schofield

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Thu Feb 12, 2015 12:38 pm  

a good selection here, i'll sort out the nominees at the end of the week. any more for any more?

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:27 pm  

i've got the 6 nominees in mind - i'll post the details up tomorrow for discussion

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:10 pm  

Schofields record is arguably never going to be beaten, especially in the modern game, so id say he's a shoe in, panther was utter class, strong, fast and deadly, one of which weve never had since.. his combo with colin best was the best wing/combo ive ever seen for fc, and its no coincidence panther was a kiwi rep and best had z great career down under....vaikona was a machine in the lower leagues, was unbeatabke in our promotion season, unfortunatly bradford probably saw his better days as far as top level play goes, although he was magnificent in that fc team, but for me its schofield and barnett

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:35 pm  

Leuluai and the panther for me.special mention to brian "disco dancing" blacker and noel cleal

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:58 pm  

ok here are the 6 proposed nominees for the centre spots. as before if you feel a player should be in or out please speak up in the next couple of days

1. billy batten. signed from hunslet for a record fee of £600, batten went on to have a ten year career with hull split by the great war. a superstar of his day, he won the challenge cup in his first season and also won the league championship in 1920, as well as other near misses. in all he played 226 games scoring 89 tries. he also gained 25 rep caps turning down the chance of several more. he was one of the original inductees into the rugby league hall of fame.

2. joe oliver. oliver stared his FC career in 1928 signing from batley. signed as a fullback but switching to the centre position, he also enjoyed a ten year career scoring 162 tries and kicking 669 goals, skippering the side for many years. oliver won the championship in 1936. in 1933 the club's fans took to singing a gene autry song about a horse, and adapted it to fit in with joe's reliable kicking game. 82 years on and 'old faithful' is still going strong

3. richard (dick) gemmell. the late 60s were a lean time for hull and rugby league in general was in a bit of a dip in popularity. through this time gemmell was a star in an average hull team. a tall man he developed a looping pass out of the tackle to free his wingman, usually clive sullivan and was the architect of many of the welshman's tries. though club success was limited in this time, gemmell played a key part in hull's yorkshire cup win over featherstone, playing the whole game with a severe ankle injury, and in the absence of arthur keegan, skippering the side.

4. james leuluai. one third of the kiwi contingent who joined hull in 1981, leuluai went on to play his part in hull's glory years, winning every honour apart from the premiership. leuluai scored 84 tries for hull including spectacular ones in the 1983 challenge cup semi final and 1985 final. he also has a successful international career winning 29 test caps for new zealand

5. garry schofield. signed from amateur leeds club parkside as an 18 year old, schofield went on to become one of the greats of the modern era. he played for hull from 1983 to 1987 scoring 106 tries and kicking 196 goals, including 28 tries in the 1983/4 season. he also played 46 times for great britain scoring 30 tries. though his career at FC ended in controversy, his exploits on the pitch were what most remember him for.

6. ritchie barnett. though he played only 2 seasons for hull appearing in 38 games, barnett's influence on the backline was huge. the kiwi's natural attacking flair and the ability to put his wing into space played a major part in hull's successful 2003 campaign. in all he scored 23 tries and was responsible for many more in what were two prolific seasons for the club in terms of points scoring.

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:57 am  

I can only comment from season 1965 onwards so I have to leave aside the greats Mssrs Batten, Gilbert and Oliver, I leave others to bang the drum for those undoubted greats.

So in my time, Dick Gemmell was a classy attacker and Very Good, as was Steve Evans who had real pace. However neither had the all round power game of Vaikona and Richie Barnett Snr who were both excellent players for Hull FC.

However, my 2 centres based on the last 50 years of watching the Cream have to be the 2 who for long periods played in the famous colours with great distinction, scoring many outrageously classy tries, giving world class performances at a time when we were tested every week by the very best. Both were also first names down on their respective international team sheets when competition was intense, both displayed prodigious talent from a young age and both maintained their high standards throughout their times at Hull FC, and never managed to achieve those same heights oncee they left for pasures new. They are of course Garry Schofield and James Leuluai 2 of the greatest centres of World Rugby never mind Hull FC.

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:15 pm  

With all due respect to Barnett and there is no doubt that the quality of his play is up there with the very best, 38 games is not a big total at all. Unless we are basing this vote on purely on a players skill set (in which case he is a definite contender) and not what their total contribution to the club has been then this low figure doesn't match up to Gilbert (from the old timers) and arguably Steve Evans (90 tries and international honours when at Hull) and, dare I say it ,Yeaman who without starting too much of a bun fight has gained international honours and features in the club all time try scorers. We all know the weaknesses in Yeaman's game and its been debated to the nth degree here but 10 years from now, believe me, he'll be seen as a much better player than he is now, that's what happens with most players.

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:45 pm  

Erik the not red wrote:

With all due respect to Barnett and there is no doubt that the quality of his play is up there with the very best, 38 games is not a big total at all. .

God help us when we get to Sterling and Kearney

Re: All time greatest Hull FC team No.s 3 & 4 - The Centres : Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:53 pm  

Brian Blacker, for his disco dancing abilities after each try alone