A key part of the team that set off on this golden generation. Terrific in 2004 and showed in 2009 when Buderus was injured mid-season he could still do the job. His own serious injury at the end of 2004 always makes me wonder if he could've kept up that '04 form for longer.

All the best moving forward.

Great player, Leeds certainly got his best years, good luck for the future

I'll always wonder how good he could've been had he not been seriously injured, he could have been a truly great player. He still was a very good player, and should rightly go down as a Leeds RL legend. I hope now his success away from RL continues.

Solid, unspectacular SL-level player with a high work rate who possessed leadership qualities and a no-nonsense attitude on the pitch. Mercenary attitude off the pitch as evidenced by his reneging on a one-year contract extension and sudden exit to sign on the dotted line for Bradford literally nanoseconds after pocketing a healthy testimonial stash. Intelligent enough to succeed outside the game post retirement and will never be short of a bob or two.

Indeed. A good enough player, but a long ways from being "legendary"

The hero of the 2004 GF - thanks Disko

Can't be too critical of someone being savvy, especially in this cash starved sport. Loyalty doesn't pay bills

A recent quote from Matt 'Mercenary' Diskin:

"I've had a career at something I would have done for free and I am extremely proud of that"

Thanks for the memories and contribution.

My grievance with Diskin leaving wasn't the timing of it or going to the Bulls. It was his thank you/goodbye letter to the Leeds fans. Very lengthy document but very little about rugby and the fans. It read like an extensive advert for his property business. It would've been nicer to thank the fans for the support and money that went into his testimonial coffers and leave the property advert for the local rags. A little lacking in class I thought

It's a common trait among fans of successful teams to go overboard with praise of individual players in terms of world class brilliance and legendary status. St Helens fans were exactly the same when the club were winning sundry SL titles, WCC's and CC's courtesy of two-times Harry Sunderland Trophy winner, the world class legend and skipper Chris Joynt! Then there was Tim Jonkers, Mike Bennett, Julian O'Neill (not the serial Aussie miscreant Julian O'Neill who relieves himself on casino tables, defecates in other peoples shoes, smears it on motel walls and sets alight a teenage boy on a cruiseliner who is dressed up as a dolphin), Scott Barrow, Steve Hall, John Stankevitch, Mark Edmondson, Ricky Bibey and Wide to West.

The only exception to the rule appears to be Ian (5 SL rings + 1 CC medal) Kirke where overboard praise has been replaced with utter contempt. Kirke is many a Rhinos fans nightmare. His unwanted inclusion and presence during an unprecedented era of success for the club is incontrovertible evidence of an alleged era of greatness that's perhaps not quite all it's cracked up to be. I believe most Rhinos fans would be quite happy for him to be erased from all memory. At least that way, history may be rewritten in a more desirable manner befitting such a glorious golden era.

For me, great for one season, a real driving force behind the title, and key in our first GF win. Either side of that a good solid SL player, who contributed well to the team. His leaving left a bit of a bad taste in the mouth for the above mentioned reasons, having said that its a short career, so he had to do the best by himself and his family for the future

I think Matt Diskin had already sacrificed silverware and special shared memories in favour of a few extra quid in his back pocket when Kevin Sinfield said.....

[i"Every player in our squad could probably earn more money with another club. But they prefer to sacrifice a few extra quid in their back pocket to share special memories. And playing at a place like Old Trafford on a night like this makes it all worthwhile"[/i

I watched Matt Diskin come through the academy, I saw his first team debut, I saw him win 4 Grand Finals, including our first title in 32 years and our historic 3 in a row. He scored our first try in 2 of those and won the Harry Sunderland trophy in one.

At a lot of clubs they'd be building statues by now.

Where-as I think Disko realised Buderus was gonna be Leeds first choice hooker & moved on

Matt Diskin and Kevin Sinfield are now live on the Robbie Hunter Paul show on Pulse Radio. www.pulse.co.uk/

Matt Diskin and Kevin Sinfield are now live on the Robbie Hunter Paul show on Pulse Radio. www.pulse.co.uk/

best SL player in 2004 by a mile. who knows how good he could have become without the injury. as it is he hasn't had a bad career. top,top player at leeds

I'm sure signing Buderus left a bit of a bad taste in his mouth as well. Not saying his signing was wrong for the club, but it was for the player. Why would he consider the clubs feelings after that.

very true.

Diskin is as legendary as they come at club level. When this generation is remembered and the choice of hooker has to be made, Diskin will rightly be chosen well ahead of Buderus or Lunt, regardless of the fact they may have been 'better' players.

Well summed up. Great memories of Diskin. All the best in the future Matt!

+ 2 league leaders, 2 WCC, 4 CC finals?, GB honours

He helped create one of the best days of my life, October 16th 2004.

will never be able to thank him enough

Yep great memories of that duck over the line at OT. Hope he stays in the game but if he's still doing the property portfolio I hope he does well with it. Cheers Disko.