...in this weeks r.l.e that sean long was "saints best ever scrum half" ??hmm...


now seeing as many of the owd folks i have spoken to regards a certain alex murphy said that he was the GREATEST player ever does gilmour's statement stack up?

Cue Rogues Gallery to tell us some saints scrum half from 1918 was better than Sean Long, but some academy kid at wigan, whos from St Helens but has supported Wigan since being in the womb, will be better than Alex Murphy.

I agree with Gilly. How many Lance Todd's did Murphy win?

How many other clubs has Longy been succesful with ?

Thats where Murph gets a lot of his support from as well. Look when Murphy did it, and how old he was thats why he is considered the best.

OK. In that case Leroy Rivett was better than Tom Van Vollenhoven.

What a bloody stupid way to try and work out who was a better player.

I wasn't being totally serious tbh, I've never seen Murphy play. But I still agree with Gilly. Long's record and achievement shouldn't be underestimated he is without any doubt the best scrum half of the last 15 years.

please don't skit the "Vett"

Murphy > Long

But whos to say if Gilly meant in terms of individual skill or most successful?

It would be a guess on my behalf but I would imagine that Long could be easily be Saints most successful SH counting medals won.

The other one is impossible for anyone to conclude.

Totally. I doubt Gilly did a video review of archive footage of every Saints scrum half before making his decision. It's an off the cuff statement and a very valid one.

oh dear,

most people on here will of only really watched longy play, and 12 years at that.

murphy its what people have told us, the end of his playing the odd classic from the day.

you wouldnt say either answer was wrong...would ya??

Yes I would.

Only because you were old enough to have seen both. I've seen old footage and the players are all fat, 5 foot tall and really, really slow.

If you put a modern day Greg Inglis against the best team in the world from the time Murphy was playing, do you think they'd even get a finger on him?

If you can get a copy of the 1962 GB tour to Australia.

GBs back line was Round, Boston, Ashton, Fox, Sullivan, Bolton & Murphy.
Huddart, McTigue, Edgar etc in the forwards.

No fat five footers in there.

I accept it's a different game, but class is class. They would have been great players in any era.

Compare that back line to what we sent to the World Cup last year, not one of last year backs would get near to the 1962 side.

If they did he probably wouldn't get up again thats how they played it then!!

As for unfit and slow tell that to Vinty while he was running back to Widnes after training!!!!!

And the strength of that 1962 side meant that likes of Vinty, Stopford, Southward, Davies Carlton etc didn't get in.

in 1962, Sean Long would have been playing prop rather than scrum half.

It's almost impossible to compare players of different eras in terms of 'who was the better player?'

Who would win in a race between Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt? Stats say Bolt would obliterate Lewis but if the American had all the advantages in technology and training Bolt has had it may be a lot closer.

Both Long and Murphy will be remembered as great players. There's no point arguing over who was best.

Why, were the prop forwards faster in those days?

murphy proved it at international level,end of

In a different era, with different players, against different teams, under different conditions etc....

You're right, end of

sean was great for us, but i loved watching bobby goulding. Great rugby brain.

The Long's and the Goulding's will come and go, I might never be around to hear it said they where great, but Murphy's name comes to the fore everytime this sort of comparison is done, year on year.
By far one of the greatest players of his generation A.J.Murphy ....(the People's friend

)

He only had one fault.[size=25 He never played for Wigan[/size

He got Maurice though.