I don't think it's a question of 'getting over' anything. The statue is supposed to represent a League icon not one who has played a bit of League and then switched to Union. We need someone who is quintessentially League because then he will represent our sport of League. No issue about it really. I also think the statue should represent an English player, and not a foreign one, because Wembley is the home of English rugby league (and, as such, home of rugby league per se).

I'm liking Alex Murphy. A brilliantly gifted rogue who fans loved or loved to hate but who also fought hard for his country and still believes we should stand on our own two feet rather than simply try to copy the Aussies.

Another pointless stat in the context of the statue. I refer you back to my comments earlier comments of playing in a great team against mainly part time opponents.

But you could also argue that the likes of Murphy, Boston , Fox etc played against teams the likes of Blackpool Borough, Huyton/Liverpol City, Doncaster, Batley etc.

Davies hardly 'played a bit of league then switched to union' though. He's still involved in RL now.

That moment is a fantastic moment in British RL and worthy of recognition, IMO.

No he went Union, League, then back to Union and is more involved with Union now than League.

As I said, we need to get over it.

Would you agree it's an iconic monent in British RL?

I think people's main gripe with Edwards is his current position in the other sport.

It is almost comparible to the rebel's building a statue for Darth Vader outside their Hoth base. Yeah it is true that Anakin used to be a prominent figure within the Jedi council and was appointed to protect Senator Amidala, but he gave up the warm feelings and respect of his peers and elders when he sided with the Empire.

Similarly, you may say that Edwards was a gifted and successful Rugby player and, is such, deserving of a statue despite his latter career path; however, as Qui Gon Jinn notes, Anakin has the highest midi chlorian count recorded and he still turned to the dark side and his potenital forgotten.

Ultimately, I refuse to stand by as we blindly build a statue to Darth Vader.

I was on about Jonathan Davies.

Geek

Maurice Lindsay would make a good emperor though

Correct me if I'm wrong, KC never won an individual award in any of the finals he played in, does that make him an average player in a great team? Individual awards mean naff all in the great scheme of things, ask Robbie Paul after the 1996 final if he'd swap his Lance Todd for a winners medal. I suspect he would.

To suggest that Edwards shouldn't be one of the front runners in this is compete nonsense in my view.

If I was compiling a list of nominees I would say Edwards, Offiah, Murphy and Hanley.

All good shouts - but are they synonymous with Wembley in the same way that Bobby Moore is?

I'd say Offiah, out of that lot, comes closest for the 'best try ever scored' there.

Don Fox is absolutely synonymous with Wembley, but I don't think celebrating a 'loser' (in the nicest sense) is what this should be about.

Looking at GB, rather than club, rugby are there any other worthy shouts?

Not really in terms of Wembley itself as we don't have a tremendous history of international matches at Wembley tending to only play the first game of the various test series there from memory. In terms of GB players that might be considered worthy of a statue, you have the three captains that have lifted the world cup, Dave Valentine in 1954, Eric Ashton in 1960 and Clive Sullivan in 1972, although again non of these were at Wembley.

As happened with the KC statue, the problem with having a vote on one single person to commemorate now is that there will be a large number voting based on their own memory which in the majority of cases is unlikely to remember much before the 80's or 90's as has been evidenced so far by the number of people on various threads naming Wigan players from their era of dominance.

As I said on another thread, you will likely find vocal opposition to whoever the statue is created after if it is based on club loyalties, especially if it is a player such as Shaun Edwards who frustrated so many opposition fans in the same way that a statue of Sean Long would nark Wigan fans off. The only way to get around this is either find a player well respected by all fans or to create a statue that celebrates the game and not one individual person. Why not create a diorama of players in an action pose and dedicate it to [uALL [/uof the players who have graced the Wembley turf?

I think that would be a good idea.

Agreed. A tribute to the sport, rather than the individual.

Bloody hell!!!! That's 2 sensible posts today. Come on mods sort this out before opposition fans start hugging and kissing each other

I think a statue of the first Wembley winning capt and both teams listed on the plinth legend .

two players Alex Murphy and Neil Fox.

You've obviously forgotten that KC made six Super League Dream Teams, was voted the number one player in Super League's history and featured in the World XIII on two occasions. Did Edwards ever get voted into the top five for any position?

Derek Noonan....



[size=50meant with all affection[/size

Syd Hynes

No because he was never good enough.

Love how you sintellins fans are getting your knickers in a twist because it looks like the statue at Wembley will be of a Wigan player.

In terms of rugby league, the CC is what is synonymous with Wembley and you surely can't deny it being of someone who has won a record 9. If it was Shaun Long who had won that then however much it would still annoy me but I would accept that it would be a worthy statue.

Plus I don't buy into this whole "he's working in union now, I don't want him", throw your toys out the pram nonsense. All it would serve to do if the statue was of Edwards, would be to remind everyone that he was a rugby league great and that they had to persuade a rugby league player to come and help their teams as their own people aren't as good.

No it won't! What tosh. Rugby league is barely known by the country overall and those that do know of it and prefer union; hate league (in most cases)

In what world would they build a statue of rooney outside goodison park? That may be a bad example but I don't really watch wwndyball. He acheived things in a great (pro) team but he is known as wasps coach and union stalwart now!

Offiah has union connections, but i'd still go for him. Even long after he retired he is still the closest thing our sport has to an A-list celebrity. Nearly all of the country know who he is and wouldn't be asking 'who's that?' when they saw the statue. Plus, he could play a bit too and 'that' try(even though i think there have been a lot better scored at wembley) is a pretty iconic moment at the stadium.

Offiah is a nob head though, don't care how good he was, he's a money sucking agent who only cares about himself and money.