IMPORTS:

Brent Webb (Leeds)

Leslie Vainikolo (Bradford)
Jamie Lyon (St Helens)
Steve Renouf (Wigan)
Scott Donald (Leeds)

Trent Barrett (Wigan)
Henry Paul (Wigan)

Jason Cayless (St Helens)
Danny Buderus (Leeds)
David Fairleigh (Wigan)
Jim Dymock (London)
David Furner (Wigan)
Jason Smith (Hull)


Bench:

Joe Vagana (Bradford)
Shaun Berrigan (Hull)
Ali Lauititi (Leeds)
Stacey Jones (Catalans)

__________________________________________

ENGLISH:

Kris Radlinski (Wigan)

Jason Robinson (Wigan)
Paul Newlove (St Helens)
Gary Connolly (Wigan)
Martin Offiah (London)

Danny McGuire (Leeds)
Sean Long (St Helens)

Stuart Fielden (Bradford)
Keiron Cunningham (St Helens)
James Graham (St Helens)
Andrew Farrell (Wigan)
Jamie Peacock (Bradford)
Paul Sculthorpe (St Helens)

Bench:

Barrie McDermott (Leeds)
Terry O'Connor (Leeds)
Adrian Morley (Leeds)
James Roby (St Helens)

henry paul at scrum half ahead of stacy jones or even robbie paul for that matter? Not to mention andrew johns made a brief appearence in super league

darren albert was a far better winger that donald has been up to now as well.

overall i'd say the imports would be the safe bet

cunningham's welsh.

o'connor and mc dermott played for ireland

Would have to be played in England to get Newlove involved.

How did Shaun Edwards miss out?

Buderus after 20 mins on the field in Leeds colours

scott donald?






spot the person whose a leeds fan.

Was Jason Smith ever really that good ? Seemed to spend a lot of time on the sidelines from what i remember - And was good but not the top player when on the field

Biased view would be Adrian Vowles at 13, Former man of steel after all

Good player, but better than Sculthorpe and Farrell?

he's an import though so could play against them

good call

Aye, no matter what name he uses his Leeds colours come shining thru



For me the best import hooker was Hetherington for the Broncos.

is this a leeds thread

Are the above comments examples of the psychology of selective perception?

According to the famed mathematicians who advise me on my work, the clubs cited in this meticulous team selection have the following number of representatives:

=redWigan: 9

=blueLeeds: 8

=darkredSt Helens: 8

=indigoBradford: 4

Hull FC: 2

=cyanLondon: 2

=orangeCatalans: 1

Perhaps this selection is in fact a fair representation of the top clubs' performances over thirteen years of Super League?

These hypotheticals are always pretty stupid but if you're going to do it you have to decide whether these players are to be judged on their performances in SL or on their performances at their peak. Most of the imports were not at their best when they played in SL like Renouf, J Smith etc, in fact most of the imports would fit into that category. If it was based on their ability at their best the likes of Andrew Johns, Danny Buderus and Alfie Langer would have to swing it the imports' way. The imports could pick three or four halves combos that would be better than Long and Maguire but the locals stack up better in most other positions. But it's still just speculation so who cares.

I'd pick Senior and Robbie McCormack above the two selections you've made for starters.

Steve Renouf did some wonderful things for Wigan when he was there, even though he was not quite the great player he had been when he was a Brisbane Bronco. (Incidentally, quite a courageous performance for a diabetic!)

Jason Smith was still a great player when he came to Hull. He then went back to Australia and played magnificently (for Canberra and North Queensland as I recall).

Trent Barrett was a great player when he came to Wigan, and remains so. (We all pray that his neck injury suffered today will not be career ending). His unfortunate second season, which resulted from personal family issues, should not detract from the magnificent performances he turned on for Wigan.

The English selection were a stronger pack, but I suspect that the import forwards would do enough when in possession to enable Henry Paul and Trent Barrett (and Stacey) to create openings and let the flying outside backs score lots of tries that the English backs could not.



We all care. It matters precisely because the different relative ability of the English in certain positions.

What this analysis tells us is that the England/Great Britain squad has strong forward components, but is weak in the backs, relative to foreign countries. This began with the arrival of Reginald Gasnier and Graeme "Changa" Langlands on the international scene. It has been embarrassingly true since the retirement of Roger Millward, and even moreso since the retirement of Gary Schofield.

No. What it tells us is that if England/GB could compile all of its best players from the past 14 years and had them all playing at their best then they might have a strong forward pack on paper. In fact they'd have a strong backline too. If South Sydney could bring Clive Churchill, John O'Neill, Bob McCarthy and Ron Coote back and have them playing at their career peak they'd have a good side too. If France had Puig Aubert, Max Rousie and Eduard Ponsinet back at their best they'd have a good side as well. So what. All of that is just hypotheticals, so who cares.

if we could bring back the best team in history . dragons 11 GF team

if we could bring back the best team in historyit would be

Huddersfield ' team of all talents' 1914.


Go on prove me wrong

our team was undefeated for years

I'd raise that team with the addition on Kevin Iro, Darren Britt and Adrian Lam. I'd also suggest that Robbie McCormack's very impressive stint at Wigan rank above Buderus's contribution thus far.

From a Saints pov, I'd also suggest Perelini and Albert have decent cases to present.

That's why thje GB team would obvioulsy have to have Tommy Martyn in it.