Roby's far from just a scooter. Yes, that's a major strength, but he's a far more complete player than, say, Micky Higham was.

I'll not renounce McIlorum, he's having an excellent season by all accounts, but the way the posts are flying about is ridiculous - using the games where Wigan have blitzed Saints off the park as a whole as an example of why one hooker is better than the other.
Tell me this, had Roby and McIlorum walked into the wrong dressing rooms at MM, would McIlorum's performace have come anywhere near that of Roby's? That's what some posts seem to imply.

Posters shouldn't use the fact that even my Nan could look good going forward amongst the wigan pack to penalise McIlorum, he's obviously very competant at dummy half. He's also a very agressive defender, which shouldn't be underestimate at test level.

He's not as good as Roby, though. Its no disgrace.

i can see where your coming from your a saints fan who is allways going to say roby is better and im a wigan fan who will say micky mac is better, but this season i dont think any hook has come close to micky mac and if he got injured it would be as big a blow as tomkins or finch getting injured.

honest question other than scooting alot more what has roby done what so fantastic and makes him so much better than Mcilorum?

He's got a better kicking game, more 40:20s and 10 more assists for a start. He's far better.

ok so he kicks better



,, only ten more assists? the amount he runs with the ball you would think it would have been at least ten times the amount. like many have said roby plays for him self not the team and thats why saints only know one way at thats route 1, Scoot till you receive a penalty or crash over from ten yards out.

where as Mcilorum chooses hes opitions alot better this year. gives quick distrubtion which allows wigan the space outwide and this tatic doesn't need the stupid ruck speed of superleague to get infront. or he take the scoot usually at the right time this season.

been many years of brainwashing from stevo who loves it when a hookers scoot never once have i heard him say well done for the quick accurate pass from dummy half, just says oowww thats great work from dummy half that trying to catch them out offside. or eddies catch phrase of a "great scampering run from dummy half".

sorry, wrong board

Roby isn't just better than McIlorum he's on another level to McIlorum.

Roby would push for a place in an Oz/SOO side, McIlorum just wouldn't.

McIlorum is miles behind Roby and Burrow, and doesn't have any of the attributes with which he could catch up with them.

Wigan fans are funny though.

Looked to me like Rhys Lovegrove was out to prove a point last night following his omission from the squads.

Outstanding effort from the big fella in both attack and defence. England need to come calling.

I wouldnt say Roby has got a better kicking game. He also does not have more 40:20s , they both have 1 each, so that is a complete lie straight away





With the type of game Saints play I'd expect Roby to have more try assists. The entire Saints game plan consists of trying to get close to the opponents line so that Roby can do a flat pass so a forward can barge over from one yard out. I dont really think your hooker being the leader for try assists is really such a good thing though, from a Saints point of view. It shows just how much Roby monolpolises play to the detriment of the team, and its attack and creativity, as a whole.

Wigan on the other hand play a far more varied game and score tries all over the place with Tomkins, Finch, Goulding and Leuluai all into double figures for try assists. Playing the way Wigan do it is no surprise McIlorum isnt near the top of try assists for Wigan and I wouldnt want or expect him to be either.

That is pure speculation on your part.
When I have seen Roby at Test level he has not done enough or have a rounded game that includes top level distribution or tactical kicking, being a tackling machine is not enough, in tonight's SOO Robbie Farah made over 60 tackles as well as distributing the ball and hitting it up and taking tactical kicks.
Its not like Roby would be replacing Cam Smith any time soon either is it? He is regarded as one of the best and most influential players in the game.
If Roby was top shelf the NRL would have made him an offer he would find hard to refuse.
Keep in mind Ellis, Burgess and Graham are all playing for NRL Clubs that have not been Premiers in the last six Years

you and saddend would make a lovely couple you know. you both type as much poopie as each other anyway.

but i will bite at this, attributes? you mean the main attribute for a hooker which is qaulity distribution which Mcilourm is far better than both of those pick it up and run hookers.

He is not good enough without a QPTB. That is why we will never see him rip through the aussies.

For clarity (And hillarity), do you Wigan fans really, honestly, believe McIllorum to be a better player than James Roby?

Every Wigan player is better than any other player in the world in that position, you should know that by now!

I'll throw some stats in:

Roby has:
2 More Tries
10 More Try Assists
60 More Tackles
26 Fewer Missed Tackles
12 More Tackle Busts
7 More Attacking Kicks
219 More Carries
972 More Metres
5 More Clean Breaks
194 More Dummy Half Runs
1 More Goal
8 More Offloads
11 Fewer Penalties

McIllorum has:
6 Fewer Errors
20cm more per carry

It's a close one, I'll give you that.

he is better form no doubt about it. alot of the times when they come up against each other i know which one id choose.

so with hes 219 more carries he has only 5 more clean breaks, only 8 more offloads, only 2 more tries, only 10 more try assists and 12 more tackle busts. the only things this shows is how much saints are dependent on him and how he plays for himself.

just look back at 2010 grand final he pasted cunningham all over the place then roby when he come on. and 3x this season you wouldnt have even known roby was on, didnt roby only average a 4.5 meter carry in them games?

You are a typical Wigan fan. Whenever your team wins, it's because every player smashed their opposite number. Wigan have been dominant in the games against Saints, but that's not primarily down to McIllorum or Roby. At the start of this season there were threads on your forum calling for him to be dropped, saying he wasn't Wigan quality and never had been etc, calls for him to be replaced by Lueluai etc. Wigan win a few games and suddenly McIllorum is Benny Elias. I've seen McIllorum several times this season and he doesn't stand out. He's aggressive in defense but lacks creativity and plays a very basic game. I think the strength of the team he plays in is making him appear better than he is, he's no better and a very similar player to Scott Moore. You put Roby in that Wigan pack at the moment and you'd have carnage.

with out reading any more than the first sentence if Mcilorum wasn't playing we wouldnt have been nowhere near as dominent. the lad is a monster in defence and the best in the league he sets the example for others to follow.

now i have just read the rest. put roby in the wigan team and players like finch, tommy, goulding, carmont, charnley and tomkins wouldnt be half as effective because he wouldn't give the same distribution as mcilorum. i know we will never ever agree. terry newton the first thing he did when he went from prop to hooker was learn how to pass of the floor with both hands fast and accurate.

you haven't watched wigan enough if your saying he hasn't stood out because every televised game he has been sensational he just doesn't pick up the ball and scoot all the time and he is a proper hooker not a micky mouse superleague scoot hooker.

No Danny Brough on Saturday???

How come?

Isn't it strange that when Wigan had a scooter hooker their try tally dropped, when we got Piggy to replace him we started scoring tries again. Saints replace Cunningham with a scooter and they score less tries. Coincidence, I don't think so.

What is this obsession with scooting? That hasn't been in the game at all for a couple of years since they changed the interpretation of the play the ball. Teams are allowed to slow it down so much now that it's very rare any hooker gets a decent hole the run at. Good forward play is no longer getting the rewards it should as teams just lie on and set their defense.

Possibly, just possibly, Saints scored fewer tries because we've been on the decline for the last few seasons losing players like Albert, Lyon, Sculthorpe, Cunningham, Long and not replacing them. Just a thought.

Roby is an outstanding player. He's better than McIllorum in every single aspect of the game. He's better defensively, he's got a much better engine and work rate, he's more creative, he's a better offloader, a better support player.

McIllorum is no better than Scott Moore. 110% aggression and no brain.

i will bookmark this and read it when im having a poopie day to cheer myself up, thanks mate