I cannot see any basis for having an admittedly excellent player like Jack ahead of Slater or Langlands.

But Glenn Lazarus is a good call. Perhaps in place of O'Neill? Close call.

Personally I would have Langer and Johns at 6 and 7; surprised nobody mentioned alfie.

Nathan Hindmarsh should also be in the mix.

this could quite possibly be the best signature material EVER

1982 squad
They came here after the 1978 series and blitzed the game in this country.
They had learned lessons from 1978. They had gone away , regrouped and basically have been untouchable ever since.
RL in this country still has to regroup from 1982 and is still trying to figure it out.

Got to have Alfie in there. personally I would have him playing with Wally Lewis with Johns on the bench. Also what about Benny Elias he was a great player.

When your picking the side you start with

7. Johns

1, Lockyer
2 Eric grothe
3 mal meninga
4 gene miles
5 ET
6 Wally Lewis
7 peter sterling
8 Steve roach
9 Danny Buderes
10 Paul harrigan
11 gordan Tallis
12 Steve Menzies
13 Bradley Clyde

14 Brett Kenny
15 andrew johns
16 Paul sironen
17 les Boyd

Surprised no-one has mentioned Wayne Pearce.

Great player. But Bradley Clyde offers a bit more for me.

1. Lockyer
2. Irvine
3. Meninga
4. Miles
5. Anderson
6. Fulton
7. Johns
8. Beetson
9. Walters
10. Civoneciva
11. Sironen
12. Price (slightly out of position)
13. Fittler

May need to give a lttle more thought to wingers and second rows.

The four people who are not negotiable for me are Lockyer (somewhere on the pitch), Meninga, Fulton and Fittler. To me those 4 are head and shoulders above other Kangaroos of recent years.

1.Darren Lockyer
2.Billy Slater (know he's a full back but he would do quite well on the wing)
3.Meninga
4.Reg Gasnier
5.Eric Grothe senior
6.Wally Lewis
7.Allan Langer/Andrew Johns can't make my mind up
8.Arthur Beetson
9.Cameron Smith
10.Petero Civoniceva
11.Bradley Clyde
12.Paul Harragon
13.Brad Fitler/Laurie Daley Hard choice

14.Benny Elias
15.Brad Fitler/Laurie Daley (depends who misses out on starting)
16.Mark Carroll
17.Gordan Tallis

Also I would have in the squad Steve Roach and Peter Sterling

You sir, are correct. And note that Andrew Johns is the only scrum half who is a member of the iconic group known as the Immortals.

Those who are picking teams -- often teams of 17 rather than Kangaroo squads of 26 --- and who omit any of those playing from 1963 on who are among the Australian Immortals -- Arthur Beetson, Reg Gasnier, Bobby Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Johnny Raper or Andrew Johns -- obviously have never seen the particular omitted Immortal play.

I saw all those players play but had to omit some. I thought long and hard about Gasnier.

Slater
Grothe
Meninga
Inglis
Ferguson
Lewis
Sterling
Lazarus
Smith
Webke
Cleal
Pearce
Clyde

Lockyer
Sironen
Roach
Young

Peter Sterling has publicly admitted that he was not as good as Andrew Johns.

No Arthur Beetson = Not Serious

After reading all the comments I could countenance three changes to my original list and still sleep comfortably tonight.

Those three changes would be Darren Lockyer for Brett Kenny, Bradley Clyde for Ray Price, and Glen Lazarus for John O'Neill.


The Kangaroo squad would then be:


FB: Billy Slater, Graeme Langlands

WG: Ken Irvine, Eric Grothe Snr., Kerry Boustead, Michael O'Connor

CE: Reg Gasnier, Mal Meninga, Greg Inglis, Bobby Fulton

FE: Wally Lewis, Darren Lockyer

HB: Andrew Johns, Johnathan Thurston

LF: Johnny Raper, Bradley Clyde

SR: Bob McCarthy, Ron Coote, Steve Menzies, Noel Cleal

PR: Arthur Beetson, Bob O'Reilly, John Sattler, Glen Lazarus

HK: Cameron Smith, Steve Walters



Honourable Mention: Ken Thornett, John Ferguson, Gene Miles, Jarryd Hayne, Brett Kenny, Brad Fittler, Laurie Daley, Peter Sterling, Alan Langer, Ray Price, Gordon Tallis, Petero Civinoceva, Paul Gallen, John O'Neill.

Oh sorry, I didn't realise we could only pick the team you approved of

In MY Opinion, Sterling was a better player than Johns whom In MY opinion is overrated.

I never saw that much of Beetson so haven't included him in my team

I would have that squad but IMO you have got to have Brad Fitler, Benny Elias and Paul 'the chief' Harragon in there.

I agree - Fittler is a must.

Freddy maybe, although he wouldn't be in my personal top 3 either at 5/8 or lock.
Harrogon no chance, and Elias shouldn't even make the tour as boot boy. If you wanted a hard hooker rather than just a grubby relic from a bygone age, then allow me to recommend the rake from the Australian team of the century - Noel (Ned) Kelly.

And who does he replace from among the team I have selected?

Play him at Loose Forward.

He was different class to your two choices. He had more than twice as many caps as Clyde and 11 more than Raper. He was the third most capped Aussie when he retired. He was the most capped NSW Origin player when he retired. When games were tight he always came up with the match winning play - as did Lockyer and Meninga in their day. To me that's what makes a great player - not flash Harry's who score a hatful against weak opposition (like certain British "superstars"icon_wink.gif. To me those 3 along with Fulton who was ahead of his time are the best Australian players I have seen.

Johnny Raper is an Immortal of many years standing. So you would have to dump Bradley Clyde to make a space for Bradley Fittler.

Filter, as good as he was, wasn't as good a back rower as Bradley Clyde.

He was a great stand off and a very good loose forward but certainly not better than Raper, Ray Price, Clyde