He was still part of the problem.

Schofield for me.

We'll never know, but it would have been interesting to see how Schofield would have gone in the Wigan side at that time and how Edwards would have gone in the Leeds side. I reckon Schofield would have done even better than Edwards with the better players around him and Edwards less well than Schofield did with the Leeds players around him.

But ATEOD both very talented players.

Agreed. Edwards never really dominated a game at Test level. He had one decent series at home to NZ in 89 but that's it. Schofield was much more impressive at that level.

I very much doubt that.

But if he did turn them down it probably was because he wouldn't have been first choice at Wigan in that era.

You take a tour of Schoey's medals you take a ten second tour. You take a tour of Edwards medal collection then book yourself in for a ten hour tour.

I think that sums up who the better player was.

Plus people are banging on about Schofield's international career but how many Ashes series or World Cups did he help us win?

He'd just won the golden boot, and won MOS the following year, I'm certain he would've been first choice.

As someone has already noted Ian Kirke has a box full of medals but if he's one of the finest props this country has ever produced then I despair. You're logic is uttely flawed, Wigan the team won the bulk of those medals not Edwards the individual.

This is made even odder by the fact that you contradict yourself in the last sentence - how many test victories did Edwards lead us two - answer - same number as Schofield because it was the team that failed not the individuals.

That's absolutely crazy logic to apply to a team sport. You could go through lots of team sports and find plenty of examples that would illustrate just how ridiculous it is to use medals won as a yardstick for how good a certain player is/was.

Edwards by an absolute street.

He played for a Wigan side in 1983 that was by no means great. Williams, Ramsdale, stephenson, Julliffe, Gill, Foy, Fairhurst, Shaw,Kiss,Case,Dunn, Wane, Pendlebury. Yet with a 17 year old shaun edwards at full back they got to the 1984 Challenge cup final.

Schofield joined a great Hull side with Kemble, Leului, Sterling, Steve evans, fred ah kuoi, Lee Crooks, Steve Norton, John Muggleton.

Schofield was ok but not in Edwards class as either a player or a leader. Plus Schofield could only pass right to left. V Poor for a stand off.

I see scoffer as a bit of a legend tbh, like Hanley, Gregory, Offiah, Lydon.
Mebbe that's the thing with Edwards, over shadowed by other team members.
A Wigin fan is always gonna hold some affinity for a home team player, but from the outside looking in, as good as he was Edwards didn't grab you like the other stars of the game did back in the day.
As a fan of neither Leeds or Wigin, Scoffer sits right up there, with Edwards not far behind, but definitely behind.

I think you are being a little harsh here. We last won the World Cup in 1972 and have had 9 competitions since. We last won an Ashes series in 1970(I saw the 3 games living here in Sydney) and have lost all 13 since. Hardly a relevant guide to assess a player's ability is it?

Not read the whole thread as 21 pages and this may have been said already, But Schofield was a more talented all round player without doubt imo. Not to say edwards wasn't, he was fantastic but Schoey was a once in a generation type. Edwards was by far the more professional of the two. Would have been interesting to see how Schoey would have gone in that Wigan team had he taken Lindsays money and gone when the offer was there in the early 90s.

Exactly...ian kirke and Ryan Bailey have bucket loads of medals too, doesn't make them better props than say, james graham who has 1 GF win and Adrian Morley who has zero in SL.

Biggest load of rubbish so far, I can accept they were close and people may rate one higher than the other but seriously man that’s just total club bias on show - makes you and some other Wigan fans look really foolish.

Ask any Australians and the answer wouldn't even be close, Schofield by a huge distance. The only advantage Edwards had was better team mates. Both had a spell at Balmain (as did Hanley & Currier). Ask a Balmain fan to to rank those in order and I can guarantee who will be bottom (and for the blinkered Pie fans Currier would be a comfortable 3rd).

I've watched the Schofield doc and there is a 10 minute bit about how Lindsay came in for him in 90/91.leeds had just pushed Wigan down to a title decider though and despite being offered 4 times what he earned at Leeds he felt Leeds were building something under David Ward and he wanted to stick around to be part of it for his hometown team.

Not long after though Ward was ousted for Laughton.Schoey hated Laughton with a passion and holds nothing back on that fact.he says Laughton never said a word to him in his time there.i would wager not moving to Wigan when he had the chance is his biggest regret, although he never actually said it.

Edwards internationally was a disappointment. One half decent series vs NZ in 1989 and one half decent performance versus Australia in the 2nd Test in 1992 and that’s it.

If it’s about who was the most talented and better player, it’s Schofield by a distance. If it’s who was more dedicated and professional, Edwards.

People get lost in the current perception of him (Schoey), but on his day there has been very few better.

The opposite argument would say that he wouldn't have gone as well because he was disruptive and individualistic whereas Edwards was very much a team player which is exactly what that Wigan team needed.

Also a point worth noting for those saying Wigan tried to sign him is that is no indication he would have been a success there. Less so that he would have been better than Edwards. Wigan have signed many players who haven't worked out, especially when their game is individualistic. Dennis Moran anyone? It's also worth noting that he says he turned down Wigan because he thought Leeds were on the verge of becoming the dominant side. Laughton or no, he wasn't able to turn that into a reality. Neither did he anywhere else he went.

As a maverick with a good box of tricks - Schofield.

As an effective rugby player in a team sport - Edwards. And by some distance.

Lets face it, Leeds were nonentities while he was playing for them. No matter how good he was he didn't inspire them to many trophies.

A single Yorkshire cup I think it was.

I think Schofield was a more talented player though I think Edwards was a better team member and certainly more professional.

One thing is for sure I wouldn’t want one of them anywhere near a coaching role at my club and am delighted Edwards is coming home in 2020.

Gary Schofield. Far superior record at the highest level (international). Also, scored tries at a higher rate than Edwards at club level and far more points. Edwards played a big chunk of his career at Wigan when they were effectively professional when nobody else was and so were scoring freely. The stats speak for themselves. No contest.

Because the all time great wigan team blocked his path and every other teams for that matter.Schofield signed for Leeds in 87', right at the start of the Wigan reign and finished just as SL started and Wigans domination slowed down. If it wasn't for Wigan being so far ahead of the rest its not far fetched to Say schoey could have had at least 2 CC winners medals and a championship one in his collection.

Yet, he was still selected and performed well for GB and had a successful stint in Australia.

Certainly, Scihofield was more naturally talented and Edwards had the luxury of playing in a heavily star studded Wigan side.
Edwards was as tough as hell though and nobody can forget him playing in a winning Wigan side at Wembley with a broken cheekbone and commenting afterwards that he didnt' want the opposition to think that they'd hurt him (even though his face was totally busted).
I cant think of too many players ,in any position that would have done that and in the modern game, they wouldn't be allowed to continue.

You do realise that Leeds were the first club to go full time professional don't you? Then Wigan followed closely by Widnes. St Helens whilst not offically full time had a lot of players whose only job was rugby.

Don’t spoil their fun with facts.