I always liked Loughlin from Saints. He always made space for his winger. He made a star out of Les Quirk. He could also go it alone if he had to. His interception try against the Aussies at old Trafford almost won the ashes until that other great centre, Meninga, snatched them back in the last minute.

Quote ="Buggo"From the Aussies. Steve Rodgers was a good centre Andrew Ettingshausen had a pretty complete game. Brett Kenny was a Club Stand off and Test Centre in many matches and he had pretty well everything including a rock solid defense. Nowadays the benchmark is based on Athleticism in all positions in the game. Greg Inglis can beat a man with pace or strength but still has sublime skills. It is not black and white or one or another its a combination of skills and build. youtu.be/Aor6x0BRAp8 youtu.be/IpxVmWHZd4E'" Absolutely, I think the point is more that the skills side does seem to be in shorter supply as the arms race for athletic centres builds up. The best players will always be the ones with all of the aspects needed in their position. As for Inglis, he's simply the best all round athlete and rugby player I've ever seen. He's amazing. Boyd owes his entire rep career to him.

Quote ="Buggo"From the Aussies. Steve Rodgers was a good centre Andrew Ettingshausen had a pretty complete game. Brett Kenny was a Club Stand off and Test Centre in many matches and he had pretty well everything including a rock solid defense. Nowadays the benchmark is based on Athleticism in all positions in the game. Greg Inglis can beat a man with pace or strength but still has sublime skills. It is not black and white or one or another its a combination of skills and build. youtu.be/Aor6x0BRAp8 youtu.be/IpxVmWHZd4E'" Absolutely, I think the point is more that the skills side does seem to be in shorter supply as the arms race for athletic centres builds up. The best players will always be the ones with all of the aspects needed in their position. As for Inglis, he's simply the best all round athlete and rugby player I've ever seen. He's amazing. Boyd owes his entire rep career to him.

in my time supporting hull (35 years) i can say we have only had a handful of world class centres. the 2 standouts were garry schofield, and above all james leuluai. honoury mention to richie barnett who was unfortunate with injury yet was still class. ben crooks has the potential to get up there

Kallum Watkins has it all. Size, pace, footwork and great hands. He could become anything he wants to be. However, as has been said, he is criminally under used on Leeds right hand side.

Paul Newlove, Paul Oloughlin and Alan Bateman for me---players who would get outside their man and put their wingers in space

Not Ben Crooks on today's performance completely choked. Long time since I have seen a player make so many mistakes in a single game (ignoring Holdsworth in the same game!!!!)

leroy cudjoe, best centre in super league.

Don’t you mean in your biased opinion?

whichever way you want to look at it, still the same result

It will be interesting when Watkins or Cudjoe come up against Australia and NZ Test Centres.
Inglis will be a challenge with his size, speed and skill partnered with Morris or Jennings.

He's good no doubt but he's not a patch on Kallum Watkins, who imo has everything to be a truly world class centre.

Not gonna happen but would love him at Wigan.

Exactly, 'on todays performance'. Young lad comes straight into the side after a month out after ankle surgery. The fact he left the game with his boot back on says it all. He's taken teams apart this season. Going to be a cracking player.

Watkins can't tackle, hold a defensive line or read an attack coming at him.
He also has trouble catching at times

Other than that he is superb...if he can learn to defend and keep his interest in the hard stuff rather than the flash stuff he'll be brilliant

Watkins is a fine defensive centre. He isn’t a very good defender from fullback but I have no concerns whatsoever with Watkins defending at .

He is imo, on a different level to Cudjoe and the only truly potential world class centre the game over here has produced in far too long.

Gelling.

If by top class we mean players who excelled against the best at international level we've never produced a great abundance of centres. In my time watching the game Schofield, Lydon and Hanley stand out in the mid to late 80s. By the early 90s you're looking at Davies and possibly Newlove when he could be d. Connolly never scored a try at international level against Australia or New Zealand. Senior lacked any real flair IMO. Gleeson was too slow. Nowadays I think Watkins has potential.

Connolly actually did score once against the Aussies at hull in 2003. But your point is still valid.

I've not seen many better than Richie Blackmore. Big, strong but with great hands and was giving that 'flick' pass before Lyon was out of nappies (maybe an exaggeration).
He and St John Ellis were almost telepathic, Singe scored a massive number of walk-is thanks to Blackmore's ability to draw the man an pass at the very last moment.
In 111 appearances Blackmore scored 64 tries and in 93/94 he and Ellis scored 47 tries between them (Ellis 30; Blackmore 17).
Ellis left the club after this season and Blackmore was paired up with a young Chris Smith who scored 14 tries (with Blackmore scoring 1icon_cool.gif.
Once Blackmore left the club at the end of 1995 Smith only scored 5 tries the following season, proving how vital a player Blackmore was for us and the number of tries he could lay on for his winger. I have not seen anyone come close to him in a Castleford shirt, and not many I think are better playing elsewhere.

Centre's job is simple but it is becoming a mystic art to put his winger away by committing the defence to the tackle with the finesse to off load or step , and the strength to bullock his way through defences who hold back.
Surprised no one has mentioned Joel Moon , who has an unerring ability to create space for his winger , Broughton Last year , Hall this year .

Jamie Lyon in his Saints spell stands out for me .

If it's all about getting their Winger tries, then surely Darrell Goulding is the best centre we have, as his Winger has been the top try scorer for the past 2 years now.

if its just about getting your winger across the line then ryan hall, scott donald, marcus bai and francis cummins all scored a hell of a lot of points outside senior

vainakolo scored lots off of shontayne hape too

Hape was a bit crap at first IIRC and was almost released at the end of his first season, but then really kicked into gear in the last few games. After that he was a wonderful centre to watch.

Never seen anybody better at putting his winger away then Kirk Yeaman.

Martin Gleeson - World Class