Long, as good as he was, has been fortunate enough to play in some outstanding St Helens teams. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't detract from his individual abilities, as he was a match winner all day long. However, if you contrast his career with Briers in terms of the clubs they represented, the difference is absolutely massive and impossible to ignore. Briers and Long have always has their flaws [iaway[/i from the game, however, on the field, they have both displayed brilliance.

In an interview with Lee recently, he openly admitted that he wished he was starting his career again because the situation we find ourselves in as a club is very very promising, particularly in terms of coaching set up and playing personnel. Lee has flourished in recent years, but this is predominantly due to the fact that he now, unfortunately for him in his 30's, finds himself in such a fantastically well balanced squad of players. Therefore, I've no doubt that had history taken a different course, Briers would have more than one Lance Todd Trophy under his belt, plus many more team and individual honours.

It's a bloody good debate and a classic what if

Both great players in their own right, one in a great side for several years one in a predominately average side, both a bit flawed, both tempermental, both brilliant on their day and maybe should have played in the same GB side

Sean Long > Lee Briers

We haven't won the last 5 grand finals because we've not been the best team over the last 5 years. Having Lee Briers wouldn't have made any difference. We shouldn't have even made the final in most of those years, but certain other teams who perhaps should have kept fluffing their lines in the Play Offs.

last year apart you couldnt be more wrong. the two years before that we got excited by challenge cup wins and thus got dumped out of the knockout rounds of the play offs. your inability to see the talent in an opposition team player is laughable.

Would you have been as succesful if we had kept hold of Paul Sculthorpe and say you had had Paul Noone instead.....?? the Ricky Bibey Theory of relativity tells me you would...

ok then Leon Pryce a better stand off than Briers.....?

The year we fluffed the playoffs was when we got hammered by Huddersfield in 2010.

Anybody that thinks we were Grand Final contenders before 2010

(we probably should have got one more round in 2005 when we had Andrew Johns, but we would have had Bradford at Odsal and they would have beaten us).

Briers would have made a difference in those big games in a good side because he has always had the ability to make a team finish off plays. Even when we were inconsistent under Van de Velde and Cullen it was our defence that let us down, the scoreboard was always ticking forwards for us because we used to score points.