I'd love a fullback in the Steve Hampson mould, that's about as dependable as you can get defensively, dealt with everything thrown at him.

Hampson was British men's trampolining champion I seem to remember which is why I think he always got so high jumping under the high ball.
Only remember him once dropping a high ball

I don't think I saw Whitehead play, can't remember when he stopped

Hesford, superb, but it's a TOTALLY different game, now. Pity for him, he had George Fairburn to contend with, internationally, or he'd have a bucketfull of GB caps

Johnson, again, superb. The most exciting FB I've seen in a Wire jersey

Lyon. Good. Reanable pace. Huge boot. Remember seeing him kick a goal v Stains from the half way line, and the ball was still rising when it went over the bar

Penny. Great, but had an allergy to passing the ball.

My memory seems to have erased Cardiss. Don't know why

Readon was a v good FB for us. Superb returner of a kick. Don't get the sniping he's received on here.

Grose. Good. For me, a little "over-loved" on these pages, like Nat Wood was/is.

Mathers. Bloody 'ell!!!! (Nah, that's harsh) he was good. But that's about it for me.To many love-ups for my liking

Hodgson. Superb.

Do I have a fav. No.

I'm STILL slightly jealous of Wigan (even after all these years). They had Steve Hampson. He WAS good. Seemed to have radar in his head, when it came to postitioning himself for downfield kicks. It seemed like he NEVER had to move more than 10 yards to receive a kick. Just a pity he had a body more fragile than Chris Bridge.

As an out-and-out full back, as opposed to a utility back like Davies or Harris, Johnson remains the best I've seen in a wires top; I don't deny some of my Wire memories are rose-tinted and hued with nostalgia but Johno was the real deal.

Nice to hear Penny get mentioned - he seems to have been tipp-exed out of some memories but he was a very, very good full back until a mars-bar diet caught up with him. I always thought Chris Rudd would have made a good FB, he may even have played a couple of times there for us, but alas he never quite hit the heights expected of him.

For other clubs the one who struck fear into me was Joe Lydon for Wigan, such an elusive runner. Not as telepathic defensively and astute in positional play as Hampson but much more dangerous going forward.

And don't get me started on that &£$^&^£% drop-goal in the Maine Road semi.

Please dont talk about joe lydon. He was a good centre poor fb and saying nothing else...I'll have a nightmare

He did have a huge boot but going for distance and missing touch cost us big time at Maine road. Everyone points to Lydons Drop goal, but Lyon missing touch gave Wigan possession, from which, If I remember Hanley made a break and put someone in for try in the corner which we were never coming back from.....

In general I agree with you, but I think a strong fb defensively can be the difference between being good and superb.

The likes of Radlinski and Wellens have throughout their careers pulled off some blinding try saving tackles, whereas Hodgson just isn't known for that. In fact he was often made to look rather silly as the last line of defence.

Me neither. 'Dispised' the guy for years after that, but he was good.

Frano Botica for me was one of the best f/b's, but that may have been due to his incredible goal kicking......... again denying us a title when we finished 3rd on goal difference to Wigan when John Dorahy was coach for the pies

Played full back sometimes but was more of a half-back.

Thought he was a centre[Botica?

Just seen Botica's son plays for Harlequins RU, I thought Botica was a half back but could be wrong. He was some kicker though!

With all this talk about the merits of different full backs over the years, with a focus on the departed Hodgson, it got me thinking how we might play differently in some respects next season. Hodgson was a fantastic exponent of the full back assuming a third half back role, often joining the line to give a killer cut-out ball to create tries. The closest way we could replicate that would be to have Ratchford take his place at No 1 but he seems earmarked for the half back spot in Briers’ absence.

From what I saw of Matty Russell in the World Cup he is a very different full back, a dangerous runner and returner of kicks with real pace and strength and an ability to find gaps close to the line. He doesn’t seem to have, or at least didn’t show, that ability to become an additional pivot creating opportunities for others. Will this lead to us changing the way we play the game? I can see Russell thriving by following our offload game but wonder whether we will see any other changes in dynamics this season.

Matty Russell looks very lively at dummy half. We will need to give him the opportunity to show his skills.

I agree KT. I think we will have to play with a different style. Maybe Russell will play a bit more like Webb did for Leeds hanging around the ruck waiting for a quick play the ball or offload. Ratchford was more of a threat like that than Hodgson was. I do worry about our ability to create tries when we are 20 metres out now that Briers and Hodgson are gone.

With 2 FIT ex-england international centres, we dont necessary need to be so creative in the halves.

So, after 12 pages of posts, does anyone actually know what Brett Hodgson is doing ?

You should know by now that we know absolutely nothing of any value on this site, in fact it is a membership requirement. If the mods get any inkling that you know what you are talking about, you are thrown out and have to join the TotalRL board. They know even less than we do, but can write in long paragraphs and sound much more well informed.

You should also be more careful about trying to derail threads.

For what it's worth I think he may well show up in London.
He would be a good choice for captain of the club.

Cue another 12 pages.

I like this thread - with all it's twists and turns.... and I've made more comments on this than any other and still going......



Re Botica, I know he did play in the halves and as centre (and I think his preferred position was in the halves) but I just remember his exploits at full back.
Forgotten he was an All Black too. Boy was he a good kicker !


By the way - Hesford - heard he'd gone to Spain and was running a bar but seems to have disappeared.
Where's Hessie?

I thought about this the other night. Can't see it happening as he probably only has a year left in him then he will move back to Oz, I doubt he will want to move his family down to London for such a short period and it is a bit of a commute!

Hodgson was a better fullback than Radlinski or Wellens though.

Its only in the last few years that SL has caught up with the NRL in terms of how they see the FB's role. English RL has had an obsession with "ball handling" loose forwards and "strong defensive" fullbacks which is thankfully disappearing. IMO its no coincidence that a major weakness for GB/England has been this mindset of a plodding extra ball handler in the pack as opposed to one who can hit the line at speed.

Its also weird to suggest that a good attacking fullback shouldn't also be good defensively. Slater is a damn good defender, especially of kicks. Ben Barba is the only current NRL fullback I can think of who isn't a very solid defender.

IMO Wellens would never have had much of a career in the NRL at fullback (perhaps at halfback), as like Mathers his attacking play was never at the required level. I also never understood the Wigan fans' adoration of Radlinski - probably because I moved to Aus about the time he was playing, and the gulf in standard between British and Aussie fullbacks was enormous.

BTW I remember Steve Hesford - my second game watching Leeds was vs Wire in the old John Player Trophy. Wasn't he quite slow? Not at all unusual back then - Whitfield at Wigan, Hogan at Leigh, Mick Burke, Keith Mumby, even Fairbairn wasn't that quick. Mind you, I suspect Leeds unearthed the slowest and shall we say "least athletic" fullback ever once Ian Wilkinson moved there.

I see from the news that Ronnie Biggs has died. Now he was a real criminal, none of this hacking the internet stuff looking for personal banking records, or going fishing. He was a far better criminal than all the modern tosh we see nowadays. He was out there on the tracks with his sawn off shotgun, covering any moves from the guards " look out, he's gotta shooter !", so his mates could grab the mail sacks. Now HE WAS a last line of defence. Can you imagine the chaos if he suddenly decided he was going to catch the tossed mail bags and stack them in the getaway car ? Or get involved with the attack on the mail van ?

Get real

go home winslade, you're drunk.