Bit of fun. Who do you think would win if the 1971 cup winning team played the 1982 league champions team?

I know some people on here won't have seen one or both of these teams play but you will know of the players who were in the teams eg: Murphy & Ashcroft in 1971 and Woods & Drummond in 1982.

My guess would be a close win for 1982

Difficult one.

81/2 for me too. Just. But thinking about it. A draw.

1982 team, they are a lot younger now

the 2004 team would beat them both

Only if the game was played tonight at Hilton Park.

I would probably also say the 82 team but only just.

82 team but it would be close.

Bit more pace in the backs and I think green v murphy would have resulted in a red card for one of them

1982 for me just

Not sure Drummond vs Alstead would be much of a contest, nor would Murphy vs Duffy (no disrespect to Duffs!)...Woods vs TommyGod would be interesting at their peak though.

I also think that the 1981/82 side would just edge out the 1970/71 side.

The next 5 best Leigh teams since those 2 were

1985/86
1986/87
2004
2006
2011

No disrespect intended but with both players in their peak Woods would absolutely nail it.

I still remember Woods running rings round an Aussie player that they still refer to as 'The King' in Australia.

Wally Lewis was no match for John Woods that day in 1983.

I'm only young enough to have seen Woods at the back end of his career so will bow to your knowledge on that. I would still say that Tommy at his peak was one of the finest players of his generation though.

John Woods for me was the FINEST ALL ROUND rugby player i have ever seen , the lad had everything , could score tries from nothing , had speed ,could kick goals , was a tactical kicker , and a Butts Bridger



, i once saw him score 4 or 5 tries , against Bradford at Hilton Park , the Bradford stand-off was Ellery Hanley , and he made Hanley look average , the same season Wigan came and a young Shaun Edwards was made to look a fool by Woody .

He once said he would "Never play for Wigan ", but in todays game he would have been Priceless , playing for a Superleague team .

Tommy Martyn wasnt a patch on Woody , and Martyn played in a very good Saints team , other than Dessie , Ste Donlan ,and maybe a couple of others , the Leigh team werent exactly World Beaters .Just honest hard grafters , a pleasure to watch .

Although i did think Kenny Green was very underestimated .

There is a photograph of John Woods that used to be up in The Boars Head pub (and previously on display in The Musketeer)

It was taken at Wilderspool and He was in Warrington colours that day, It captures him in open field, speeding in for a try with the Warrington crowd jubilant.

Left trailing behind him is Wigan's Ellery Hanley with the expression of a beaten man. A fantastic photo.

Woody would run rings round tommy

No contest IMO as much as I like Tommy Martyn Jnr ...JW was the best player I`ve had the fortune to watch in a Leyth shirt and that includes AJM .

I remember the game v Bratfurt and i`m pretty sure sure both the Maestro and Hanley scored braces or hat tricks and we lost in a very high entertaining game.

The best individual performance by any player............EVER..............was John Woods, when he scored all 24 points in a win at Leeds one Tuesday evening, circa 1984!!

The Daily star were big on write ups for every game in those days, and players were marked out of 10...........hardly anyone got a 10.....IIRC JW scored an ELEVEN!!!!!

The 1971 team were physically stronger with a ferocious pack and very 'hard' threequarters, whilst they lacked the flair of the 82 team, their defence was awsome! They were of course led by the greatest player Rugby League has ever had and, that's a major reason they would triumph over the 82 team! No disrespect to the 82 team, they were worthy champions but, again, Murphy was the inspiration for their team! I'm lucky to have seen them both!

I also witnessed a game at HP where Hanley tore us to shreds. But have to agree about Woody. He seemed to glide over the pitch and effortlessly kick goals from all over the park. A true RL god.

John Woods was a one off one of the greatest players in the World in his prime
He had everything fantastic attacking skills brilliant defence scored points for fun also broke long term records for every club he played for truly a awesome player
Alex J Murphy on the other hand is the greatest player of all time without a doubt he had everything Woody had plus that x factor he was feared by all throughout his career here and overseas it would have to be one hell of a player to eclipse Alex has the Worlds best ever player

Yes we were certainly blessed to have two truly world class players AND both were wearing Leigh shirts at the time.

It's no wonder that Leigh were able to win the league and be crowned the RL champions.

Woody was a genius. Simples.

Woody was the best.

I remember Hull FC offered us £100k for him and our then chairman Brian Bowman said no.

Shame we can't keep our finest today but sadly that is the way the game has gone' I won't say why I have said it often enough.

I was at the home game v Bradford in the 81 -82 season. Although I don't have a Rothmans to hand, I'm confident that we didn't lose - I remember following a particularly obnoxious Bradford fan back towards Oxford Street who wasn't happy after the game. He was a lot less happy when he found he'd got a parking ticket.

For me, the thing that separated the 71 and 82 teams was pace. The half backs and three quarters of the 82 team were dazzlingly quick. And they won the championship, which is a bigger ask than the Challenge Cup. I remember that the general feeling was that Leigh's style in 81-82 was suited best to hard ground and therefore we were more likely to win the Challenge Cup. A lot of people felt we were nailed on to win it. When we lost to Castleford, there was a massive feeling of deflation. The fact that we went on to win the championship, despite almost chucking it away at the death, makes the 82 team (which changed quite a lot between September and April) the superior one for me. However, they both punched above their weight.

What about the 2001 side?