Ken has spent a lot of time, effort and money to bring the giants into the top flight. We have seen a lot of players over the years who have been fans favourites (or scapegoats). We have also had our share of journeymen. Players who came with big reputations- had glittering careers at other clubs, perhaps had international honours but never lived up to the reputation when they came to hudds- they came for the pension, took to the field and did nowt special. We have also had plenty of players who came quietly, put 100% into the cause each and every week but never really got the big plaudits- the grafters.
Who are yours?


Journeymen ( this may upset a few folk)
Shane elford
Paul loughlin
Paul Dixon
Neil harmon
Paul rowley- never a patch on Danny Russell who he replaced.

Grafters
Adrian toole
Paul Jackson
Tony Bowes (bony toes)
Andy Raleigh
Dave Atkins
Danny kirmond
Matt sturm

I think the grafters got the plaudits they deserved, it's nice that sometimes RL fans can recognise the hard, un flashy work done that makes all the difference

I'll totally agree about Rowley. One of Kears favourites pushed out one of the stand out players from our first stint in Super League

Can we have a category of over the hill wasters?

OTHW

Paul Loughlin
Garry Schofield
Ian Pickavance.

Players who came with big reps and underperformed:

Gvin Clinch
Gene Ngamu
Dale Laughton


Under-rated

Ben Barton
Martin Aspinwall

Fairly sure Tony Smith signed Paul Rowley not John Kear.

Kear's favourite was Johnny Lawless who was far, far more useless than Rowley.

You're right

On both counts

A journeyman is by definaition an average player who has played at several clubs. The likes of Dixon and Loughaln were not jorneyman. They were top class internationals.
They just came to us at the back end of their career when they were past their best but i would say this is very different to a journeyman.

As for grafter i would include the likes of
Martin Aspinwall, Andy Raleigh, Jim Gannon,Hefin o Hare, Stuart Jones and Paul Jackson. Not the most gifted playes in the world but would never give less than 100% in a Giants shirt.

...............that fella that replaced Ali Davys --cant be sure was it Chris ORR

Wow he was a star !!

got to disagree with you on schoey.. he was old when he came to hudds but in the old division 2 for us he was great, he made younger /inexperienced players look daft at the mac when he chipped over their defence on the first tackle and scored under the posts... not a great coach of ours but a good player.. and how can anyone forget him lifting up the premiership trophy in front of the sharks fans in 97

Chris Orr was truly awful as was Andrew Tangata Toa

John Bentley was woeful during his short spell at the Giants.

I can forget it cos it didn't happen. He was injured that day, thank god, and didn't play. You are of course entitled to your opinion of Garry Schofield but the facts are that Schofield was woeful in his final years playing for Leeds, if he'd have been a horse he would have been shot long before he played for us. I have no idea who told Ken Davy that spending £135,000 on him was a good idea but it really wasn't.

cant think of many ' journeymen' off the top of my head but can think of plenty who didnt put in their share of the graft !
as for the grafters ...Stuart Jones, Stephen Wild, Danny Russell, Dave King, Adrian Toole, Paul Reilly, are the 1st ones that come to mind although there have been plenty of these that just maybe lacked the talent to be a great player.

spot on.... ngamu was poor!

paul reilly the ultimate grafter, stuart jones and darren turner aswell

tangata toa and ben kusto garbage

and john bentley even worse!

Daz- don't agree with you on Danny Russell and Paul Reilly- they WERE great players and certainly got the plaudits they deserved- my definition is for those players that didn't.
Technically a journeyman is one who has the skills but does not excel- I'm looking for those who - in your opinion should have but didn't.
Anyway my thread my rules.



Why isn't there a sticking your tongue out smiley????

sorry, i meant some of them listed weren't great players naturally but certainly gave their all...obvs Danny and Paul come into both

I am confused about the definitions.here. Would never see Raleigh as a Grafter or a Journeyman. He was a very good player who gave his all.

I would add another two categories of players that we could use.

The Sicknotes.
Those players who could have been better if they did not spend most of their time injured. A good example would be Falogo.

The wasted talents.
Those players who could have been good but for whatever reason were wasted.
Rod Jensen springs to mind. Someone who when he played looked to have the X factor but obviously upset Sharp somehow so seemed to fade away.

As for Schofield i would put him in the bracket of waste of money. ( if indeed he cost us £135,00). But when he signed i thought god we have got a big name playing for us that was a sign to everyone that Ken was backing the club and we were coming out of the shadows of the bigger teams.

Wasted talent-Paul White
Underperformed-George Gatis
Work horse-Adrian Toole
Grafter-Alan Wilson

A name that springs to mind as a wasted talent is Steve booth

His talent wasn't wasted- he took his golden boots went to kick and clap and earned himself a fortune.
Paul white was a Kevin penny- pace to burn but little else hence championship rugby.

what do you mean it didnt happen..he walked around the pitch after the game, even though he didnt play and lifted up the trophy in front of the hull fans.

His talent was wasted he could have been top class but had a bad attitude. He had a couple of decent seasons on the wing for Leicester then disappeared into obscurity

He played four seasons with Leicester but had a few long term injuries later in his time that could have happened anywhere - last I heard he was player coach for some kick and crap team.

I am not sure whether he should fit into Journeymen (because he was still young) but Jamie Simpson needs his own category.

In relation to Elford. His first touch was the first time we saw the 'crossing' rule applied. Nobody knew why he was penalised!

i wouldn't say paul dixon was a journeyman,yes he finished his career with us but still gave his all for the cause,some games he could hardly walk off the field


i dont think schoey was that bad a player for us TBH,again,yes he was at the end of his career but he had more class than most in the 1st division at the time and it was clear to see.
another for the workhorse department...... jeff wittenburg anyone?

Big...Jeff?

Fantastic Sausage and egg nowadays too.