The best opposition centre I ever saw was Alan Davies. He was in the Oldham side which boasted some of the best players of their day including Rocky Turner and Frank Pitchford. Both Davies and Pitchford came to Wigan late in their careers.

I always thought Paul Scofield was a better actor than rugby league player, he was great in 'A Man For All Seasons'

Of all the players i never saw because of my age (33) the one i would most liked to have seen was Vince Karalius.

Hearing the stories about his fearsome reputation and on-field "acts" really fascinates me.

The "Wild Bull of the Pampas" nick name from the Aussies was a hell of a tribute.

Proper gentleman of the park from what i gather

Aye but don't mention his coaching stint at Wigan.

My Grandma used to talk of him driving through Haydock and how she longed he would give her a lift to Wigan.

if I was to pick a 13 from the best players I HAVE SEEN play against us it would be

1. Harris
2. Albert
3. Lyon
4. Senior
5. J. Monaghan (in my opinion a better all round game than vainikolo)
6. Briers
7. Long
8. Fairleigh
9. Cunningham
10. Fielden
11. Peacock
12. Morley
13. Sculthorpe

Gill's offside/in touch try!

[/u



I've never heard it called that before

Brian Bevan was incredible.
He looked like everyone's grandad with no teeth, bald head (no shaved heads then) more bandages than at Wigan infirmary yet one of the fastest wingmen I've ever seen. He could be going at top speed then side step at 90 degree angle.
His try scoring record is just awesome.
The way he looked and the way he played were just so opposite.
A great player IMO.

Still hurts, doesn't it.

Alan Davies was the best British centre I have ever seen.

Totally agree with that Rogues he was some player, but Gary Connelly in his era was also a brilliant centre who could play 3 or 4 and not many centres could pass both ways,

im prob a bit older than you, but youve got me thinking. Ive prob missed a few (time fades the memory), but here goes

1 Lydon
2. Bevan
3. Jonothan Davies
4. Senior
5.Vollenhoven
6. Lewis Jones
7. Murphy
8. Fielden
9. Lowes
10. Mills
11. Karalius
12. Turner
13 Hanley

Some great players have come up against us, George Fairbairn when at Hull KR was brilliant, Paul Charlton at Salford, both top fullbacks, Des Drummond at Leigh and Warrington, Offiah at Widnes and of course Vollenhoven at Saints, centres like Fox at Wakefield, Alan Davies at Oldham and the 'great' Mal Meninga caused us untold damage, half backs like Millward, Murphy and Gregory at Widnes are unforgetable ............forwards, still thinking, so many ?

Don't think I would be too far off that myself really but I would probably put Martyn at 6. Always knew he would pop up and do something to turn the game.

Willie Talau ALWAYS seemed to score against us as well.

Alan tait in his widnes days was a cracker. Paul loughlin was a good un as well.

Your mam had good taste!!! I also loved him and certainly wouldn't have kicked him out of bed.

Ms A. How could you

I'll tell her tonight when I go down to see her.

Well I too Brian thought he had lovely legs for a Rugby player the nearest to him was Ellery oh and Trent Barrett,

I wouldn't be surprised if she says the same!!

Alan Davis has already been mentioned as one of the best centres ever to play the game, he was also a member of one of the greatest R/L teams that I ever saw.

Alan played for Oldham during one of the most dominant periods one team can have over another, from the start of the1952/53 season until the end of the 1957/58 season Oldham defeated Wigan in 12 consecutive league matches.
During this period the only match I remember Wigan winning against Oldham was a 3rd round R/L Cup win at Oldham in March 1958 (this was a famous match played in a blizzard which Wigan won 8-0)

That Oldham pack was truly awesome, the pack I remember was 8 Jackson, 9 Keith, 10 Duffy,11 Winslade, 12 Little and 13 Turner, during this run another great forward Don Vines came into the pack.

I admit I have done a bit of research to confirm the number of consecutive matches Oldham won against Wigan, but the names of the members of that pack have remained with me all these years.

One particular match that stands out during that run was a match at Central Park during the 1955 season, I went on the bus with a mate and his Dad, at Ince Bar we had to get off the bus and run the rest of the way, due to the traffic.
The match had been going on for 15 min and the score was 15-0 to Oldham, they went on to win 48-23 and in my young eyes at the time it was unbelievable .

As I have said one of the best teams that I ever saw in my early years of watching Wigan and certainly the best team never to appear at Wembley.

Agreed. Mike was a great player, Sorensen a brutally uncompromising prop (they don't make them like that any more) and Kevin Ward was a fantastic player (it always amuses me when Saints fans dismiss their teams from the pre-SL modern era forgetting they had players like Ward - if Ward in his prime were playing today he'd be the best prop in SL.)

The greatest player I've seen, certainly while wearing the green and gold - at times he was unstoppable. Powerful, deceptively quick for a big man and great hands. Had the knack of always being there at the end of games to kill off GB's dreams. That puts him above Hanley for me and recent and current Aussie greats - others may have impressed in the NRL/Origin but at international level big Mal was unequalled. What a player (and captain) he was.

When he was "coaching" at Wigan he wasn't even allowed to pick the team, so his hands were tied a bit! Spoke to him a few times, and like most real hard men he was a real gent.

Walsh had the best shoulder to shoulder tackle I have ever seen. He could flatten opposition players without breaking his stride. And they stayed flattened!