I was watching Wigan under 15s years ago. Sean Wane was dishing it out and Jackie Edwards, standing at the side of me, said that he was the hardest player he had ever seen at any level of rugby league.He was a pretty good judge.

As brawlers who liked to mix it up it would be Tallis, Drummond, Roberts, Cullen, Boyd but as some one to play through the tough stuff Bob Jackson, Farrell, Craig Smith, Jamie Peacock, Mike Greg

You reckon?
Anyway, people like Nickle and Skerrett shouldn't be who this thread is about. Taking punishment and keeping your head is what RL is about and the real test.

Watching saints, Apollo Perelini springs to mind. Barrie McDermott once said (something along the lines of)

(But when the doe's hit the fan) For you Wigan guys, it was very nice to see O'Connor give Tallis some of his own medecine.

The video is on you tube. Fielden decks McDermott with a sweet uppercut.

cliffe lyons. solid.

I'm not old enough to have seen a lot of the guys mentioned just what i've heard in stories off people.

A guy i work with was in the Leeds Colts (academy) side when Shaun Wane was playing for Wigan, he played against him a couple of times at academy level and said he was the hardest player he'd ever seen/played against, one story he told me really made me chuckle

The teams were warming up before the game (at Wigan i think) Leeds in one half and Wigan in the other, after a few drills the Leeds lads huddled for a chat and the hooker for Leeds was being rather mouthy and loud about how what he was going to do, smash players etc, etc trying to get there lads up for the game.

My pal said out of the corner of his eye he spotted this lone, Wigan player making his way over to the Leeds huddle, next thing Shaun Wane is stood there infront of them all and as the Leeds lads went quiet he basically said, "I'm gonna smash you" and repeated it about 5 times while pointing at various Leeds players then turned and walked back to the Wigan players warming up.

My pal said, he wasn't lying and Wane totally smashed them to bits that day and it was the hardest game he ever played in.

Heard a few similar stories about Wane like that

Supre Kel
Connolly
Bell
Edwards
Goodway
Pongia
Newton
Radlinski (tough but nice fella). Remember the injection in his foot before the final. Ouch

In fact might try and make a nutter 13.

Outside of Wigan and excluding all the usual props I would have to say i would never fancy trying to deal with Keith Senior.

Meaning?

Probably meaning you can't have seen drummond play if you are questioning his inclusion in this thread. In fact i once saw skerret (whilst playing for bradford) actually back off when des squared up to him in a game at wilderspool. Nobody would ever pick a fight with drummond.

There was a story doing the rounds not long ago about a Wigan player acting the fool!!!!! on Standishgate.

Shaun Wane happened to be on the other side of the street and saw what was happening. It appears Waney went across to the player and had a word in his ear. Things I believe quietened down.

You are right there about Drummond, he is also a black belt at karate as well i believe.

I believe so. And he was a bit of a celebrity back in the day, appearing on that Superstars TV show if I remember correctly

That's right mate he held the record i think for the most dips.

Karl Fairbank

Frank Foster, played for Barrow.
Dennis Boyd, played for us.

Ryan Bailey ?

He was more than that, he was a Karate Instructor 3rd Dan Blackbelt.

Could have got into a bit of trouble at the CC Final (Wire v Wigan), Iro scored and threw the ball at Drummonds face due to a dirty tackle. Drummond took offence and threw probably one of the hardest punches ever seen, karate punch to the chin.

To be fair to Iro, he handled it very well (his neck went back and then he laid into Iro, mass brawl ensued).

Give over..hes a tough lad but you went one step to far for that. he does brazilian jui jitsu at bolton now

I did think he had a few Dan's to be honest, didn't know he was an instructor though, he is a true hard man though no doubt about that, and a nice fella as well, spoke to him watching Leigh East last season, and he still looks fit as a fiddle.

Please don'tthink me biased but Drummond was/is probably the hardest player ever

Sonny Bill/ Mason can handle themselves due to boxing training but i'd put money on a martial arts expert over a boxer any day.

Rugby players are built to take more punishment than your normal person but that just means they'd last longer toe to toe rather than just going down straight away.

He also ran a pub in moss side i think, now that takes balls too

REALLY....

I seen him hide behind a load of Leeds players when Lee Radford went looking for him last season..

As a Barrow fan I'd just like to throw my hat into the ring with 2 of my teams legends from the past and 2 from the present.

The Past
Frank Foster - Tough isn't a strong enough word. Alex Murphy would spend most of the match hiding from big Frank. Very classy player in his day as well.
Eddie Szymala - Mad as a hatter but a real hard man and great character who can still be seen on the terraces at Craven Park. Sent off 13 times in his career and famous for a brawl with Kevin Tamati in the tunnel during the 1983 Lancashire Cup Final after both had been sin-binned. Barrow (then a Division 2 team) went on to beat Cup Kings Widnes that day. Widnes had the likes of Gregory and Lydon in their ranks. Eddie also played for England and GB.

The Present
Gary Broadbent - In 2010 he missed his first matches in Pro RL for 6 years. Ever present and freakishly tough for his size.
Brett McDermott - Coalman by day, RL Warrior at the weekends. If ever you meet Barrie McDermott, ask him about his namesake Brett when Widnes played Barrow at Craven Park.

Boxing is a martial art...

ok then, but take just a boxing background in to something like UFC and see how long you last.

I know there is a lot of mixed martial arts in that but there are a few who have a stand alone technique, boxing is too restrictive. dodge weave punch