Don't hold back, Yed.

Can you put the knife down please.....PLEASE[size=200....PLEASE[/size [size=85you are right, tho. The fella is a todger[/size

no thats untrue.Anyway tthe main thing about this staue concept is about the sport of RUGBY LEAGUE getting some iconic recognition.Imagine foreign visitors ,Americans for instance coming over to support the annual NFL game and seeing a statue similar to the Bobby Moore statue then reading the plinth.It would be great for our games history being memorialised in that world famous stadium.Hanley or Jim Sullivan would still be my preference

Offiah's defence wasn't 'bloody awful'. How come Wigan didn't get bitched down his side? It might not have been the strongest part of his game but he was decent enough. It's like saying Hanley's passing and distribution was 'bloody awful' because he wasn't Brett Kenny.

So the RFL are to fault for 'forcing him into RU'?

Why didn't Wigan offer him a job then?

Total up the money that Ian Millward was on plus Jerry Seu Seu, Vaealiki and Denis Moran, none of those guys are likely to be high up Wigan's pantheon of greats, surely that cash would have been enough to tempt Shaun away from Wasps RU?

JEFF LIMA!

Agree 100% (and imo you are not being a "dick", just a normal person)

Are you saying it isn't true? It appears that's what you are intimating. It was actually published in the St. Helens Reporter (or St. Helens Star) as a thank you by the man who he helped. It was also after he Edwards finished playing for Wigan.

I've met Edwards too, along with Tuiguamala, one the friendlist, down to earth blokes you'll ever meet.

Any hatred of him from opposition fans is borne purely from the fact he didn't play for them; same as Sam now.

There's a very good interview with Shauns mum in tonights Evening Post.

"In reality he didn't leave Rugby League, Rugby League left him"

It appears that he paid his own way to spend some time working with Wayne Bennett, and was promised a job with England at U21 level, but that was then given to someone else. Rugby Union saw his coaching potential and the rest is history.

I remember that, it must have been 10 years ago because it was the 2001 season and Warrington were looking for a coach to replace Darryl Van de Velde. Shaun Edwards had a column on Teamtalk and when Iestyn Harris left Leeds for union Edwards who was down in Brisbane at the time said he thought Leeds had signed an even more talented player in Ben Walker....odd how Walker never really kicked on after a bright start. Anyway, I digress...Warrington appointed Neil Kelly as coach then Kelly backtracked when Widnes came up and left us up the swanny. There were some stories in the local papers that we interviewed Shaun Edwards but the club weren't willing to allow him to live down south and commute, they insisted that he moved up north and he wasn't prepared to do that. I later heard from someone (fairly reliable source) that that was untrue and we had never interviewed Edwards so I'm not sure what to believe.

I do remember though our fans being split on the issue of Edwards potentially being our coach. I think most people sensed he would be a good coach because of the type of player he was, he had a reputation as being virtually a coach through his playing days, most Wire fans thought if Edwards turned out to be good he would have done 2 seasons or so with us then gone to Wigan, which is probably true, but I would have still taken him at that time.

I wonder if Shaun's next move, will be to replace Martin Johnson as England supremo in RU.

I seem to recall that Shaun wanted to stay near his young family... I think that was the main reason for him not coming back to RL. Can't really blame him for that. But people will always go for conspiracy theories. If he had gone to Warrington, he probably would have ended up at Wigan, and at a very interesting time. Radlinski refers to Shauns intensity even in training, and alludes to the fact that Shaun did lead many of the training sessions.

And now he works in Wales?

and now his family is not as young.

*Facepalm*

I see.

*chuckle*

Combination of a few would be best - Hanley, Lance Todd, etc

The moment you realised he had Tait.

not so much his family...but his son.

his ex (heather small from Manc) moved down south to further her career....Sean followed...he signed for London Broncos (and played for them at wembley).
He turned down any opportunity he got up north later, to stay near his son.......hes a great dad imo.
his son will now be a young man.

That's the statue for me. Iconic moment of the 8 in a row, he's also a national celebrity who still has a keen interest in the game.

I knew all the details, which is why i said "near". Just did not want to drag it all up in open forum.

It also shows a man who has picked up the ball and run with it, so there can be no confusion with Union...

No far from it. I am just questioning the source. You are saying that you gained this information from a first person account in a local paper? I don't disbeleive it but someone had to play devil's advocate.

I don't dislike edwards (at all) I agree with many he was a good player in a team of stars. However, he is at the bottom of my list of people this statue should be of. They were talking about him yesterday in reference to wales' defense on itv. That is enough for me to against it. It isn't a team thing (I would embrace hanley), it is a sport thing. See my star wars reference on the sts board!

When in a hole... Stop digging.

I'm sure you are sincere in your view, but from here it just looks like you want a reason not to agree based purely on club bias. I would be grateful if you could present a Warrington player with comparable credentials at wembly finals that can compete with Shaun's.............. No thought not.

Ironically, you seem to have ed the point. You are accusing me of having a club bias and yet it is you who is using it as a yard stick. I will try and make it clear to you why I wouldn't want edwards as the choice.

1) Most importantly, he is heavily involved with rugby union. The vast majority of people who see it will associate him with wasps or welsh rugby or similiar. As I said, was part of a great wigan team but isn't known for that. It is that simple. Being at university now, I have been watching rugby league for ten/ eleven years. I know edwards more as a union figure than a league figure and I am a die hard league fan. Edwards has been a bigger name in union than he ever was in league and he is probably going to be there longer! We must remember a statue is forever.

2) As I am thinking of someone who has promoted the game, I have thought of people who have performed well on the international stage. This is where, again, edwards loses my vote. The overriding image of edwards in a GB shirt is him jumping two foot to lamp an aussie. (Although many applaud it from a cheeky perspective; it is not a respectable action)

There are many players who are heavily associated with league or performed well on the international stage. For example warrington player jiffy perfomed well for GB but has ties to union and saints player, cunningham, is the opposite. Unfortunatly, edwarda fails on both counts.

I have suggested players who acheived great things and are known in league.

Boston
Bevan
Hanley
Murphy

Are all great names. For being great in the field of rugby league, some for summing up the wembley spirit and for promoted soley the game of rugby league.

Sorry for showing you up, but I think if you thought about this from more than just a club perspective you can see there are many better options than edwards. If all you can say is 8 in a row and he helped and old couple, you have sort of missed the point of the statue.

I would even accept a name such as jim sullivan (although I know very little about him; compared)