I wish we could have seen a full season from Tronc. If he'd have carried on from those first handful of games, he'd have been a favourite for every award going.

Whose above, if its Hurrall I give up.

Roby and Austin

Blake Austin and James Roby

Reasonable.

I like that they have changed the man of steel system to reflect that of the Dally M awards, it really does make a whole lot more sense and the previous system was becoming a bit of a laughing stock amongst a lot of players.

As said we have been blessed with some great players over the years including some great prop forwards. As a young lad I loved watching big George Ballantyne , then there was the great Trevor Skerrett who was as good as any prop in the world , he was the player of the series on the Aus tour of 79. Later on we had Darren Fritz who was magnificent for us . Fafita gets better and better and imo is the best prop in SL, The two tries against Huddersfield, whose defense was excellent would not have been scored by any other SL player, he is the heartbeat of the team, the fans favorite, a hero , a marketing dream. All that said my favorite prop has to be the great John Burke, what a player, what a tackling machine, hard, uncompromising , non nonsense , plenty of dog in him. I remember the 1979 cup final when him and Skerrett were up against Jim Mills and Glyn Shaw. Skerrett was hit late in ribs with a cheap shot third man in shoulder by Keith Elwell that really hurt Trevor, his game was effected . John Burke took Mills and Shaw on, he just kept taking it to them. Toppo won the Lance Todd that day, the second time only that a player on the losing side had won the Mon of the match. The lance Todd was and still is voted on by the assembled press. That day in 1979 John Burke was runner up to Toppo , the press could not believe that a player had made 52 tackles and remember that the MOM vote is taken about 10 minutes before the end of the match. What a player, my bloody hero.

I agree about John Burke. Was a hero of mine too.
Wish we could have kept that team together.

Yea as I remember it took about two years to build the team and less than one to dismantle it!

I used to love watching Fritzy scatter people around, and his offload(s) to Andy Mason I seem to recall were excellent! But surely he was at his best in the S/R? I would give a mention to Adrian Shelford who had his moments for us, also Justin Poore who was a bit of a character, although he did leave on not great terms if I remember correctly. Tronc did look awesome in his very brief stint. I did have a soft spot for Korki, and Darrell Griffin did a great job for us in 2004. Fifita has to be now in the top 3 props ever to have played for us I would think, long may he continue.......

Probably, other than those in the 1960's, after all they actually won stuff!

Yeah true, I didn't start until about '84 ish, so only have what my dad told me, and obviously old games watched. I suppose it's a massive cliché, but it is a completely different game nowadays.....?

Its a moot point with me when it comes to legends and who's best etc- At the end of the day to be a true legend at any club a player needs to have picked up a trophy and none have since 1968. I don't want to de-value the YC but its not really there for me. It's heartbreaking for some players because they really should be legends and picked up medals but thats the game. Toppo is the toughest one but I'll sneak him in because he won the Lance Todd and then won it all with Hull but the rest are sadly close but no cigar - its a very Australian attitude but it seems to work well.

The noble beeb seem to have a bit of trouble in identifying Mr Hurrell! This from this weekends reporting.

"Leeds centre Konrad Hurrell was one of the few highlights as she scored four tries and running 235 metres, "

Well you could argue about the true 'legends' that made up that '60's team? Neil, Poynton, Coetzer? Were the props the best props in the league at that time? I really don't know, having not watched them week in week out in the flesh, 'cause I wasn't born! I have only seen the Wembley cup finals.

Although, along with Big Jim Mills, John Burke and he were the regarded as the "Bad Boys" of the game at the time, but my lasting memory of Burkey is him being carried off the Headingly pitch shoulder high by his team mates after the 1979 semi-final at Headingley. What a game he had that day. A truly great prop. Not a great prop in the Fifita style, but a local lad who played too few games for Trinity and far too many for Leeds.

I agree that you can't really compare eras but I don't agree that winning a trophy in a team sport is the measure of an individual.

No it not the measure but it is imo the key to being a legend. When sport is played for fun it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts, no argument from me. Pro RL or any pro sport is not played for fun, it may be fun playing it and it’s certainly more fun than emptying bins or at least it should be but they are not the same thing.

There is only one logic in pro sport and that is success - anything less is not necessarily failure but it is not success, at this level it simply can’t be considered as such - harsh? Yes but that’s how it works.

Hence a legend in the pro game has to also be a winner which means being in a winning team and we haven’t had one of those for fifty years. My opinion.

Liam Watts was above him until this week. and will be above him at the end of the season barring injury.
Much better all round prop in my opinion but I do like big Dave as well.

I was around in the 60's and there were some great props playing for Gt Britain/England including Brian McTigue, Cliff Watson, Brian Edgar, Bill Holliday and Jack Wilkinson who I saw play in your 1960 CC win at Wembley. Think Jack was the only Trinity prop that played international football in that era.

I would rank him as the best prop I have seen play for you.

He won’t and he isn’t sorry but Dave has far more in his locker. That said I’d take Watts any day of the year, now that would be a front row.

Thing with Watts is that you're always waiting for the next brain fart, like the stupid block that cost you victory over Leeds. Get that under control and he's nearly as good as the Big Bopper.

(Edited.... That's not needed Musson - PopTart)

It's a good job your logic only makes sense to you and no one else

Wally Lewis was a legend,
Infact he is 'the' legend of our sport

He was also a legend of our club

JD is a legend of our club also
There are others I would include on that list

Deary me I'm embarrassed for you, go see a shrink and stop derailing threads. The fact that you think you speak for the majority is utterly hilarious. Again, seek help.

That's a well reasoned analysis but not something |I can necessarily agree with. There are several former Leeds players walking around with Premiership rings in every finger but would never be a "legend". In fact many have never risen above the ordinary but happened to be in the right place at the right time.

To win silverware in this game teams have to put together a winning sequence of 4 games to collect a trophy. A lot more difficult than it sounds and a great deal of heroic effort has to go into getting the teams into a place where they can tilt for the title.

The term "legendary" infers an almost mythical/ mystical memory of almost superhuman proportion. Surely it is what they do rather than the outcome that matters. Possibly greater legendary status is invoked on those performing heroic deeds against overwhelming odds.


By my criteria, I've seen a few legends at Belle Vue.
Neil Fox, an absolute phenomenon in any age.
David Topliss, amazing ability to make a difference and change a game in seconds
Bill Ashurst, only played on one leg for us but just a different class
Ray Price, absolutely immense presence who set such a high standard for his team.


I also think that you can't be a legend whilst still playing.