Its hurts to see it put that way .Hope your watching Kath and Jimmy

What do you mean easier on the eye? Do you mean because there slowing at everything than every other half back pairing. So you don't strain your eyes trying to keep up?

All you have to do is look at the two starting props,this should give you the answer to why that side is better than this one,can you imagine Berrigan playing behing them??.

Calderwood - Never gets used, but in the 2004 team would of scored as many as Best did.

No way, however great you think Calders is, he's nowhere near the class Col Best was/is. Besty would start in most NRL sides.

Even to have GOD from that squad in this years would be a massive boost.

Think I may watch the 2004 season review tonight.



Can someone post the 2003 squad?

When you've watched it, can you pass it on for Agar and Sharp to watch please.

we played some great rugby under mcrae tbh, and we havent seen anything close to it since he left!

Yes cos he'd be 5 years younger and a bit fitter!

Thats certainly a good point and one that is certainly confirmed when I looked at the list of 2004 players!!

I'm going to use that as my sigicon_smile.gif

Also in that team was Lupton.......he was very good for us and vastly under-rated.

You can't it's copy writed.

I'll give you a cookie for it!

But you are a Grade a lover Wilf??

Superbly put Jake.

I think most wanted him to stay. There were a few vocal refuseniks who wanted him gone because we'd won nowt despite his 5 year plan and he spent too much time on Sky.




The dismantling actually started before our CC win and GF appearance IMO. It's just taken a while to fully come home to roost as other sides have improved around us.

Depressing, isn't it? Despite getting so much right off the pitch we've effectively taken ourselves back to square one on it.

the difference with the side then was the backup players like Lupton had some creativity, same with some of the underrated starting players like Mcmenemy who could kick (on the last tackle etc) if necessary. Now our squad just has workhorses.

as for Mcrae, I'll admit at the time I wondered if he'd taken us as far as he could, but I'd have him back right now, at least the rugby was entertaining to watch and he is a likable person when talking to the media.

completely agree with that assumption...i also thought mcrae had taken us as far as he could, but i would take them days back right now...when we signed people like best and ritchie barnett( the good one) best was a young up and coming winger wanting to earn a deal in the nrl, so he had every reason to play to his maximum, he never missed a game in 2 years!!! and as for burnett, he was one of the best backs in the comp when we signed him, dont get me wrong mcrae still signed afew plodders ie sean ryan etc but our signings now seem awful compared to back then...
but looking at our squad now, the players mcrae had whilst at the club ie: horne,raynor,yeaman,king etc, i ask myself do any of these players have anything to prove to anyone?? they certainly will never be dropped no-matter how bad we play...maybe its time to get rid of afew players who seem not to be putting in a proper shift for fc....

money wasn't as good then though to be fair, I don't think we were using the full salary cap until 2004 (after a year at the KC) but the squad was far more balanced back then.

Besty won best winger in the NRL last season

Thought he was quite good in his first season with us, would have said he was one of Mcraes better signings tbh i rated him

And yet when he came to FC he was a relative unknown.

I'd like to point out I was quoting 'A unknown superstar'. I know full well that Calders isn't fit to clean Besty's boots!

I never said he was. But look at Calders during his time at Leeds, he scored loads of tries and in the 2004 team I'm sure he wouldn't of been for off again.