30 replies to this topic

[Mushy]

1 Slater
then Tomkins, Inglis, Barba, then Stewart (it's Slater and then a whole stack of amazing players with not much between the next 3 I reckon, although the last time I suggested there were any flaws at all in Inglis and Barba's games I was subjected to a somewhat disproportionate response!)

2 Hall
5 Uate
then Morris, Hayne, Vatuvai (relatively slim pickings worldwide)


3 Inglis
4 Lyon
then Morris, Kenny-Dowell, Watkins (based on rep form largely, although Oz have a fair few other genius centres)

6 Thurston
then Marshall, Sinfield, Carney, Reynolds (apart from a few amazing players, this is quite weak worldwide as all the best 6s play fullback nowadays)

7 Cronk
then Cherry-Evans, Johnson, Pearce, Wallace (again plenty solid players but a bit of a gap between the best and the rest)

8 Graham
10 Matulino
then Tamou, big fat Canterbury prop. Shillington (Oz in particular have dozens of really solid players so they pick guys on form, mostly one season wonders for NSW)

9 Smith
then Roby, Burrow, Farah, Luke (it's Smith and then the rest for me)

11 Thaiday
12 Burgess
then Pritchard, Bird, Ellis (the top 2 less on consistent form, more on world class ability)

13 Gallen
then Smith, O'Loughlin, Stewart, Gillette (hard to pick 13s as a lot of sides use props there now)

So about 10 Eng and 8 NZ in the top 45, which again suggests Oz have about 3-4 times as many very good players as us. This seems about right.

Edited by Mushy, 24 November 2012 - 01:19 PM.

[Viking Warrior]

1 billy slater
2 ryan hall
3 greg inglis
4 jamie lyon
5 manu vatevai
6 sam tomkins
7 jonathon thurston
8 james graham
9 cameron smith
10 sam burgess
11 tony williams
12 sonny bill williams
13 paul gallen...

[Finn]

So no-one has picked either of the two dominant players in our game - Sam and Kev (with apologies to Lee and James) - a damning indictment of our comp.

[Mushy]

So no-one has picked either of the two dominant players in our game - Sam and Kev (with apologies to Lee and James) - a damning indictment of our comp.

Er I had 3 England players in the World 13 which isn't bad. And a couple of the NRL's most dominant players in Carney and Barba didn't fair too well either. Not sure missing out Sam and Kev is exactly a damning verdict of our comp, but I admit there is no way if ignoring that Oz do have perhaps 4 times as many good players as we do.

[Finn]

Er I had 3 England players in the World 13 which isn't bad.

Only 1 plays in our comp though, and he is hardly in a pivotal position.

[Wiltshire Rhino]

So no-one has picked either of the two dominant players in our game - Sam and Kev (with apologies to Lee and James) - a damning indictment of our comp.

If Sam and Kev played in the NRL and Slater and Thurston played in SL I'd still have Slater and Thurston in my World XIII. It's the standard of the individual player not the competition.

Edited by Wiltshire Rhino, 29 November 2012 - 07:37 AM.

[John Drake]

The votes are in!

The RLW World XIII has now been decided and will be revealed in the new issue of the mag out next Friday, 7th Dec.

Grab a copy to see if your comments have made it into the feature, and see how many of your selections match the final line up.

[John Drake]

Bump!

Mag's on sale tomorrow. Some of the comments on the World XIII in this thread have made it into the final feature. Get a copy and see if you're famous!

[John Drake]

RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD XIII REVEALED

Seven players - Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Ryan Hall, Johnathan Thurston, James Graham, Cameron Smith and Paul Gallen - retain their places in the annual Rugby League World XIII which is chosen every year by the game's worldwide media. Brett Morris and Sam Burgess are selected again after absences of three and two years respectively, and a quartet of World XIII debutants in Josh Morris, Cooper Cronk, Sam Kasiano and Nate Myles make up the selection.

In addition to the World XIII, the new issue of Rugby League World Magazine on sale now carries the full World Ratings, listing the top five ranked players in each position.



Editor John Drake explained: “Every year we invite members of the print and broadcast media across the Rugby League playing world to vote for our World XIII and this year’s ultimate line-up is as formidable as any.

“While NRL based Englishmen James Graham and Sam Burgess made the final cut, along with Ryan Hall who emerged as the runaway leader in the voting for a wing position, four other Super League players only just missed out too. Wigan duo Sam Tomkins at fullback and Sean O’Loughlin at loose forward, plus England captain Kevin Sinfield at stand off and James Roby at hooker all ranked second in their positions in the overall World Ratings, making it one of the strongest showings by English players in years.

“Hopefully that’s a good omen for the World Cup in 2013!”

WORLD XIII

1. Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm)
2. Brett Morris (St George-Illawarra Dragons)
3. Greg Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
4. Josh Morris (Canterbury Bulldogs)
5. Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos)
6. Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys)
7. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm)
8. James Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs)
9. Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm)
10. Sam Kasiano (Canterbury Bulldogs)
11. Nate Myles (Gold Coast Titans)
12. Sam Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
13. Paul Gallen (Cronulla Sharks)

The World XIII and World Ratings have been published annually by Rugby League World Magazine and its predecessor Open Rugby since 1978.

The shortlist for the Rugby League World Golden Boot will be announced on Monday 10th December, with the winner revealed on Friday 4th January in Rugby League World Magazine.

[petero]

If Sam and Kev played in the NRL and Slater and Thurston played in SL I'd still have Slater and Thurston in my World XIII. It's the standard of the individual player not the competition.

I take it then that you would contest then, that the competition (NRL) helps to bring out the standards that these individual players attain?

PS: I would doubt that (A) Sam Tomkins would hold down a F/Back spot in the NRL currently, that is until his high ball taking improved immensly, and ( please give me an indication of where Kevin Sinfield would take the place of any S/O , S/H or L/F in the NRL? I am not being critical for the sake of being so, simply asking a reasonable pair of questions.

[barrowraiderskid]

Saying Tomkins wouldn't hold down a fb spot in the NRL isn't true. Fair enough with the Sinfield comment but Tomkins would. He's not as bad under the high ball as people make out, he's just had 2 cock ups in big games. But then again Slater didn't make any cock ups in big games last season did he.