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Greatest imports who played in British rugby league


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I would like to list the best team of imports ever to play in British rugby league.

 

Ken Thornett (Leeds)

Brian Bevan (Warrington), Mal Meninga (St Helens), Dave Brown (Warrington), Albert Rosenfeld (Huddersfield)

Wally Lewis (Wakefield)

Andrew Johns (Warrington)

 

Bradley Clyde (Leeds)

Steve Menzies (Bradford, Catalans), Ray Price (Wakefield)

Arthur Beetson (Hull KR), Danny Buderus (Leeds), Steve Roach (Warrington)

 

Second best team:

Brett Hodgson (Huddersfield, Warrington)

Eric Grothe Snr (Leeds), Jamie Lyon (St Helens), Steve Rogers (Widnes), Kerry Boustead (Hull KR),

Brett Kenny (Wigan)

Peter Sterling (Hull FC)

 

Tawera Nikau (Castleford, Warrington),

David Furner (Wigan, Leeds), Iosia Soliola (St. Helens),

Joe Vagana (Bradford), Richard Swain (Hull FC) , Quentin Pongia (Wigan)

 

Honorable mention:

Stacey Jones (Catalans), Leslie Vainikolo (Bradford), Ali Lauititi (Leeds, Wakefield), David Solomona (Wakefield, Bradford, Warrington)

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2 hours ago, Manfred Mann said:

I would like to list the best team of imports ever to play in British rugby league.

 

Ken Thornett (Leeds)

Brian Bevan (Warrington), Mal Meninga (St Helens), Dave Brown (Warrington), Albert Rosenfeld (Huddersfield)

Wally Lewis (Wakefield)

Andrew Johns (Warrington)

 

Bradley Clyde (Leeds)

Steve Menzies (Bradford, Catalans), Ray Price (Wakefield)

Arthur Beetson (Hull KR), Danny Buderus (Leeds), Steve Roach (Warrington)

 

Second best team:

Brett Hodgson (Huddersfield, Warrington)

Eric Grothe Snr (Leeds), Jamie Lyon (St Helens), Steve Rogers (Widnes), Kerry Boustead (Hull KR),

Brett Kenny (Wigan)

Peter Sterling (Hull FC)

 

Tawera Nikau (Castleford, Warrington),

David Furner (Wigan, Leeds), Iosia Soliola (St. Helens),

Joe Vagana (Bradford), Richard Swain (Hull FC) , Quentin Pongia (Wigan)

 

Honorable mention:

Stacey Jones (Catalans), Leslie Vainikolo (Bradford), Ali Lauititi (Leeds, Wakefield), David Solomona (Wakefield, Bradford, Warrington)

 

No one remembers or rates Matt Gidley anymore?

 

Talent is secondary to whether players are confident.

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With regards to Warrington. Not necessarily the best players but certainly best value to the teams at the time:

Hodgson

Joel Monaghan 

Phil Blake 

Toa Kohe Love 

Chris Hicks

Blake Austin ( I hope) but Greg Mackey

Alfie Langer 

Bob Jackson 

Kevin Tamati 

Les Boyd

Vinnie Anderson

David Solomona

Kelly Shelford 

 

i certainly pay pay good money to watch this team. It’d definitely be our year

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You surely have to make a distinction in these conversations between the best imported players to play in our league and those with the biggest impact.

Andrew John's is arguably the best 'import' scrum half to play in the UK but his impact was minimal while the impact of Brian Bevan on the UK game was monumental. 

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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21 minutes ago, ghost crayfish said:

Jason Smith seems to be forgotten in a lot of these kinds of conversations about the greats, but he was one of Queensland's best in the late 90s, and turned in some great football for every club he played for. His impact at Hull FC was enormous.

His level of toughness was enormous as well . Took so much hammer but so hard , came back for more  

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13 minutes ago, Mumby Magic said:

Disgraceful that a list like this has not even mentioned Van Vollenhoven.

What about PNG players? Stanley Gene?

 

It is disgraceful. I don't know what to say at this moment. Words escape me.

Van Vollenhoven would not be ahead of the two greatest try scorers in the history of the game, Bevan and Rosenfeld (both of whom started their careers with Eastern Suburbs in Sydney). Would he be in the second team list ahead of Grothe and Boustead? I doubt it.

Stanley Gene was the greatest PNG player ever to grace the shores of Britain. But was he a better player (as opposed to one who had greater impact) than Bradley Clyde or Tawera Nikau?

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