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The day Jonathan Davies joined Widnes

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Dave T

Dave T

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Posted
1 hour ago, Damien said:

That's a bold statement. Whilst good I've personally never thought of him as being one of the greatest.

I agree. As a Wire fan he frustrated the life out of me. His defence could be appalling and he could be lazy. 

Then he would pop up and win a game with that sidestep and class and everyone would fawn over him. I much preferred Bateman out of our two centres, but Davies undoubtedly had talent.

He (imho) should be nowhere near an RLHall of Fame.

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Lounge Room Lizard

Lounge Room Lizard

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Not the biggest player, but he never chickened out or got scared like some other Union big names back then.

He had Great vision, good pace and good hands and wasnt too bad at kicking! He was poor in defence though as you would expect with Union converted.  I would say he is the best fullback from Britain of the past 30 years. He was a player everybody respected but feared.  

Also one of the few Brits that went over and did so well. Doggie fans still hold him in very high regard. I dont See the skills that JD had in many modern players as that is often not wanted sadly. The game needs skillful players like Davies and them be allowed some latitude to do what they can. Todays game is often too sterile for me.

 

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Damien

Damien

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1 hour ago, Dave T said:

I agree. As a Wire fan he frustrated the life out of me. His defence could be appalling and he could be lazy. 

Then he would pop up and win a game with that sidestep and class and everyone would fawn over him. I much preferred Bateman out of our two centres, but Davies undoubtedly had talent.

He (imho) should be nowhere near an RLHall of Fame.

Bateman was a very good centre and highly regarding during his stint in Australia too.

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chuffer

chuffer

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5 minutes ago, johnh1 said:

I was at his debut game against Salford at Naughton Park. First time he got the ball he was flattened. He didn't know what had hit him. But credit where it's due. He got up and had a great game.

Me too, remember being a bit gutted coz he was on the other side of the pitch from where we were so couldn't get a close look at him (think he may have only come on in the 2nd half iirc)

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Dave T

Dave T

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15 hours ago, Lounge Room Lizard said:

Not the biggest player, but he never chickened out or got scared like some other Union big names back then.

He had Great vision, good pace and good hands and wasnt too bad at kicking! He was poor in defence though as you would expect with Union converted.  I would say he is the best fullback from Britain of the past 30 years. He was a player everybody respected but feared.  

Also one of the few Brits that went over and did so well. Doggie fans still hold him in very high regard. I dont See the skills that JD had in many modern players as that is often not wanted sadly. The game needs skillful players like Davies and them be allowed some latitude to do what they can. Todays game is often too sterile for me.

 

Genuine question, how much did he play at fullback? 

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Blackpool rl

Blackpool rl

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On 1/9/2019 at 12:19 PM, Just Browny said:

Was that just before McGraff's time then?

I am not a big union follower, but I am not aware of any current union players with Jiffy's ability or who would make a similar impact. So all this 'they don't come over now' stuff is a bit of a false moan.

Larmour 

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johnh1

johnh1

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17 hours ago, chuffer said:

Me too, remember being a bit gutted coz he was on the other side of the pitch from where we were so couldn't get a close look at him (think he may have only come on in the 2nd half iirc)

It was right in front of me and it was a big hit. As a Salford fan, I loved it! But he showed his class with a brilliant side step to avoid the next big hit.

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DavidM

DavidM

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19 hours ago, Damien said:

Bateman was a very good centre and highly regarding during his stint in Australia too.

John Bateman , outstanding player ... Alan Bateman . Sorry about that . Only one outstanding centre there !

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Lounge Room Lizard

Lounge Room Lizard

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6 hours ago, Dave T said:

Genuine question, how much did he play at fullback? 

He played a few times at FB for GB as well as widnes and Warrington from my poor memory. Usually if Tait or Penny was out. I thought Davies was a much better FB and offered far more than Lee Penny who was FB back then for Warrington. I just felt Penny was safe, but offered no real spark in attack and was predictable

. Would be interesting to hear what the far more knowledgeable Wire fans opinions on this subject. However he played far more games at Centre. I always thought he was better at FB than Centre, certainly in attack. I feel he didnt often get enough ball or space at Centre. I think he was in broken play very difficult to stop and when he got the ball you felt often something would happen. He was a thrill to watch for me.

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Damien

Damien

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2 minutes ago, Lounge Room Lizard said:

He played a few times at FB for GB as well as widnes and Warrington from my poor memory. Usually if Tait or Penny was out. I thought Davies was a much better FB and offered far more than Lee Penny who was FB back then for Warrington. I just felt Penny was safe, but offered no real spark in attack and was predictable

. Would be interesting to hear what the far more knowledgeable Wire fans opinions on this subject. However he played far more games at Centre. I always thought he was better at FB than Centre, certainly in attack. I feel he didnt often get enough ball or space at Centre. I think he was in broken play very difficult to stop and when he got the ball you felt often something would happen. He was a thrill to watch for me.

Are you trying to say Dave isn't a knowledgeable Warrington fan? ?

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Lounge Room Lizard

Lounge Room Lizard

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7 minutes ago, Damien said:

Are you trying to say Dave isn't a knowledgeable Warrington fan? ?

No I have alot of respect for Dave (and most on here). But its always good to hear as others opinions as often I have missed something or learn something knew. I never watched too much of Warrington. I just felt Davies would have been better at FB than Centre. I probably be laughed at by Wire fans.

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Damien

Damien

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Just now, Lounge Room Lizard said:

No I have alot of respect for Dave (and most on here). But its always good to hear as others opinions as often I have missed something or learn something knew. I never watched too much of Warrington. I just felt Davies would have been better at FB than Centre. I probably be laughed at by Wire fans.

Yeah I know, just joking. It would have been very interesting seeing Davies in the modern game as a full back.

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Dave T

Dave T

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2 hours ago, Lounge Room Lizard said:

No I have alot of respect for Dave (and most on here). But its always good to hear as others opinions as often I have missed something or learn something knew. I never watched too much of Warrington. I just felt Davies would have been better at FB than Centre. I probably be laughed at by Wire fans.

I think many expected Davies to be fullback when he signed for us, including me, but I think he may have played there once or twice and not much more. He pretty much made the centre spot his own, and I thought he was wasted and exposed at times. But he did score plenty and win us some games - But Then I have also seen Brent Grose and Toa Kohe Love  do that too! 

I recall some debates I had with opposition pals at the time who claimed we were a one man team, when I didn't even think he was our best, the likes of Mackey, Shelford, Myler, Cullen etc all did more than their share, but ultimately that team that finished joint top of the table was a bit of an ensemble and Davies stood out. Some of his tries were sublime, no doubt, and that got him the recognition, but I recall even back then when I was in awe of his sidestep and pace, there were half a dozen players I would opt for over him.

Unfortunately the site I use for stats doesn't give too much from those years on Davies' position.

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Wolford6

Wolford6

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Jonathan Davies could be a great player on occasions. For the players I have seen, I consider that David Watkins was the most valuable week-in-week-out convert. Paul Moriarty was also outstanding till he broke his kneecap.

Tony Fisher was the most frightening player I've ever seen. A wagon driver I know worked with him twenty years later and said all the other drivers were still wary of him.

Right now, I'd love to see Matthew Morgan and Rhodri Williams make the switch. Both have a flair that's wasted on rugby union.

Under Scrutiny by the Right-On Thought Police

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