Quote: G1 "The game is very different now to twenty and thirty years ago. Players are very interchangeable.
In the 80s wingers were skinny and fast, forwards were big and slow and the really fat, big slow ones were props the others were second rowers.
Full time professionalism and the aping of Australian tactics has meant Rugby League players is far less specialised than in the past.
Whether that is a good or bad thing is another discussion.'"
This is true.
I think it's more important that certain roles are filled, and there are still variations in the physical attributes needed to fill them.
For instance, the need for a number of players who can lump the ball up the field in an uncomplicated way persists. You need these because this is where platforms are laid, and the slower, more predictable way in which this is done is efficient and actually allows a stable platform to launch a move from. This requires a solid build which withstands repeated contact and easily builds forward momentum. In the past there was more fat than you see now, but the need for big units persists.
Similarly there is still a need for players who are fleet of foot and coordinated. These don't have to be smaller and more slender, but finding those traits in a big unit is more rare. So slighter, more wick players are still found.
Where these people pack down and appear in the defensive line is more blurred, but the roles still exist.
Quite why scrum halves are still always under 5'8" is a bit of a mystery...
