I refer to the habit the Hanley had of running infront of the ball carrier rather than supporting him but always on the blind side of the ref. No myth about it.

. No they were playing for the kangaroos at the time. And had he put the team first he would have passed the ball. As it was his first intent was to score himself at the risk of not scoring for the team.

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It doesn't detract from his Leeds career. But had he been at his best he might, just might, have been good enough to get my vote. As I said a great individual player, but not the best Leeds 13. Sinfield wins that by some margin and IMO Ray Batten was 2nd best 13 for Leeds that I have seen.

I am starting to think this greatest leeds team thing is not doing justice to many past great player's who wont get selected.I think the club should have thought about having a hall/wall of fame concept like they have in many ball clubs in the USA and have plaques with the tributes to the players placed on the walls of the room and make it an ongoing thing.

Where was he at the play the ball? Onside or offside?

He's entirely at liberty to run anywhere he likes as long as he was onside at the play the ball and as long as he doesn't interfere with the opposition's defensive line.



I don't recall that try - you obviously do - can you give any further pointers to when this occurred?

Only Hanley knew his intent but I suspect scoring the try was his number one priority and one he achieved by your recollection of it. Why portray a try scored against the world's best team as a negative? If you have an example of a try he butchered by not passing perhaps you should be using that instead of a try scored at what should be the pinnacle of the sport.



I thought the general idea was to recognise great individual players and place them in a mythical team selection? A team that could never take the field together and therefore impossible to know if they would have gelled together if they had.

We all have and are entitled to express our own opinions. The test I'm applying is to individual input rather than collective output.

Sinfield has many admirable qualities but I'd still classify him as a great all-rounder rather than a star in the context of this poll.

You're making a habit of jumping to conclusions based upon reading extracts from rather than full statements.

I agree with Juan on this one. I saw many times Hanley infront of the PTB (offside) at the start of a play - often he would drift back very slowly after a support run where he didn't receive the ball. No Ian Smith on the video ref button back in those days. Not saying it was a bad thing, and it meant he was always in support of attacking breaks - he either ran off the shoulder or was already lurking ahead of play.

What a great memory. I still hear Andy Dannatt, in the touchline interview, "oh heck, he's in 'ere".

So, in summary, your highlights from Hanley's finals at Leeds are, and I paraphrase, his display in a semi final and being heavily targeted in a final.

Mouth-watering.

DHM - If illegal (as it is today) what you are describing is poor officiating - from three match officials - even Hanley (as good as he was) couldn't be on all three's blind-side.

That said, poor officiating was endemic (some might even say it still is) and not something I can entirely rule out.

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Is a semi-final not a final?

I didn't realise you could only use appearances in one off games (and even then highlights rather than a complete performance over 80 minutes) to determine a player's worth for the benefit of this poll.

Perhaps the club could have been more specific to save my embarrassment at not realising this.

More than four feet and less than two feet from a touch judge was classed as being in their "blind side". If you weren't between 2 and 4 feet from the flag waver you could do almost anything without being seen. Then there would be the (usually once per match per touchie) "eagle eye" spot - where they would come running from the most impossible distance onto the pitch as fast as their knobbly kneed legs would carry them waving their flag like one of the railway children. No matter how murky the light on a late Sunday afternoon, how far away or how many players were in the way they would always spot "something" nobody else in the ground had seen.

Shaun Edwards must have been coated in light bending paint, because he spent his entire professional career offside without being spotted.

Who said you could Gotcha, sorry TVOC?

I thought a useful barometer of greatness for Leeds might be how that individual performed on the greatest of stages for Leeds. That is why I asked the question. A question you seem to be struggling to answer.

I was even kinder to Hanley by restricting it to highlights. I didn't expect him to measure up to Sinfield's 80 minute displays when earning Lance Todds and Harry Sunderlands.

The only barometer neccesary is what each player has produced during their respective Leeds careers and the impression they have left on those who have seen them play.

If you want specifics from Hanley in Leeds finals I'm sure I could find some just as I could for Sinfield. Besides relying on press nominations have you listed any from Sinfield?

Picking Hanley as Leeds greatest loose forward would be like picking Jason Robinson as our best ever winger.

It's clearly Sinfield for this one, and our greatest captain if that ever comes up.

I've only been asking for the last two pages.

My favourite number 13 of all time in terms of being great to watch = Ray Batten

The best player to play at 13 for Leeds = Ellery Hanley

The Number 13 who has made the biggest contribution to the Leeds Cause = Kevin Sinfield

Assuming Jones and Sinfield are in the same team who would be designated as goalkicker?that would be a hard one