David Watkins was a great player. Paul Charlton was world class.

I cannot argue with that

It's easy some posters to make direct comparisons with today's players as above saying a 'Gallen' would basically wipe out a Vince Karalius, however it is the impact they have among their peers that really decides how great a player is.
Whilst Gallen is a very good player he wouldn't rank in the top 20 Australian forwards over the last 50 years, maybe not even in the top 30 or 40. That's a measure of his quality, good but not a 'great'. That the likes of VK, Huddart, McTigue et al get mentioned by a lot of knowledgeable posters here is enough to convince me that they are the superior players.

at the end of the day it is safe to say that you cannot compare players from different era's,and with any proven credibility too as it's all purely conjecture based on peoples opinions of each players ability

due to the fact that any such player mentioned and that they never actually played against any other player mentioned and from a different era too,does that not make it impossible to compare these great players?

if so then that has ruined all future debates on these matters

As KnockersBump MkII says on page 8, the only real point of reference is judging players by reference to their own generation. As he said, looking at things in those terms the likes of Karalius was different class to Gallen. You also need to factor in that British Rugby League in the '50s was way, way stronger in terms of talent than now. As someone who hails from Widnes, a place that has produced some great and tough RL players and several captains of GB, no player has ever had the respect there that Vince Karalius had.

Well said. Two of my heroes in the 50s were Albert and Danny Naughton. Both Widnes boys but nobody wore the P&B with more distinction. Danny broke his leg playing against Saints (inc. Vinty) which finished his career. I hate Saints.