Cunningham, Long and Wellens are perfect examples. Have a look at them from 1999.

perfect examples of what?

Of what a difference Full time training, conditioners, the right diet and the right rehab has done for rugby league.

..I presume!

Perfect examples of players that have had dozens of blood tests over the years and never done anything wrong.

My thoughts are, you're wrong.

What's your point.

i hope so mate.

Is that Slander or Lible?

In Cunningham's case it is a matter of fact and record so would be neither

Has the training and amount of training changed that much over recent years though to justify such a monumental difference in size and definition?

Also how much do players get tested? It would be interesting to find out how often players get tested in both codes.

Are you nuts?

The reason why players' shapes have changed over the last 20 - 30 years is because of the use of weight training as part of the basics of the game. From the late 1980's/early 1990's onwards weight training and bulking up became a must for all players.

Andy Currier, the Widnes centre in the mid 1980's who played for GB and also had a stint in Australia (he was the top scorer in the Australian League), was twelve and a half stone in his peak, according to a programme I have. That just would not happen today. He would be expected to put on at leas three stone of muscle. I'm the same weight and height as him and I'm a decent long distant runner.

By contrast, I recall reading Robbie Paul's weight routine in the late 1990's. He spent a lot of his time bulking up. He had to get up at 6am to eat every day.

I would guess that the players in the photos from the 1970s and even 1980s spent zero time in the gym. Today, all professional players will have a significant weights routine that's part of their life. Hence the difference in body shape.

Christ if anyones ever done weights while taking suppliment protein shakes you wouldn't believe how much you bulk up. They still thought steak and chips was the best meals to eat before games until about 1988!

What I am saying though it is part of our game now whether we like it or not.

Back when GB won the world cup in the top photo if a player did it then and got to the size of Terry Newton it would have stood out and they wouldn't have been able to get away with it as easily. In the modern game I think it needs to be weeded out as it is less noticeable in the modern era. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of players that have got bigger as a direct result of hard work and a change in lifestyle but I am not naive enough to think the only people using performance enhancers are those that have been caught.

Look at ru though. 1995 from shamateur to pro. There was a stat in the 6 nations for I think the England Scotland game saying that this year the average forward player was 2 full stone heavier than the same fixture in 1990. It's not human evolution in that time is it. It's full time training full time nutrition and more advances science behind all of it.

Besides it's basic physics more mass at same speed means more momentum and more force to stop meaning more chance of breaking tackles.

I'm pretty sure that if the line was moved from 10m down to 5m you'd see less bulky players than now as footwork and skills would be more useful in breaking the line than now where it's big guy big run up and smash.