Does anyone think that in the modern game its better to have wingers that are pretty bulky? Going on the fact that the best 2 wingers of the super league era were Big Les and now Ryan Hall?

At the risk of venturing into the dark side, the best winger RU has ever seen was Jonah Lomu (again a massive winger)

any thoughts?

Billy Boston anyone?

It depends on the tactics employed by the coach. If you look at Souths, their wingers are quite small, but their full back is GI, who is on the large side. I think it depends on the balance of the team. If you've got a large full back or , then the winger doesn't necessarily have to be a big lad. Keiran Dixon is tiny but a very effective winger.

How about Jason Robinson he did play in the Super League and he was quite good

The thing with the big guys mentioned above is that along with their size, they all have speed too. That's what makes them as good as they are. You can get a big guy, ala Karl Pryce, and it doesn't work out as well.

The great attributes a winger can have are speed, bulk, a step, a jump, a rugby brain, and a rugby heart. You could add a good pair of hands, and you could add a good tackling technique.

Nobody can quite have them all, for example the bulkier a winger, the less he can effectively step or jump, due to the simply laws of physics. But if you have enough of some qualities, even if short in others, and IF you fit into your particular team (eg a not-great tackler but where there are others who can provide enough cover) then your abilities can still make you a stand-out player.

The way the modern game has been, I'd say Robinson was a bit of an exception, and that was due to his incredible abilities to step, coupled with pace including off the mark and over a long distance. A step, together with that rare thing, a rugby brain that could in an instant work out when and how to use it, bamboozling less-quick-witted opponents.

I think there is still an opening for the very best "nippy wingers", but in general I reckon a big, bulky speed merchant crashing through the cover defence into the corner is the modern trend, and when I say "modern" I include the likes of backs like Lomu, Meninga, Grothe et al. It's not that recent a thing.

What I would say is that there have been very, very few wingers in recent years with genuine, blistering speed. I wonder whether someone like Berwyn Jones would still fit in. You are talking about a man who could get the ball with a half-yard gap but get past every time through sheer, blinding pace. Neither Jonathan Davies nor Brian carney were as fast as Jones, but they both sort of illustrate my point as their pace scored many points that most players couldn't.

There's also the question of fielding high kicks to the corner. Were Jason Robinson starting his career now, I suspect he'd struggle to defend a tactic that's increasingly prevalent and is performed with a reasonable degree of proficiency by most teams. He could well have been a modern-day hooker instead.

Keiren Dixon is a similar size to Robinson, yet he's fantastic in the air.

White men can't jump....

Unless you're Ryan Hall or Pat Richards

I'd have thought, to take advantage of his kick return skills and ball playing, he'd be a fullback.

Fax had two fast wingers in the nineties - John Bentley and Mark Preston. Speedster Preston would have struggled in modern day - not bulky enough and that's a shame because he was breathtaking to watch.

I'm sure your right, just meant that it wouldn't be out of the question using him as a hooker. He'd be pretty devastating around the ruck too I'd imagine.

I seem to remember Jason Robinson being a half back when he first went to Wigan. Similarly Frano Botica was a union stand off and I'm pretty sure David Myers wasn't a specialist winger either. There seemed to be a pattern of using people out of position if they were good enough for the team but not able to shift the incumbent in their own position.

Your bringing back memories there Rich, Preston was very quick and knwew his way to the line !

It would be interesting if Offiah jumped in the time machine, just to see if he would be as prolific in the modern game.

Im not sure you can really just say that it is the wingers that have become more bulky, centres are indistinguishable from second rowers and in turn second rowers have added a few pounds and moved to prop.

The small, nippy players have moved to halfback or fullback, a player like Hardaker who is taller but lacks a bit of bulk would go to fullback or stand-off whereas previously they would likely be centres or wingers but now would be a little bit out-sized by bigger players.

From looking at the other side, players like Roby. Luke and Burrow and even Smith are a lot less bulky compared to the likes of Cunningham, Buderus and Newton.