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.

When MO first started he looked like a gazelle on the pitch. When he toured in 1988 the Aussie commentators kept urging him to "go forward, go forward", as did Kevin Ward at one point. BUT, what he lacked in power he made up for in sheer speed. That speed made everyone nervous. Projecting forwards to today, i still think he'd be a try scoring machine.

On the other hand how many Ryan Halls, Manu Vatuvia's did he face? How much of the extra work that Wingers do would Offiah be able to cope with? I can imagine him getting run ragged by a player like Uate.

Offiah had clear and obvious natural talent but how much of the grunt work on the field, and how much of the extra stuff off the field which are demanded of wingers now would he be willing to do.

You can’t argue with his natural talent, but im not sure how well he would adjust to what is expected now.

I remember him doing fairly well, running from acting half, at Wembley, against Leeds, winning the game.


Come to think of it....Robinson and the first GF, again from acting half

Not all wingers seem to do the hard stuff, giving the forwards a rest and in Offiah's case, surely less would be asked of him, so that he could convert any running opportunities that came his way.

I don’t know, wingers in general seem to do more grunt work than they did previously.

Im not trying to play down Offiah’s quality, but he played in the game played back then, not the one played now. I think he would have some alterations to make to his game to be a success now. I don’t know if he was the type of player who would do so.

There are ways around being the big winger. You need to chip in with carries and meters, but you will need to be a bit smarter. Take Chris Riley, fairly consistant winger, makes decent meters and scores plenty of tries. But, instead of barging the ball up ala Monaghan, Richards, Meli et al. Riley seems to have adopted a spin in the tackle to bounce off a defender and make a couple more yards. Charnley does the same.

The game is evolving and the selection process at a junior level at the moment is about picking the 'athlete' rather than the player. The mentality is that skills and knowledge can be taught, but size, speed and strength is naturally given.

Whilst I'm not saying he was perfect, I think Mark Calderwood circa 2004 & 2005 showed that a fast lightweight winger was still good.

2004 was the year where in the grand final Calderwood harangued and generally tackled the leagues leading try scorer out of the game.

2005 was the year where Calderwood finished up as the leagues highest try scorer.

Calderwood, Kevin Penny and Shaun Ainscough all fell victim to the conservative approach. They could all put the ball over the line, but lacked in positioning/kick catch/kick return. Makes you wonder how far Offiah would have got in the modern game, I know it's not right to compare cross-generations but would he fit in, or be replaced by a well rounded, jack of all trades, wingman.

As a Wire, this is sacrilege to say, but I've often thought the same about Bevan-would he have been made to bulk up, scoot from dummy half, and contest high kicks in SL? He wouldn't have played for 20 years and scored 796 tries if he had...

I would like to see some serious thought put into how we make the game more appealing to different types of athlete. Whilst clearly not all players look the same, Burrow and Crabtree often being 'cited', I just don't see a place at the moment for a thoroughbred sprinter with a neat swerve, like in the past. Kevin Penny was a joy to watch in offence, and it's a huge shame there aren't more players that can bring the crowd to their feet with the type of plays he could make.

I'm not sure how it could be done, but rule changes/interpretations should be considered IMHO, both to appeal to potential players, and to impact te game as a spectacle.