For the last three years there has been a series shown in Australia called Australia's greatest Athlete.
It has sportsman from several different sports competing in different tests from sprints to weightlifting to kicking for goal etc.
The sports represented have been
League
Union
Soccer
AFL
Tri Athlete
Surf Iron man etc

Season 1 winner
Billy Slater

Contestants
1st Billy Slater League
2nd Jamie Whincup Motor Racing
3rd Brett Deledio AFL
4th Steve Hooker Athletics
5th Andrew Symonds Cricket
6th Lote Tuqiri Union
7th Ky Hurst Ironman/Kayak
8th Joel Griffiths Soccoer


Season 2 winner
Billy Slater

Contestants
Matthew Mitcham – Olympic diving gold medallist
Jason Culina – A-League soccer player
Cameron Ling – Australian rules footballer
James O'Connor – Rugby Union player
Wendell Sailor – Rugby League and Rugby Union player
Craig Lowndes – V8 Supercar driver
Shannon Eckstein – Two-time world Ironman champion
Billy Slater – NRL player and series defending champion

Season 3 winner
Quade Cooper

Contestants
Shannon Eckstein - Three-time world Ironman champion and runner up of season 2
Mark Winterbottom - V8 Supercar driver
Quade Cooper - Rugby Union player
Luke Hodge - AFL player
Kurt Gidley - Rugby League player
Eamon Sullivan - Olympic swimmer
Fabrice Lapierre - athletics competitor (long jump)
Ken Wallace - Olympic Kayaking competitor

I do think that union players are on the whole are better athletes ie stronger and faster. But they do not have better ball skills and general rugby awareness as was illustrated when Sam should have scored the first try. IMO and all that.

Are there? Perhaps. But could they cope in League?

Union is a big man's game. No, a huge man's game. Everyone in a senior level pack is enormous, with the flankers regularly topping 6'9"+. The backs are generally bigger than League backs, because they're conditioned for their game. Union players in general have to cope with rucks, mauls, scrums and the ability to handle the monsters in the pack.

League players are lean. They're conditioned to a fine balance of size, power, fitness and speed, and they're perfectly conditioned for the constant movement of the 10m defence, the upper-body wrestle, the relentless collision in defence, and the longer hit-up runs they make. There aren't many lads over 6'5" because the bigger you are the harder it is to maintain such a high level of fitness.

If there's one regular comment pro Union lads make when they meet pro League lads, it's "I was surprised they weren't huge, there aren't really any monsters, they're lean and fit and powerful". Every single Union player I've watched play League has almost died on their backsides at the 10m rule, whereas League lads struggle with rucks & mauls. Different conditioning, that's all.

You talk about the speed of the Union backs. Fine, they have some speedsters (as does League), but let's take an average speed test across all players in the squad and a League side would murder it.

Rancid you clearly have only watched both games.
Very different sports with different fitness and strength levels for different tasks.

It's like saying boxers aren't as fit as wrestlers or visa versa. Just because they both compete in a ring doesn't mean they should be the same.

I've played both, a lot, and they are just different sports from a conditioning point of view.

By all means compare passing ability as that is a similar skill or maybe speed of the wingers but the rest is not comparable.

What exactly was this measured on and what were the events? How many people were tested in total. Billy is a bit of a athletic freak. To test 50 top level blokes of all sports may give a different result possibly for all sports overall?

Don't know about that.
In Australia the Backs would be as big or bigger than the equivalent Wallabies, in many cases significantly bigger.

The forwards are smaller and shorter in League due to the totally different role they play in each game.

Probably. Kangaroo backs are certainly bigger than most of their England counterparts. Either way, Sam looked tiny today!


Exactly what I'm saying, and why they're conditioned completely differently.

Interesting argument, you come across as a kind of poor mans Smokey TA.

Quote: Richard1 "What exactly was this measured on and what were the events? How many people were tested in total. Billy is a bit of a athletic freak. To test 50 top level blokes of all sports may give a different result possibly for all sports overall?'" Have a look at this link, it lists the different events if you click on each season. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia' ... st_Athlete

Quote: Richard1 "What exactly was this measured on and what were the events? How many people were tested in total. Billy is a bit of a athletic freak. To test 50 top level blokes of all sports may give a different result possibly for all sports overall?'" Have a look at this link, it lists the different events if you click on each season. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia' ... st_Athlete

Union players are bigger and even the backs are bigger than the League backs but does it many they are better athletes? I would say League players would be able to play a Union game and fitness wise survive just fine but I think Union players would blowing so hard getting back 10 yards and then having to quickly get off the line. Union coaches use those drills on there players just to put them through it as fitness training.

Didnt the England side train with Leeds once and they were quite shocked with how small the League players were but thought skills wise they were top notch.

The backs in the NRL seem a lot more powerful and athletic than the english equlivants. Take Inglis and Israel Folau as examples. England just dont have players like that. Some of the tries u see in the NRL are just have players doing some crazy things.

Rancid, name suits that's for fooking sure.

Then say Rugby Union you fool.Grade A rubbish.
They are faster RUNNERS not better athletes.
That is like saying Seb Coe was better athlete than Daily Thompson cause he can beat him over 1500 meters.

Aren't you lot comparing apples with oranges?

That depends. Who gets to be oranges?

Rupeni Cacaunibucca, 5'11 and 17 stone winger


Having said that, he is a freak of nature

I get your point about union players being stronger, faster etc, but this is because they have more time to develop extreme traits, since union doesn't require as much endurance as league does.