1, Danny Brough
2, Danny Brough
3, Danny Brough
4, Danny Brough
5, Danny Brough
6, Danny Brough
7, Danny Brough
8, Danny Brough
9, Danny Brough
10, Danny Brough
11, Danny Brough
12, Danny Brough
13, Danny Brough

Ah good old revolving door defence to the fore with this selection

Suprised no one has mentioned who the Australia and Kiwi teams feared the most in Vince Karalius, I would also have Millward in there at stand off.
The original poster has put Tomkins in at full back, I reckon Radlinski and and Charlton had a better overall game.
Lots of great international backs mentioned, sadly our current international backline the weakest I,ve known for almost a decade now.

Loose forward is probably the most difficult selection of all with Vinty Karalius, Mal Reilly, Rocky Turner, John Whiteley, Paul Sculthorpe and Geoff Gunney springing to mind immediately and with a bit more thought you could think of as many more worthwhile contenders. Vinty is up there with the best though.

Whitely was a better ball handler & had a tad more pace/better feet than Karalius, in todays games JW would be the pick at 13 but I went for VK at 13 and JW at 12 which is were he often played for GB.
I can't see past Jonathan Davies at full back, he could play anywhere in the backline and would have been fantastic at 6 too. As good as Tomkins is, he just isn't even a close match compared to Davies IMO.
As for the inclusion of Offiah in many people's teams, yes he had a lot of pace but he was the worst GB defender in any position in my memory..Sure primarily you want clinical finshers which he was but there were equally great finishers with just as much speed whom were tenatious and better defenders by a very long distance..

The idea of the game is to score more than the opposition. Offiah scored more than he ever conceded by perceived poor defence and by a long, long way. Not only that but his defence was actually pretty good, even though ungainly. Furthermore, because of the threat he posed his centre would get a little more space in pressure situations.

In my opinion, Mal Reilly wasn't in the same class as people like Karalius, Whiteley or Turner. Widnes alone produced 4 better than Reilly in my view in the period under consideration - Karalius, Laughton, Nicholls (although he tended to play second row later on) and Adams. I've already expressed by view on Karalius. Laughton was a better footballer than Reilly. Adams too (plus rock solid in defence). Nicholls, I believe, was GB's most capped forward at one stage.

I always judged a player by how much I feared him when he was playing my team. Whilst Roger was a star player he was not someone I feared like some players. Only those grounds I wouldn't put him close to being the BEST of the last 50 years - he was in the category of a "good 'un" but not a 5 decade stand out player in my view.

Surprised no one mentioned Ken Gowers. Where are the Swinton fans?

Charlo was the Rolls Royce of full backs, it was a pleasure to watch him as a child for Workington (before and after his move to Salford). He was the first to adopt the modern full back style of play, hitting the ball at speed from deep and accelerating away. Tough as teak as well, rock solid in defence. It is testament to how good he was that when the great Graeme Langlands retired, St George wanted Charlo as his replacement but he turned them down.

I agree with much of what you say. However there are more candidates for full back than stand off and I would put Jiffy at stand off with someone like Paul Charlton at full back. Jiffy would be in my side. The question is. Where would I play him? With regard to Offiah, a great winger who did not shine at international level. I would love to have seen him up against mad Mick Sullivan. Sullivan would have frightened the life out of him. He was such a psychopath he frightened me, and I was only watching. He would be in the mix for my nomination as winger though.

There is another name I should have mentioned Doug Laughton. He had a career threatening injury which caused an hiatus in his career. When he came back he was still great but I don't think as good as prior to his injury.
George Nicholls, a superb tackler and workhorse, lacked the pace of the other contenders. In the modern game where loose forwards are used as third props he would probably excel. Another Widnes great, Frank Myler, would not make my team because of his lack of pace.