I tried to pick a pack which was skilful, pacy and aggressive. Stephenson was a great hooker, particularly in loose play, but he did not like the rough stuff. In the more sanitised modern game he may be OK but in his era there was plenty of dirty play which he did not like. As a wire fan I have many fond memories of Ashcroft. He always put in a full shift and never took a backward step, as I am sure Mr Stephenson could attest to, but he lacked the pace of Clarke. Bridges was a contested scrum hooker. Won more than his share of ball but not that good in the loose. I do not think Fisher or Ward had Clarke's pace. Dermott was light weight. Cunningham and Roby are serious contenders but between Clarke, Stephenson, Cunningham and Roby I think Clarke just shades it with his combination of pace and physicality. I would, however be happy with any of the others in my pack.

When was the last time a GB or England team beat the Kangaroos in a Series?
1978? I am not sure.
If that is right its 35 years ago.......
Plenty of posters here are far older than I imagined, they remember Vinty that last played in 1966 and Murphy from 1975.
That is 47 and 38 years ago from their last games not when they were at their best.
Maybe rose coloured glasses get in the way of reality.
Murphy had a build that would struggle in the modern game regardless of his skill set. Vinty looked like a "Raging Bull" would a player like Gallen be worried about him? No.

Comparing eras or long time periods does not stack up, there are too many variables.
What worked when Meninga was a Centre or Kenny a Stand off from the eighties may not be suited to what is today's game.
Would Andy Gregory be a star in todays game? he barely made an impact on Australia in his time because the game had moved on from barrel chested slow halves with some ball skills and determination.

Agree with most of what you say. Do not understand your point about Murphy's build though.

Although I agree with your general point about comparing different generations, I would make the following observations.
I remember both Murphy and Karalius at the start of their careers. If that makes me older than you imagined, so be it, but then I do not know how old you imagine posters to be. I base my opinions on players I saw play and not on what I have read or what my dad told me.
Gallen would probably not be worried about Vinty but then I doubt if any of the players I picked would be worried about Gallen
The players mentioned were playing when we used to beat the Aussies.
I think it was in fact the early seventies when we last beat the Aussies.
Vinty did not look like a raging bull. He was described as "The wild bull of the Pampas" by the Australian media when he scattered the Australian pack in Australia. Alan Prescott, the captain, played on in the same series with a broken arm.
Today's players are bigger, fitter and faster than in those days but, given today's fitness regimes, I think Murphy, who I do not like as a bloke, would be just as great and I still do not know what you are talking about with regard to his build.

Great Britain last won the Ashes on July 4th 1970.

although i am not old enough to remember most of these old players that some of you have picked in your sides,i would like to add that imo garry schofield,ellery hanley and paul sculthorpe would walk into any gb side that ever existed and in any era too,they are the best 3 british players that i have ever seen without a doubt

3 Great players. But I can only use the example of time frames within my own family. The best player I have seen in a Salford shirt was Paul Charlton,but my Dad said Gus Risman was better only for Grandad to say no! James Lomas.Over a 50 year span this is almost an impossible task.

Three worthy contenders in an impossible choice.
I remember the first time I saw Sculthorpe playing for the Wire. He was only a young kid but I thought "OMG we have unearthed a world beater" Sadly in a short time he was on his way to Saints. I hate Saints

Paul Charlton would probably be my full back of choice.
I do not remember Gus Risman but remember his son, Bev Risman.
I think David Watkins was probably the best Salford player I remember.

David Watkins was a great player. Paul Charlton was world class.

I cannot argue with that

It's easy some posters to make direct comparisons with today's players as above saying a 'Gallen' would basically wipe out a Vince Karalius, however it is the impact they have among their peers that really decides how great a player is.
Whilst Gallen is a very good player he wouldn't rank in the top 20 Australian forwards over the last 50 years, maybe not even in the top 30 or 40. That's a measure of his quality, good but not a 'great'. That the likes of VK, Huddart, McTigue et al get mentioned by a lot of knowledgeable posters here is enough to convince me that they are the superior players.

at the end of the day it is safe to say that you cannot compare players from different era's,and with any proven credibility too as it's all purely conjecture based on peoples opinions of each players ability

due to the fact that any such player mentioned and that they never actually played against any other player mentioned and from a different era too,does that not make it impossible to compare these great players?

if so then that has ruined all future debates on these matters

As KnockersBump MkII says on page 8, the only real point of reference is judging players by reference to their own generation. As he said, looking at things in those terms the likes of Karalius was different class to Gallen. You also need to factor in that British Rugby League in the '50s was way, way stronger in terms of talent than now. As someone who hails from Widnes, a place that has produced some great and tough RL players and several captains of GB, no player has ever had the respect there that Vince Karalius had.

Well said. Two of my heroes in the 50s were Albert and Danny Naughton. Both Widnes boys but nobody wore the P&B with more distinction. Danny broke his leg playing against Saints (inc. Vinty) which finished his career. I hate Saints.