Quote: bestgameofall "I've been saying the same too. My own stat that I've posted countless times is that no team has won a Superleague grand Final with an Australian half-back. The only non English halves starting in a team that has won a GF are the Pauls, and they gave long service to their side from an early age. I've no real issue with young overseas players coming over to ply their trade because they tend to give long service, especially those from NZ or Islanders, but the evidence seems to indicate that you can't buy in success in crucial positions by buying the so called big names.
Its a shame we can;t search the archive of this board, because I bet there were plenty of Leeds and Saints fans back in the day who bemoaned not bringing in big name Aussie halves instead of playing McGuire, Burrow- or buying Pryce. I'm sure those same fans would never admit it today.
The other position I think we all need to worry about is centre. This is one where we are swamped with overseas players to the detriment of young British talent. In the last couple of seasons, we have seen some English centres come through, but there are all too many English second rowers playing in SL sides who have switched to second row or loose forward after starting their careers in the centres because of a lack of opportunity in their original position - and the one thing the English side is not short of is choice in the second row.'"
Agreed on both points. Aussie half backs don't seem to fit well into the English game and we badly need to develop young centres within England.
