Dessie was the one of the toughest players I've ever seen. Loved how he could bounce players 3 and 4 stone heavier than him. Tackling with his head leading wasn't the best technique but was very effective. But, he didn't have the nickname at Wilderspool 'Teflon' for nothing. His handling was often terrible. Bob Jackson told me it that Dessie had problems with his vision and was probably one the reasons why he put so much ball on the floor. Hicksy on the other hand doesn't seem to have any weaknesses, even at 33 he can still outpace much younger opponents. His defence is sound, handling and finishing as good if not better then anyone else in SL. Love them both but would have to say Hicks is/was the all round better winger.

cant split them..but just imagine dessie player outside matt king...got people on the edge of there seats did des..remember him running at phil vievers and flattening him at wilderspool where many a winger would have gone on his outside..smacking iro at wembley.clouting a bloke at widnes,but having met the man you could`nt of wished to meet a nicer bloke
as for chris hicks........not many players score a hatrick at wembley and they all wanted scoring,,his try scoring record is superb..the try he scored against wigan in the semi at widnes was brilliant.it also settled a few nerves as well..

To be honest, I don't remember Dessie's handling being THAT bad when he first signed, and for the next couple of seasons. Admittedly though, his handling at the end of his career was at best, embarrasing.
Still vaguely remember the kick off he had with Hanley in the Prem v Leeds 91-2. MONSTER.
Even in the twilight of his career, some of his tries were fantastic. I don't fall for all this "he wouldn't have scored them in this day's rugby" guff. Dessie was a brilliant winger, whatever the era.

No contest for me - Hicks all the way. Dessie might have been more exciting but Hicks is a far better all round player.

i'll go with Nostalgia on this one and I make no apologies. Chris Hicks is a wonderful winger and his catching of that high kick for a truly magical wembley try should be spoke of in the highest terms..yes it wasnt a 70 yarder but it was superb modern day wing play.

The thing which will always make me say Dessie every time will be his wilderspool dayboo...

One of the lads I stood with for years in the fletch said "i dont know why we paid that money for Drummond its a bit of a waste if you ask me". I disagreed told him he was talking rubbish, Dessie was a GB winger and a legend of superstars.
about 10 minutes after this conversation Drummond caught the ball facing the fletch just at the start of 'snookers' he was given no more than a yard between his opposite winger and the snookers touchline and he took it and burnt down the touchline to score a try in manner I hadnt even seen John Bevan do...it was absolutely a different class to what I'd seen before.

Chris Hicks is Great but a different class to what I've seen before ...No

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7imtR7f_qU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7imtR7f_qU

I still remember that day, Biscuit. How happy was I, that we'd signed the most exciting winger of his time (pre-Offiah).
I've vague memories of a scorcher he scored against Cas in a midweek game (remember them) about 91.
The thing I find astonishing about Des, is his (lack of) height. I stood next to him in Wetherspoons a couple of years ago, and thought, this fella (in rugby terms) is a midget, yet he floored ANYBODY who stood in his way. Not a respector of reputations, was our Dessie.

I once saw des score a try at home against saints that no other winger i have ever seen in a wire shirt could have scored. It was when we were wearing our blue vladivar away kit (at home!) and i swear he must have beaten about ten or twelve attempted tackles as he ran across the line in our own 20 then back across before shooting down the middle and rounding the fullback with ease. People always say you remember players as better than they actually were because of the nostalgia, but i actually think people don't quite remember just how good drummond was and seem to focus on his (bad, but not as bad as people make out) ball handling. Des for me, but it shows how good hicks is that he is being thought of as equal or even better by some fans.

It's on the YouTube link in the post above yours. I'm not old enough to have seen Dessie play for Leigh but those who saw him still talk about him in glowing terms.

I bet that was a good night to be in Wetherspoons

Another vote for Des Drummond here.

Chris Hicks is a class act, he`s one of the best in the business at finishing off moves and taking what look like impossible high kicks to touch down.

Des Drummond was one of those rare wingers that come along similar to Martin Offiah and Jason Robinson where if they got the ball the crowd noise would go up another notch in anticipation, not many wingers can bring a whole stand to its feet and thats what Dessie did on a regular basis.

Not only was he a great rugby league player but he was an entertainer as well, i think Alex Murphy once said that this lads head must be made of concrete with the way that he could knock players off their feet whether that be with his head or his shoulder.

They are both class wingers and both have different styles, Chris Hicks is the ultimate modern day winger that knows how to finish similar to Pat Richards, the game has changed a lot where more a lot emphasis is on kicking to the corners these days especially on the last tackle.

Des would look for oppertunities from anywhere on the pitch, his height would never have allowed him to be a Hicks or Richards type winger so he played to his strengths which were his speed and strength and the ability to go past defenders with ease. Yes he was ropey under a high ball and i`m sure even Dessie knew that but its his attack and threat from anywhere on the pitch which made him a hero at Warrington as well as some of the shuddering hits he put in on players much bigger than him including props.

Des by a good distance.

Never forget Des' hit on Kevin Iro at Central Park (Greg Mackey's debut for us I think). Mark Roberts played centre and gave Iro a torrid afternoon until near the end when he missed a one on one. Then
Dessie hit him in his usual fashion like he'd launched by an Exocet missle and laid Iro out. Ball came out and Dessie had the cheek to pick it up and disapear up field away from the 20 man melay his tackle had caused. One thing with Des was that the club and the fans got full value for money from him.

We never saw the absolute best of Dessie at the Wire as his top years were at Leigh. However, another famous 'biff' incident was when Wire played a touring Auckland team at Wilderspool. They had a winger, much taller, who niggled at Des all night, but never any one single incident that would attract the referee's wrath. Nonetheless, the ref must have noticed because, at the end of his tether, midway through the second half Des almost jumped to get the necessary height and floored the Kiwi with an outrageous headbutt, in full sight of ref and touch judge. The Kiwi was carried off, ref turned a blind eye as if to say 'he deserved it.'