I love how these league fans live in a dream world that being hit by a professional RL player is something different to being hit by a professional RU player.

Scott Gibbs, Allan Bateman, Jonathan Davies were all playing AMATEUR rugby union and they came to RL with big targets on their heads and everybody wanting to smash them, they seemed to survive alright.

No arguement there Sal, Bateman was a quality centre in both codes. Henson hasn't looked anything special in a Wales shirt and hasn't figured when he has been fit. If he did join the the Cru Cru Crusaders the media attention may draw in a bigger crowd (of mainly young females) but a week to week contract is all I'd offer him. Crus fans make think otherwise.

Without the usual pee taking what is actually wrong with Henson ?

My 5 pennys worth:

I think he's lazy, in that i don't mean like me, a fat useless backinjured PC user.
I mean mentally, i don't think he's set out for a pro sportsmans life of discipline.

If he came to RL he'd do a job, i'm sure of it but whoever coached him would be pulling his teeth out and he'd have to be given special treatment which i think could upset the unity of any team he went to.

I may be wrong but that's just my opinion.

never make the grade is dummy will come out

Henson for me is still trading on one tackle and one kick. If he was an RL player we would still be referring to him as 'having potential' even though he's in his mid 20's. Now if we were talking about Brian O'Driscoll, thats another matter - what an RL player he would have been.

thats like Appo when he came to Warrington

although he had a particularly high calorie diet

very high

when i was young i used to have to stay at my grandads every friday... he used to play for widnes... he loved rugby league... he used to take to to watch the widnes reserves every friday when davies signed.... at first he looked like a small child being knocked around.... apart from when he kicked the ball out of his hands... i was always amazed how far he could kick it....

about a month after they bought him he was ripping reserve rugby to shreds... almost scoring at will off that sidestep.

a few months later he was probably the best back in the league..... unplayable at times.

douge laughton sure knew a great player when he saw one.... offiah, davies, devereux, moriarty, kebbie.... all taken from union.... all excellent players.

Brimah Kebbie.....?

surely there is the sound of a barrel being scraped

I think i'll be lumping him in Dougie Laughtons list of failures which i reckon is a bit bigger than his list of successes

his rugby union buys with the exception of Offiah, were all Welsh Union Internationals werent they? had he signed Kevin Ellis, a virtual unknown (who was picked in the GB squad after 10 games of Rugby League) Alan Bateman,and Rowland Phillips I'd agree he had the eye for talent?

he just had a big cheque book burning a hole in his pocket, and lived off his "spotting" of Offiah forever more

ok you got me there

kebbie wasnt all that..... maybe my bias was swayed somewhat by the fact that my mum named our cat 'Kebbie' when i was very young after he scored 7 trys in one game.... that cat died not that long ago aged 21.

the real kebbie probably didn't last that long.

and yes laughton signed internationals..... well apart from offiah.. who was signed from bedford rugby union if i remember correctly.

Henson was a player with great potential who has just been totally distracted by the media at the expense of being a top player. Probably no better if not worse than when he was 20 years old so a shame that he never really progressed.

Its not about raw talent, its about what you decide to do with it.

In days gone (80's) by he would have probably been snapped up by League because he would have certainly been after the dough.

Didn't he create the muppets?

im pretty sure they signed him from rosslyn park, but that could be my memory playing up too....not that its massively important either.

I'd like to see him have a go at RL, he can't be half as bad as some of the Australians kicking around in SL at present. If I was a club like Bradford, I'd try and get him involved. He'd do better at halfback than Mark Herbert, and they've a space or two at centre.