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Mick was great..............................
But just remind everyone on here ..MICK,S PLAYING STATS
AGAINST NEIL,S...............
No comparison Turley was a sensation when it came to scoring points
at a guess i would say Neil Turley in his short career scored more points than any other full back in the British game at any level ,how anyone can say he was,nt the best full back seen in a Leigh shirt over the past 40yrs
is madness brilliant player..

He was the player who got us into Superleague.Do you remember the Challenge cup against Whitehaven ? We were 8 points down and a minute to go but we won. Lots of Leythers had done the Wigan walk by then. We got Wigan next round robbed 16-30.

Appearances 119
Substitute 3
Tries 132
Goals 479
Drop Goals 15
Points 1501

Tries in a season - 55 (club and WORLD record).
Goals in a season - 187 (club record).
Points in a season - 468 (club record breaking his own previous record 40icon_cool.gif.
Points in a game 42 (club record).
Tries in a game 6 (joint club record).

5th All Time Club Try Scorers (only one in top 20 averaging more than a try a game).
3rd All Time Club Goal Scorers.
3rd All Time Club Points Scorers.

NT was worth an average 12 points start for every appearance he made!!

I think those stats speak for themselves........and before anyone starts spouting about those points not being scored at the highest level - the vast majority came from his boot....and they are just as hard to put over playing at Batley as they are at Wembley!!

Neil Turley was the best natural born player to pull on a Leigh shirt since Woody.

I don`t think anyone`s disputing that.......but natural and best are significantly different.

We have had some really good full backs in my time waching Leigh. Each had his own individual qualities which are incomparable as they were outstanding in their particular team/era. I have been priviliged to have seen the likes of Eckersley, Hogan, C. Johnson and Turley play for my home team club. Before that Ledgard was a legend in my dad's eyes. Whether the debate be on points records, try saving tackles or general full back play they are part of Leigh history and should all be acknowledged as great players for Leigh in that position at the time that they played.

I think it also depends what you want from your fullback.

Look at Gary Broadbent, now he is a player that I would be very pleased to have at Leigh and he's good at what he does, a positional defensive fullback, brave as a lion and will run and tackle all day.

Someone like Nick Youngquest up at Gateshead tracks the ball while at the other end of the spectrum Australia currently has Billy Slater, who I reckon is a superb player.

Turley had the support genius that RL fans saw for many years from Sean Edwards, that's a natural skill, timing. Perhaps he wasn't the best defender but when scoring 300 points a season did he need to be? Despite that he did prevent tries, had sound positioning on kicks, he was creative too. I'd pay to get him cloned. He is the nearest thing I saw to John Woods.

It was his support play that set him apart for me..9 times out of 10 on someones shoulder just there to collect the ball at the right moment with some forward momentum- which means you have to have some pace and also some vision as well. I expected him to score a try virtually every time he got the ball.

No prizes for saying we were sadly lacking that this year, and since he retired to be fair. Parkys comments about the variety of full-backs is very valid...there can't have been many more prolific try scorers from that position than Turley - certainly got bums on seats and then out of their seats..

Sorry he wasn't

Fully agree with post

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Nobody can dispute those stats what a player...Blimey he scored more points in a season than this years team did

I can understand people saying it depends what you want from your fullback and that players such as Chris Johnson etc were all very good for Leigh etc. I loved watching the likes of Chris Johnson and his tackling was a joy to watch. However apart from his tackling and the same goes for Topping etc there was not one aspect of his game that was superior to Turley for me. Above all this, Turley was just pure class, a magic man, a very special player. He had the ability that it is hard to define that all special players have, to rise to the occasion when the pressure is on and their team needs them. Unfortunately, Chris Johnson etc did not have this 'je ne sais quoi' or should I say class. The pressure got to him and skills he normally found easy sometimes- not usually- deserted him, just like the poor lad Paterson yesterday. Harry Pinner was a better ball player and passer than Hanley but I think we all know who was the better loose forward by a distance. Hogan, Eckersley etc were all fine players IMO and it is right to acknowledge that different fullbacks have different styles and skills etc, but in thits case there is only one player who shines out like a beacon for Leigh in the last 20 years and is undoubtedly the most talented player apart from Woods that the club has had the pleasure of in the modern era. I feel extremely lucky to have seen such a special player play for Leigh. Toppiing etc were good, but not in the same class, IMO. One thing that did surprise and delight me, was that in his most proliific seasons, he scored more points on his own, than several teams top six teams did in this league, in 2008, including the likes of Widnes. Just imagine if we could have added his 400 point plus hauls to our totals this season and just imagine if he had actually been the regular kicker for Leigh in his debut season. The mind boggles as to the points he would have scored. What a player and what a privilege.

thanks for that Norman! (I agree 100% by the way...)