Lockers vrs Farrell

no contest for me, Farrell all the way
but put another name into the hat in the same position and Farrell comes nowhere near i'm afraid

Farrell vrs Hanley

put into a perspective like this just reminds you just how good Ellery was.Lockers is a great 13, Farrell was a brilliant 13, Hanley was out of this world at 13

Connolly
Pontiac
Newton
Furner

connolly.
Smith. i still think hes the best prop ever to sign for wigan.
newton and cunningham are the best hookers to play in superleague by miles.
probably furner.

Sinfield is a great captain. His side will be on the back foot and he'll get them out of trouble somehow, but I really don't rate him as highly as some seem too.

If everyone was fit, he would struggle to get in an England XIII imho except for his goal kicking.

EDIT - I should of course say, in my England XIII

Sinfield is a great club player, and if (huge if) England had a genuine scrum half of quality could probably work well for England. When he's asked to be the main playmaker at that level he falls short - but then again so have so many of our supposed best players.

Goodway vs wane is bizarre. Wane was a hardworking but undersized prop. Goodway was the prototype modern second row, who was way ahead of any other English second row at the time.

Hall is interesting. A year ago I'd have agreed that he was a good club player like Sinfield, but the way he took his tries in the internationals this year was a revelation. If he takes confidence from that and improves other areas like defence and running the ball from kicks, he could be a great winger in time.

As for halfbacks, the only ones the Aussies have rated at all over the last 30 years are Gregory (who worked wonders with Illawarra way back) and Goulding. Nobody else rates a mention.

Its hard to compare players from different eras. A lot of 'great' forwards from the past (even the 80s) wouldn't last 5 minutes now. Have a look at classic games if you can and you'll see no intensity, poor defensive lines, soft tackling and just a different game altogether. OTOH our fit and fast forwards would probably have been literally beaten up in the 60s/70s.

In defense of Sinfield here there is a big difference between club and international sport and sometimes people just dont transfer well. I hate to bring football into it but one of the greatest examples in present day is probably Jamie Carragher. A solid and well rounded defender that bosses the park but he just didnt play well for England.