No disrespect to Radlinski who was a fine FB, but its Sam by a distance purely for his gamebreaking ability. Pretty much from the start he was Wigan's best player and biggest attacking threat. As good as Rads was, he was primarily an excellent defensive full back, hard worker in attack and excellent in support play. At no point of his Wigan career would I consider him the most irreplaceable member of the 13.

Good post.

Rads was a good fb, but not in Sam's league. We've had other better fbs at Wigan, let alone in the world.

he overall game was better than Sams. He played against better players as SL was stronger.

By what definition of overall game? Rads' tackling, positioning and ability under the high ball was better than Sam's is, but Sam's passing, kicking, running, ability to beat a man and general attacking play is in another league. Radlinski was excellent at backing up a break but so is Sam.

It's difficult to compare the two directly because since Rads has retired there has been a shift in emphasis in what is expected from a fullback. Nowadays a fullback is almost a deep-lying halfback. Rads was an excellent player and get's all the plaudits he deserves, but Sam is a genuine superstar and I've no doubt he'll prove that in the NRL. I think the fact Radlinski played longer and coming out of retirement etc. is clouding some people's judgement on this. I don't buy the "but SL was stronger back then" argument either, there were as many poop teams then as there are now, Sam would have stood out in any era IMO.

you dont buy it but look at the teams.....speaks for itself really.

I think the thing that sets Sam apart for me is the sheer amount of times he grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and dragged us out of the mire, I rate Rads as the 2nd best fb of the Super League era and my favourite ever clubman but he didn't have the same sheer impact on the game that Sam or Andy Farrell did which sets them apart in my eyes as the two best Wigan players I've seen live (been watching since 2001)