*chuckle*

Combination of a few would be best - Hanley, Lance Todd, etc

The moment you realised he had Tait.

not so much his family...but his son.

his ex (heather small from Manc) moved down south to further her career....Sean followed...he signed for London Broncos (and played for them at wembley).
He turned down any opportunity he got up north later, to stay near his son.......hes a great dad imo.
his son will now be a young man.

That's the statue for me. Iconic moment of the 8 in a row, he's also a national celebrity who still has a keen interest in the game.

I knew all the details, which is why i said "near". Just did not want to drag it all up in open forum.

It also shows a man who has picked up the ball and run with it, so there can be no confusion with Union...

No far from it. I am just questioning the source. You are saying that you gained this information from a first person account in a local paper? I don't disbeleive it but someone had to play devil's advocate.

I don't dislike edwards (at all) I agree with many he was a good player in a team of stars. However, he is at the bottom of my list of people this statue should be of. They were talking about him yesterday in reference to wales' defense on itv. That is enough for me to against it. It isn't a team thing (I would embrace hanley), it is a sport thing. See my star wars reference on the sts board!

When in a hole... Stop digging.

I'm sure you are sincere in your view, but from here it just looks like you want a reason not to agree based purely on club bias. I would be grateful if you could present a Warrington player with comparable credentials at wembly finals that can compete with Shaun's.............. No thought not.

Ironically, you seem to have ed the point. You are accusing me of having a club bias and yet it is you who is using it as a yard stick. I will try and make it clear to you why I wouldn't want edwards as the choice.

1) Most importantly, he is heavily involved with rugby union. The vast majority of people who see it will associate him with wasps or welsh rugby or similiar. As I said, was part of a great wigan team but isn't known for that. It is that simple. Being at university now, I have been watching rugby league for ten/ eleven years. I know edwards more as a union figure than a league figure and I am a die hard league fan. Edwards has been a bigger name in union than he ever was in league and he is probably going to be there longer! We must remember a statue is forever.

2) As I am thinking of someone who has promoted the game, I have thought of people who have performed well on the international stage. This is where, again, edwards loses my vote. The overriding image of edwards in a GB shirt is him jumping two foot to lamp an aussie. (Although many applaud it from a cheeky perspective; it is not a respectable action)

There are many players who are heavily associated with league or performed well on the international stage. For example warrington player jiffy perfomed well for GB but has ties to union and saints player, cunningham, is the opposite. Unfortunatly, edwarda fails on both counts.

I have suggested players who acheived great things and are known in league.

Boston
Bevan
Hanley
Murphy

Are all great names. For being great in the field of rugby league, some for summing up the wembley spirit and for promoted soley the game of rugby league.

Sorry for showing you up, but I think if you thought about this from more than just a club perspective you can see there are many better options than edwards. If all you can say is 8 in a row and he helped and old couple, you have sort of missed the point of the statue.

I would even accept a name such as jim sullivan (although I know very little about him; compared)

Lancelot Todd became better known as being a journalist as opposed to being a RL player. Though he was a member of that great Wigan threequarter line pre WW1 - Leytham,Jenkins Todd and Miller.

IIRC he was coming back from the Watersheddings during WW2 and with the 'blackout' his car smashed and he unfortunately got killed in the Salford area.

I don't feel shown up at all. But i do still feel that you have a very unhealthy dislike for Shaun Edwards which clouds out his link with Wembly in your eyes.

Perhaps, as a student of the game, you should look at Jim Sullivans story.

I reckon a statue symbolising the spirit of RL would be better than one of a particular player, not least because RL is way too parochial and tribal to ever be able to pick one player without forever offending at least half the fanbase.

I'd have Alex Murphy you see but you lot would have Edwards, who to me is a Union man not a League man. Murphy was League through and through, English, played domestic and international games with equal talent and commitment, and is very feisty when it comes to preserving our way of playing the game (rather than copying the Aussies). To me he epitomises all that is good about English RL - cocky halfback who pushed the rules to his team's advantage without ever being dirty or unprofessional; fiercely supportive of his native game, supremely talented, etc.

But my guess is that every Wigan fan would disagree with my choice!

That probably says more about you...

Todd Sullivan or Boston for me. Best to use players from the past for these things. All names that people know and respect.

Edited to show what you meant to say.