Agreed. A big reason why Scully never went to Aus.

NK is right in what he says, we don't get players in their peak now from overseas, we either get the fringe ones like he mentions or we get the bad boys. Occasionally we get the good ones, Barba (for 6 months) Lyon, Hastings etc that rip up the comp. Unfortunately for SL, they invariably go straight back to the NRL.

Not a patch on Morley he did it in the hardest league on earth

Will never forget that pass left to right straight to Sarge for his try not many could have done that at pace

Indeed. The exchange rate doesn’t get mentioned much but around that time I went to the Ashes in Australia (cricket version) and you were getting just shy of $3 to the pound. When you consider it’s around half that now, it’s an absolutely massive difference and with the boom of the game down under, it’s put paid to that type of player coming over.

See, again this is where I struggle. Morley was good in the NRL, as was Graham.

I didn't need to see Morley or Graham in the NRL to know they were top players. This premise that Morley is better than Peacock simply because he played in the NRL is nonsense IMO. We're able to form judgements based on what we see - and Jamie Peacock was a brilliant prop and a brilliant leader.

How anyone can say Peacock was "not a patch on" Morley simply beacuse he didn't play in the NRL is just daft.

I have to disagree with this sadly, as it is how you perform in a top league that counts. There's no 'given' that a player can do it in another league - Josh Perry being a great example.

Yeah we can say JP was a top player and the "patch" comment is obviously wrong, but it does differentiate the two.

OT, but it's why I always say Ronaldo is better than Messi. We know Messi is quality, but Ronlado has done it across the major leagues.

No you have got this wrong Walmsley not a patch on Morley that is what I mean.

Peacock was one hell of a player and leader up there with the best as is Morley.
But not Walmsley (yet) he isnt a leader like those 2 and Lockers and the ginger one all great players and leaders

Peacock was one hell of a player and leader up there with the best as is Morley.
But not Walmsley (yet) he isnt a leader like those 2 and Lockers and the ginger one all great players and leaders

Totally different types of prop in truth. I’m sure he’d still be absolute class Morley but his game would need to be different now or else he’d be sat in the stands even more than he was. Peacock was an absolute grafter. His metres per carry was actually pretty low but he’s just go and go and go and was such an impressive leader.

We didn’t need to see Peacock or Roby in the NRL to admit they were world class but nowadays it’s tough to prove it solely in this superleague because of a lack of quality across the board.

I think Walmsley should go and test himself tbh

You pick an interesting 3 there Stu. Barba had his drugs and wife beating problems, Lyon couldn't at that time handle the pressure of being an NRL star, particularly from the media side of things and Hastings had blown a couple of chances, latterly through his fight with DCE. I doubt Superleague would have seen any of those players had it not been for 'personal problems' so to speak. Sad that we can't attract that standard of player without situations like those being in play but, as you say, that's the reality of our comparitively low cap.

Lyon is a real outlier on that one, as the league attracted plenty of good players during his time with Saints. I agree tho, that in modern times - it's more slim pickings and the traffic now goes to the NRL.

We did but the Aussies made it clear they wouldn’t pick players who moved here (full time) and that stoped most absolute prime Aussies coming here. We’d get first choice Kiwi international players coming but I’m struggling to think of many first choice Aussies. Lyon would’ve been that but had walked away from the game for a spell and had it not been for that, I don’t think we’d have seen him in this country. Even if he did play for Saints, what a player that guy was. An absolute pleasure to watch and pretty much everything I think of when somebody asks what an ideal centre looks like.

Yeah that's true, it was more lads towards the end of their careers. Guys like Gidley (who himself was a quality player), Trent or mostly NZ lads like you said. It's also difficult to judge the quality, as I do believe Richards could have made the Aus squad had he not moved over here. I know when he went back there were calls for him to play for NSW. If he'd have gone back in 2010 (his MOS season) he could have done it. Ultimately we'll never know tho.