He'd be the standout fullback in the world even if he played for Leigh mate.

Radlinski better all round than that lot put together.

How the hell did Wellens get in there ? My old Mum can run faster than he can.

Wigans greatest full backs are;

Jim Sullivan

Martin Ryan

Steve Hampson

Kris Radlinski

Your right about Jarryd Hayne, he was probably the player i was most looking forward to seeing having only heard about him prior to the four nations and after seeing him i didnt come away thinking he was anything special although im not sure if he was playing in his favoured position?

Correct, he plays fullback for the Eels where the more central role gives him the freedom to show his talents. He had a poor spell at the start of the season playing at stand-off but was devastating and a massive part of the Eels making the grand final for the rest of the season. He played on the wing during the four nations, and outside Justin Hodges for most of it which is a big factor in why he didn't seem to do much. He plays wing for NSW in origin to, but outside Michael Jennings+Joel Monaghan. He did a lot better in the final when he was moved to the left wing outside Inglis.

Lets just face it every team in Australia etc has a full back who must be good.

In my view we do not have a full back who would get a game in the NRL. This is a sad state of affairs.

To be fair they're not all in the same class as Billy Slater, Jarryd Hayne, Matt Bowen, or Karmichael Hunt (before he had his head turned by $$). There are fullbacks who are more like ours have been (defence orientated) like Kurt Gidley

I too would say Lockyer is the best full-back I have seen whilst watching the game. I appreciate there may have been better before him in some people's eyes but in the modern era he is my stand out choice.

And to add to that i think that Shaun Briscoe acquited himself very well in the four nations for England.

Lance Hohaia however is certanly not solid although he remains a quality player for New Zealend. Surely the Kiwi's have better options at full back?

It's not just one error though, is it? His one on one tackling is suspect.

WHAT??!!?!?!

Maybe Kevin Sinfield should be added to the list. He would get more votes than Slater.

No, it comes from a post on Facebook about Rads new position in the club, i stated that he was the greatest a true legend and some other bloke claimed that Slater and Webb where better due them scoring more tries during games, my argument was that a Fullbacks main job was to be the last line of defence and to support players in attack, if they score trys than thats a bonus but their main job is to stop trys being score and there was nobody better at doing that than Rads, maybe i should have worded the title differently, i also only added Wellens in there ti see if he would actually get a vote

I'm sure Rads easily outscored Brent Webb anyway. He was a master of support play and would get 20+ trys in a season for us on a regular basis.

For anybody to try and put Brent Webb in the same class as Kris Radlinski is totally bonkers.

Just checked Career stats and it's-

Rads 183 trys in 322 games

Webb 74 trys in 150 games

Which makes it pretty close on a trys per game ratio but Rads is in the lead and the rest of his game was a million times better then Webb.

Lockyer then some distance before the rest IMO.

Of the poll I'd say Radlinski was possibly a safer defender than Slater but wasn't as good in attack.

I've not seen a fullback as good under a high ball as Steve Hampson.

However they're all complete shiiiiiiiiiite compared with Michael Platt.

I suppose you can only really make that argument if you have access to NRL games as like myself a lot of people can only base what they have seen purely on the four nations tournament with regards to Billy Slater.

The perception of the qualities of a world class full back may well differ in the northern and southern hemisphere. The Australians have been blessed with some truly dynamic players who can create something from nothing and can play very well in a number of positions.

Brett Hodgson is another typical example who has had a huge impact on Superleague and typifies the depth of quality that Australia produce.

Your in for a tough job of convincing them otherwise.

My favorite full backs were Steve Prescot and Dave Lyon - both had pace and were great going forward.

Radlinski is probably the best all round full back - Wellens great club man who for a lack of pace has made up for it over the years with great positional play and a steady hand under the high kick. Without either of those he would have failed miserably as a full back.

I rate his defence when he gets in the right position but he gets found out sometimes when trying to read the attacking line. The 2 kiwi tries involving Hohia in the 4 Nations really highlight this, and it is something i have seen him struggle with throughout his career. If it is a one on one then I would back him all day.

His ability to read the attacking line is the only aspect that lets him down in defence, but it is highlighted as a weakness as he is so good in other areas. In relative terms he does still have a pretty good defence.

What I like about him most is his ability to put his team on the front foot right from the off his kick return is second to non.

I think Rads was an exceptional player and by far the stand out British fullback of his generation, but i do not think you would ever label him World Class, at least I would not, i think he just missed out on that tag.

Slater for me is World Class, to be the top fullback in Australia when you look at the depth and quality they have in that department almost ensures you have to be World Class to be at the top of that tree.

For this reason Slater is the greatest fullback of those offered in my opinion. Physically he is a generation ahead of any fullback playing rugby league and that is what makes him so good.

To be fair to Slater, he made a mistake in the world cup final and had by his standards a poor four nations. Anybody who's seen enough NRL over the past few seasons or Origin will backup the fact that his defence is actually really good. As good as Rads at his absolute best? Probably not (though 1 on 1 it's actually a hell of a lot closer than some people - not you jonh, would have us believe).

Also to be fair, he faces on average a significantly better standard of attacking threat than any fullback in super league week in week out.

Overall as a fullback in the modern game, there's nobody on the planet who i'd have before Slater in my team.

My other favourite non Wigan fullback would have to be Jonathan Davies, who was a fantastic all round player.

I have heard a lot of good things about the new Bardford signing Brett Kearney who was a full back but can also play at stand-off where he will be playing with Bradford.

The player himself confirmed that he had spoken with Ian Lenagan about a possible move to Wigan.

Have you seen much of him?

I feel and this was highlighted to me, not something i noticed prior to it being mentioned, by a couple of ex SL player and coaches, and was subsequently highlighted on a few occasions last year, that when a team keeps there attacking shape, he struggles to read the plays, which can put him in poor positions and hence make his defence look poor at times.

As stated earlier the Kiwi's scored 2 tries off the same move, once where Hohia entered the attacking line with great shape outside him,secondrow, centre,wing and a Prop inside him, dummied and went through Slaters tackle as he did not read the play (which is a hell of a thing to be able to do) later in the game they played the same move but on that occasion he entered the line and gave the pass with the same shape outside him again Slater was slow to make the call got caught and Pritchard went over i think.


Rads had great ability to read a play and was also decisive I think Slater in this situation is prone to hesitate which sees him occasionally exposed.

if this was a boxing match the ref would have stopped it by now........no contest........RADS by a country mile

He got injured for the entire season in the first game for Cronulla this season, infact injuries are something he's stuggled with during his career - managing only 77 NRL games since 2003, thats less than half the amount of games Slater has played during the same period. He's an ok player, certainly better than Bradford had to chose from at fullback, though a lot of bulls fans reckon he's going to play stand off (which i'm not too sure about).

Certainly don't think he's a player we've missed out on.

Personally would have loved to see him at Wigan prior to his last injury, since then though he becomes a gamble.

I personally rate him very highly as a 1 but simply cannot see him having the same impact as a 6. He is a very elusive powerful lad and with a little space causes all kinds of trouble, not sure he will bet much of that as a 6.

I hope he does fully recover and also gets a run at 1 as i think he will be great to watch, does not strike me in any way as a 6 though.