Nice article about jim devereaux on wiki.

I have a good friend who sits with me in the East Stand who has been supporting FC for over 75 years.He is a sprightly 82 and still is as passionate about fc today as he was when he started,he tells me.
He has seen so many great players that have worn the black and white shirt but when ever wingers crops up in conversation the one name that always comes out first is Bruce Ryan.So I reckon I will go with him for one of the wingers.
Incidentally, the guy keeps records on a season to season basis on FC that go back donkeys years.So if any one is struggling for any info that maybe you cant find on google,let me know he might be able to help.
Happy New Year to one and all.

As a previous poster said, the rules of the game have changed so much that comparing across eras is very difficult.

I remember the shock of the 10 yard rule in 83-84 - suddenly a few of our good players looked quite poor, and that was just one of the changes in 150 years.

When looking at very old matches (50's and 60's) you see players with less respect for possession, flinging out more wild passes etc because they had a good hooker that could win scrums. They probably would struggle with the more conservative (dare I say Aussie ?) style of rugby nowadays.

Still, it makes for a good discussion as a good player could easily adapt their style and wouldn't be any less of an athlete.

hooker is probably the classic case of the role that has changed, when scrums became less competitive the hooker became more of a pivot rather than a dependable ball winner skilled in the dark arts of the scrum. in my time watching the game, the role of the loose forward has changed a fair bit too

I have only been watching since the mid 90's, but generally I consider my knowledge of past players and the clubs history to be pretty good. However I can honestly say I didn't know anything at all about Bruce Ryan until this thread. I've seen the name a few times in books etc. but I couldn't have told you a thing about him. So it's interesting that lots of people rate him so highly.

BBC Sport website has a piece about the 150 year celebrations on it at the moment. interestingly the banner picture features 13 hull greats. is this the club's all time greatest 13? if so the challenge is on

just had a bit more of a look at the bbc article and its not a '13' as there are no props pictured. some food for thought concerning the players in the picture though

Looking at Billy Batten brings the question as to whether he is the only Hull FC player ever to feature on an official postage stamp.

Craig Fitzgibbon was on a stamp for the Roosters to celebrate the Centenary of Rugby League in Australia.

Will be a long time before they get round to issuing another set of rugby league stamps, with only a slim chance if them putting a Hull FC player on one of them.

Left you a PM mate - welcome back

Cheers! Remember now that he was on one of a set of 16 representing each NRL team competing in 2008.