When fully fit he is the best FB in SL bar none. The problem is over the last 18 months he has suffered with his back. For me he does the lot and going forward in particular is superb.

No chance. Webb, Hogdson and Greenshields are all better.

Neither Tansey or Shaun Briscoe are fit to lace the boots of Gary Kemble or Arthur Keegan

As far as todays SL fullbacks go though,I think Briscoe would be my call at the moment,thats always providing he survives the bombardment the Aussies are going to give him on Saturday

all a matter of opinion, all have good bits and lots of them, dont agree with webb, Greenshields not as good under the high kick, hodgson not seen enough to warrant an opinion
I like Briscoe anyway ! good lad and a sound fullback pitty we dont still have his services

Unlike the rest of them!!!!!

Absolutely fantastic to watch,one of my all time favourites

think briscoe is brilliant but getting very readable with his playing , looking forward to seeing tansey next year now hes had a some playing time with us

Minichiello is still about but has been suffering with a back injury for a few years now. He was a class act in his day no doubt. What we seem to be lacking from fullbacks in England is the attacking side of the game. I don't want to get drawn into the debate about whats more important out of attack and defence for a fullback but I think this is most definitely a position we are struggling to produce anything near world class. The likes of Slater, Stewart, Minichiello (when he was playing at his best) and Hunt (when he was still in league) seem to create and score a lot more tries than their English counterparts. Just look how deadly Slater is when he links with Inglis. You don't often see English fullbacks chucking cut out balls to the centres to score off.

Regarding Briscoe against Aus - Im sure he'll deal with the kicks and return them. But its what happens to him when he returns that concerns me. He'll just get dominated by their chase and pinned into the turf slowing the play down. The Aussie line speed against NZ was incredible (especially in the first 30 mins), and I fear the slow start to our sets will mean we just don't make any yards and have little room to work with. Compare this to someone like Hohaia/Slater (although he wasnt at his best against NZ) and they just seem to take the kick and make a half break more often and get a faster play so their team is off to a flyer when trying to get out of their half.

Plus I think we could struggle to make many breaks for him to back up, which is a shame because that is a very good aspect of his game.

Its a tough call who to pick at fullback if you ask me, but I'd consider Smith because he is a bit more threatening going forward.

toughest call on his teamsheet I think... thanks for the info on Minichello, he was awesome to watch thats for sure , possibly better than Kemble if I dare say it too!! never ever got caught in his own 20!!
on the other hand regarding Saturday I doubt the Aussie forwards are relishing the thought of mixing it with Peacock , Morley, Crabtree, etc etc who lets be fair are as good as anywhere in the world

Minichiello is the best fullback I've ever seen. My favourite all time player. Such a shame that injuries have curtailed a career that would surely have instilled him as the greatest fullback the game has ever seen.

yeak i know, were all just a little biased , but i was offering the option of a top defencive fullback or an attacking fullback, which would you choose?

TBH he probably wouldnt make the top 10 fullbacks af all time, there has been so many top players play there.