best ever league halfbacks

[Ken Gargett]

growing up in the 80's hated parra but have to say sterling was a freak better than johns langer stuart jt cronk.who has the most grand final wins ?not jt from the bench 1.2 kind of for drugo johns .langer 3/4 ?.and the sook start 2/3 ?

if we are basing it on grand finals, then billy smith - 4 or 5 or 6 or how many?? who should be considered right up with these guys by any standard.

certainly the best through the 60s/70s. brilliant player and he was at least as tough as tommy raudonikis, if not tougher.

[madbunny]

jeez kenny i can only got back to the 80's but your right bloody st merge.i loved the way tugga coleman and gary freeman played cheeky pricks

[madbunny]

and there is only one king and thats wally

[Ken Gargett]

and there is only one king and thats wally

on that we are in complete and unassailable agreement.

the rest made up the numbers.

[Ken Gargett]

jeez kenny i can only got back to the 80's but your right bloody st merge.i loved the way tugga coleman and gary freeman played cheeky pricks

i reckon the cheekiest (and if he was an aussie he'd be right up in this argument) i ever saw was tommy bishop. i'm sure you could google a clip from the grand final the sharks lost to manly - early/late 70s? - where he belts a monster sea eagles forward and then runs around and hides behind one of his own. one of the sorenson brothers i think. the manly bloke wanted to kill him but he kept dodging behind this bloke, from side to side, like he was a large tree. very funny.

[Ken Gargett]

and there is only one king and thats wally

i should add that i played against lewis.

granted it was cricket but i still tell people i played opposite the king.

[ARRV]

Johns was the best halfback

Lewis probably best overall player / captain

Imagine if he had stayed in rugby, same with Sticky, O'Connor, Ray Price ..... the list goes on

[JohnS]

i should add that i played against lewis.

granted it was cricket but i still tell people i played opposite the king.

And I bet, that like most Football players, he excelled at cricket too.

Tommy Bishop was an incredibly tough English League player. Those Cronulla losses to Manly in the seventies are still heart-breaking for fans. 10-7 in '73 and a 11-11 draw before losing the replay final 16-0 in '78. Cronulla haven't been as close since. I've referenced an article below about Tommy Bishop and how brutal and close they came in '73 to grand final glory.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/tommy-bishop-still-haunted-by-cronulla-sharks-1973-grand-final-that-got-away/story-fni3gol8-1226722271769

[Ken Gargett]

Johns was the best halfback

Lewis probably best overall player / captain

Imagine if he had stayed in rugby, same with Sticky, O'Connor, Ray Price ..... the list goes on

as a moderator, i am sorely tempted to delete "probably".

people always talk about lewis staying in rugby but they forget he was very much first and foremost a rugby league player. if i recall correctly, his father was a stalwart of the great valley diehards league club (which i followed fanatically in my youth). he played league from about 6 months of age. his brother also played league for valleys, not so well. he went to state high in brizzy. state high is one of the GPS schools so he would have had to make the switch (state high one of the private school but i think charges no fees so it attracts a lot of talented kids in many spheres). i believe, from mates there and who played with/against him, that he played rugby for the school on the saturday but always played league on the sunday. he was almost certainly always destined for a career in league.

[Ken Gargett]

And I bet, that like most Football players, he excelled at cricket too.

Tommy Bishop was an incredibly tough English League player. Those Cronulla losses to Manly in the seventies are still heart-breaking for fans. 10-7 in '73 and a 11-11 draw before losing the replay final 16-0 in '78. Cronulla haven't been as close since. I've referenced an article below about Tommy Bishop and how brutal and close they came in '73 to grand final glory.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/tommy-bishop-still-haunted-by-cronulla-sharks-1973-grand-final-that-got-away/story-fni3gol8-1226722271769

nice article. i remember bishop at norths. i can still remember a sort of a flick pass, the like i've never seen again. hard to describe but it put a big forward over untouched. magic. that year, the great valleys came through to win the premiership, i believe. we had ross strudwick, who played half for st george and australia and came up to us early 70s. top player. a few years later, he formed a great partnership with lewis, though in those days, lewis was a lock forward.

as for cricket, my understanding was that he was okay. at the time, i had no idea who he was other than a foulmouthed arrogant little (and he was much smaller than people realise) tosser. i think we were both opening bats and keepers. they batted first at churchie - which had the best pitch in australia in those days (an uncle even sent me a copy of the front page of the london times describing it as that). he hooked a ball and i had good reach but not quite enough. flicked the tips of my glove and went away for four. i remember lying on the ground wishing it would open up and swallow me, especially as i could hear my mates all cheering. i thought that they might think i'd caught it. got up to see lewis had flicked his bail in playing the shot. very relieved. then the bloke gave the umpire the most almighty serve and stormed off (worse than what he gave geyer years later). no idea why but he was not happy. then rain washed out the game.

i can still remember that the first i heard of him playing league was in a trial match for valleys at the start of the 77, possibly 78 season. he scored four tries. what a player. and what a captain.