HoldenV8 said:
Is Snake Manly's best ever fullback? Or does he run a VERY close second to Wombat?
In the last few weeks i've thought about this everyday HV8. I can now give you
the (my)
answer:
Before i do this i wish to remind that i have been fortunate to see the entire career of both these legends, and during periods of my life when i have been paying close attention to Rugby League, MWSE in particular. During the 70s i attended every game at Brookvale from 1971, all the semis, all the GFs, etc.
Brett Stewart is MWSE's best ever fullback and has eclipsed Graham Eadie for the following reasons:
1. Brett had for a number of years, amazing speed. But he didn't use this pointlessly, he used it to score and set up an amazing number of match winning tries. Graham Eadie was fast and big, in the same way that GI is fast and big, and scored 71 great tries, notably in Grand Finals. Brett will DOUBLE the number of tries scored by Wombat and then some.
2. Graham Eadie was a fearsome last line of defence, and has the edge in this area over Snake. You JUST DIDNT want to tackled by GE.
You would much rather give up the right to score the try and pass the ball to someone else ! But does that make him a 'more effective' last iine of defence ? No. Snake has stopped HEAPS of tries over the years, just as many as Wombat.
3. Brett Stewart has had to play thru
more adversity both personal away from the field and serious injury than GE.
4. Graham Eadie was 'out on his own' for many seasons, in terms of rival fullbacks, and represented Australia many times. Of course there was no SOO in those days, if there had been, GE would have been Blues fb for many series. He has the edge in this area.
5. i am ignoring Wombat's goal kicking which is not necessary for the role of fb. He was a good kicker, and kicked heaps of crucial kicks, but they could have been kicked by someone else. Look GE gets points for this but . . . .
6. Snake's worth 17 points per game when he's on the field. I notice from those stats that he has never participated in a Drawn Game ! MWSE's win ratio is much higher when he is on the field.
7. Snake has had to re-invent himself as a ball playing fb, chiming in rather than as a sprinting runner. His passing game is superb, Wombat just never had to do this, and just didnt have the skills to 'read the game' the way Brett Stewart does.
Anyway i'm sure many will disagree and that's OK. But aren't we lucky we can have these discussions knowing that MWSE will continue to maintain the record of at least one Premiership in every decade of our lives since 1972.
