Bobby Fulton - just how good was Bozo?

[TheDalek079]

Ok. I do not know much about Bozo. I've seen one game of his on DVD when he was past his peak ('78 Amco Cup final) but he was still pretty good.


But what do those who watched Fulton play think? There will be those here either old enough or with good enough video collections to make a judgement. Is he immortal class? Is he really deserving to be on the bench on the team of the century? How does he compare to other centres and 5/8s? Which modern player is he comparable too?


How good was Bobby Fulton?

 

[BuffaloRules]

He was before my time, but I have seen extended highlights of the 73 Grand Final, and he seemed to be the difference between the sides in that game.

 

[Canard]

Top notch selector.

 

[magpie4ever]

Whilst I hate Manly, he was the best 5/8, centre of his generation. Definitely, deserves to be an immortal.

An absolute great of the game as a player (dickhead re: continuous call team - 2GB).

 

[nomis88]

In my completely unbiased opinion he is the best ever player in the history of rugby league. That's right, even better than Mitchell Pearce, John Morris or John Rheinberger.

 

[Usain Bolt]

He was shit

 

[ek999]

In my completely unbiased opinion he is the best ever player in the history of rugby league. That's right, even better than Mitchell Pearce, John Morris or John Rheinberger.

Lies

 

[magpie4ever]

He was shit

And the holocaust never happened during WWII as you wasn't there.

 

[bottle]

Whilst I hate Manly, he was the best 5/8, centre of his generation. Definitely, deserves to be an immortal.

An absolute great of the game as a player (dickhead re: continuous call team - 2GB).

I will echo this verbatim.

He is without doubt the single best player I recall seeing live. Could mesmerise entire teams and turn a game on its ear.
I'm a Saints fan, and saw the latter stages of greats such as Langlands, Smith and Raper. To be fair, probably too late in their careers to see them at their absolute best. Fulton was a superior player to them at the relative stages in their careers that I saw them. He was a freak.
I also hold no affection for him as a human being, was and still is a vile one of those. Keeping that aside though, his RL brilliance can't be questioned.

 

[GONZO72]

Fulton was the greatest centre of his time. Manly won 4 premierships on the back of Fulton. Even when he moved to Easts at age 29, he was still a force. At 31 was good enough to captain the Kangaroos.
I would rate Fulton, the 4th greatest player I've seen behind Beetson, Johns, Lewis.
Having praised him, he was and is, a shit selector, and at age 67, he should retire from selecting teams and radio 2GB

 

[Desert Qlder]

Having never watched him play I know he was crap because he played for clubs I don't support.

 

[gregstar]

I didn't see his early career, only his last 3-4 seasons.

you could see he was a class above others, however he was the first of the smartarse brigade that was in the refs face continually.

how manly was when he coached them in the mid-90's was exactly how he played.
toovey, hill, field, sedaris, ridge etc - always in the ref's face whinging or pressuring.
that was fulton - which is a pity because as i mentioned, in playing ability you could see he was all class with seemingly plenty of time with which to make decisions.

 

[greg]

Definitely a deserving immortal. I grew up watching him and consistently seeing him as the dominant player on the field. Him and Wally, the best I've seen.

 

[innsaneink]

Counted numbers well and was good at drawing in opposing wingers, pretty much had it all a good dummy, kicking game speed and good defense


Wasnt many opposition players stood out to me as a kid, focussed on my own team, he was one, Beetson, Fairfax, Langlands Eadie and later Brett Kenny

 

[Bullseye]

He was ahead of his time in terms of preparation and looking after himself. He didn't knock himself about with the alcohol as much as others that time. He had all the skills but with a winner's attitude. Not always your favourite bloke but you can't argue with his record.

 

[eozsmiles]

Was as skilled as anyone and very fit. His opponents were fat and there was no interchange. Coaching record not too shabby, but coaching Australia when he did wasn't hard.

 

[gregstar]

.... His opponents were fat .....

???

.... but coaching Australia when he did wasn't hard.

great britain were probably at their strongest in 20 years when fulton was coach. the ashes of 90, 92 & 94 were very competitive.

in fact i can't remember clean sweeping anyone whilst fulton was coach.

 

[Mr Angry]

Immortal player.

Great coach.

Diabolical selector.

 

[TheDalek079]

good responses! so definitely deserving of his accolades then

 

[POPEYE]

Benefit of the doubt would have Bozo possibly as good an opportunist as Killer. If field goals were still worth 2 points and Lyon was as exceptionally gifted as Bozo performing them he too would win enough games singlehandedly to become immortal, whatever the f**k that means. As far as statistics are concerned Lyon wins hands down