best nz five eighths since the 80's

[legs 11]

ive been following since the 80's....so we have big Olsen, Gene ngamu, shane cooper, Benji, Foran, ...what other stand off talents and what order would you put them in?

 

[Blair]

ive been following since the 80's....so we have big Olsen, Gene ngamu, shane cooper, Benji, Foran, ...what other stand off talents and what order would you put them in?

Gordon Smith, Varley, Friend. Played in memorable Lang Park tests of '82 (led all the way until a heart-breaking John Muggleton try at the death, we had clear try disallowed for forward pass, lost 11-8), '83 (ended 'Roos five-year winning streak with dramatic 19-12 victory, "big Joe Ropati!"), and '85 (Mark Graham ko'd by Crusher Cleal forearm, lost 26-20, excellent game now, sadly, remembered for a certain sideline fight).

All broadcast live and prime-time into NZ loungerooms, massive, pre-Warriors boost to league. Very important, hardworking steps to having what we have now, an NZ-based team in the NRL. Let's not waste all that hard graft, ay?

 

[legs 11]

yep the good old days.....smith varley and friend were all halfbacks though... speaking of that test at lang park..... one of the most memorable moments for me was a massive k tamati hit on rohan hancock...in the first minute of play....wow!!! think it was this game.
i know the tamati v dowling gets all the coverage...but check out the hancock tackle.

 

[legs 11]

forgot to mention another legend lance hohaia..

 

[Blair]

yep the good old days.....smith varley and friend were all halfbacks though... speaking of that test at lang park..... one of the most memorable moments for me was a massive k tamati hit on rohan hancock...in the first minute of play....wow!!! think it was this game.
i know the tamati v dowling gets all the coverage...but check out the hancock tackle.

The fearsome Kevin Tamati:

Rohan Hancock Smashed 1982 1st Test:

 

[Cold Roses]

Henry Paul. Along with his brother, were huge talents. We just didn't have the cattle around them to compete with the professional Aus outfits of the era.

 

[Rich102]

Fred Ah Kuoi played 28 tests from '75 to '85. Real smart footballer.

 

[Blair]

Henry Paul. Along with his brother, were huge talents. We just didn't have the cattle around them to compete with the professional Aus outfits of the era.

They always came across to me as UK footballers.

 

[legs 11]

Fred Ah Kuoi played 28 tests from '75 to '85. Real smart footballer.

your right there....fred was a legend

 

[Cold Roses]

Gene Ngamu never reached the heights that he could of. Spent a big part of his Kiwis career being over called by Gary 'ball hog' Freeman. I've always remembered one occasion against Great Britain, Freeman received the ball from Dummy Half, dummied then ran sideways, dummied again then ran sideways, dummied once again and ran sideways, then proceeded to throw the ball to no one across the sideline and finally turned around to give a massive spray to his confused teamates.

 

[Cold Roses]

They always came across to me as UK footballers.

Robbie in particular was a huge talent. They suffered from being part of an era where Coach after Coach thought that the only way for us to compete was for our massive forwards to thump other teams out of the game.

We always lost due to high penalty and error rates.

 

[Rich102]

The other one who deserves mention, and one of the best, was Dennis Williams. Played his last test in 1981. Made 45 appearances for NZ. From 20 meters out he was very hard to stop.

From Wikipedia:
Williams celebrated his 18th birthday with a try in his first Test match against Great Britain during the New Zealand Kiwis' successful tour on 1971.[2] Williams also represented New Zealand Māori.

On the 21 June 1977, Williams captained Auckland to an upset win over Australia. The squad went on a grand slam, defeating the touring French and British sides in the same year.[3]

 

[legs 11]

im not old enough to remeber dennis williams playing, but from all the talk...he may well be the best we've had in that era.....but going back a few more years...the great roger bailey....

 

[Rich102]

Roger was a center.

 

[legs 11]

ok my order of those mentioned...il leave out dennis williams...[more 70's]

foran [still a lot of years left]
Benji [match winner]
Shane Cooper [consistant but to slow for sydney]
Lance Hohaia [consistant]
Olsen [on his day wow!]
Fred Ah Koui [consistant not at best in sydney]
Paul bros
Gene Ngamu

 

[Rich102]

Hard to argue with your choices.

 

[ozbash]

1 Dennis williams
2 Benji
3 Olsen Filipina
4 Clayton Friend
5 Henry Paul

 

[JJ]

1 Dennis williams
2 Benji
3 Olsen Filipina
4 Clayton Friend
5 Henry Paul

Friend was more of a half though?

Anyway, never saw Williams, and Filipaina was great in some tests but in reality a reserve grader...

Foran will likely head to #3, perhaps #2

No Kurt Sherlock, or Tohu Harris?

 

[Cold Roses]

No Kurt Sherlock, or Tohu Harris?

Dave Watson?

 

[Cold Roses]

I'm loving that Tony Kemp hasn't even rated a mention as well.