Bit hard for us under 30's to pinpoint the hardest "of all time" but I have no qualms rattling off my over-rated, and I'll try to remember the hardest since 1986:
Hardest
1. Craig Gower- takes hits small men shouldn't get up from
2. Gary Larson- maybe not the guy to take a crowbar to the head, but making 50+ tackles a game and plenty of hit-ups, and non-stop hussle is a form of "hard"
3. Petero Civonociva's head- broke Monty Bethams swinging-arm! That'll learn ya Monty!
4. Trevor Gilmeister- Face like the back of a truck, hit HARD, they didn't call him AXE for nothing
5. Steve Price - my token bulldog and more of a Gary Larson type selection. PRice is all HEART, not necessarily HARD, although did ya see the game a year or two back when he had a lump on his head as BIG as a golf-ball? Also being the charge-down king means putting your body on the line and THAT is Hard
Most Overrated
1. Brad Fittler- up to and including 2001 (even the NRL players thought so), better since then
2. Adrian Morley- a THUG, judged on skill alone he's Mr Mediocre
3. Jason Taylor- useless on defence, not special in attack, all he had was goal kicking
4. Andrew Johns- WHEN he's up against a team who's got the guts to get in his face and shut him down, he doesn't exactly inspire teammates with his mouth guard throwing, swearing, no-heart-when-he's-losing performances. He is Bloody good when people hang off him though ~ which they do
5. Shaun Timmins- Just at 5/8, Timmo is fine in Centres or 2nd row. At 5/8 Timmins was a bloody JOKE. It was downright disgusting to see Timmins play 5/8 for Australia, a trained monkey would have comparable 5/8 skills, they should have given the role to some token REAL 5/8 from a S@#^ club like Souths or Tigers over Timmo to give some youngsters confidence and a wrap like they did with Trent Waterhouse on the Kangaroo tour (clearly he's not one of the best forwards in Australia, it was a token Rookie pick)
5 1/2- Since Timmo is only over-rated at 5/8 I am sneaking in a swipe at Michael Crocker who's suddenly had his name in lights after playing Origin. Maybe we shouldn't forget that QLD was DESPERATE for players and he SUCKED in Origin. Crocker is not rated by anyone with two brain cells, but there are some people with less so yes he too is overrated
And just before any of you Rooters fans take a shot back at Willie and Braith I'll conceded Braith was poor in 2k3, but he was awesome in 2k2, and is again this year so #@^@ off. Willie has a lot to work on, but it's still nice to have a guy who can lean over the try line from 7 metres out.....
peace
