The greatest club side of all time (one year only)

[THE CHAMP]

Langer v Ikin should be enough to give it to 98. But on top of that there is also Renouf in the centres compared to 2000 which had De Vere and Carroll.

True but ikin was having a blinder in the 2000 gf until boneti took care of him early in the second half

 

[_Johnsy]

It's criminal how underrated this bloke is.

Close to, if not the best back rower I've seen play. if I was picking a "modern" Aussie team. he's one of the first [players picked every time.

 

[Vic Mackey]

True but ikin was having a blinder in the 2000 gf until boneti took care of him early in the second half

Forget about how boring he is on tv, before his multiple injuries Ikin was an electric player.

 

[THE CHAMP]

Forget about how boring he is on tv, before his multiple injuries Ikin was an electric player.

Agreed.
It's disappointing we didn't get to see more of ikin at his best.
The merkin could run that's for sure

 

[Vic Mackey]

Agreed.
It's disappointing we didn't get to see more of ikin at his best.
The merkin could run that's for sure

Yep

I remember watching a game where he was playing centers for North’s, would have been about 98. They were down against a decent team, Canterbury or Canberra or someone. Matt Seers got injured and Ikin moved to fullback. He instantly lit the team up, was seemingly making line breaks at will and single handedly won the game for them.

 

[King hit]

I think I was the only NQ fan at North Sydney Oval that year when the bears
ran 60-0 on us. That game is only beaten in the humiliation stakes by the 2001 eels game in Sydney. PJ Marsh gets sent off for a tackle in the 10th minute and it’s 0-0 and I think ‘f**k
yeah, we’re a chance here!!!!’


merkins put 62-0 on us with only 12 men on the field.

That was also the day Jason Taylor became the highest point scorer in the competitions history

 

[Springs09]

Forget about how boring he is on tv, before his multiple injuries Ikin was an electric player.

Yes but we were comparing him to Langer, one of the best halfbacks of all time. Ikin was good, Langer was better and in my opinion, 1998 Broncos > 2000 Broncos.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

Ikin wasn’t even 30 yet when he retired or am I thinking of someone else?

 

[Big Pete]

Ikin wasn’t even 30 yet when he retired or am I thinking of someone else?

Only 26.

He was 24 when his career was effectively ended in Auckland.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

Only 26.

He was 24 when his career was effectively ended in Auckland.

Geez, he got to watch the likes of josh mcrone and Jeff robson have long careers

 

[kdalymc]

Geez, he got to watch the likes of josh mcrone and Jeff robson have long careers

John “bludged for 300 games and never played rep” Morris

 

[Drew-Sta]

So we've got:

Balmain 1915
North Sydney 1921
Wests Panthers 1922
South Sydney 1925
Eastern Surburbs 1936
Eastern Surburbs 1937
Valley Diehards 1955
St George 1959

Do we have any historians who could shed some light on these teams?

Balmain had two draw's; Glebe had two defeats but a higher F/A and better attack.

Don't know much about Norths in '21; only that they had Duncan Thompson who was the best halfback pre-war (and likely one of the leagues best). His '24 team (I think it was) for Toowoomba was best in world when it beat touring teams and NSWRL premiers Souths.

Souths in '25 were the real deal; all games were a victory (whilst other teams undefeated had draws). They're the only team to have done that.

Easts in '36 and '37 were the Dave Brown show. In '37, Souths had better attack though.

No idea about Wests Panthers and Valley Diehards.

Saints in '59 had one draw and a F/A of 360+ with 3 point tries. They scored 550 points in 18 games and let in 190 over the season (10.5 - Manly's 6.8 still stands as the best from memory). Compare that to 2018, where Souths scored 580ish (who's attack was lauded) and Brisbane 552; they beat all other teams in for and conceded 190; which in is less by nearly half of the top teams in 2018 (Roosters had lowest at 361). They went on to belt Manly 20-0 in the GF.

In saying all that; the stats for the Eels in 2001 are incredible and they're likely the best team statistically to have every played a season.

Some fascinating stuff.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Balmain had two draw's; Glebe had two defeats but a higher F/A and better attack.

Don't know much about Norths in '21; only that they had Duncan Thompson who was the best halfback pre-war (and likely one of the leagues best). His '24 team (I think it was) for Toowoomba was best in world when it beat touring teams and NSWRL premiers Souths.

Souths in '25 were the real deal; all games were a victory (whilst other teams undefeated had draws). They're the only team to have done that.

Easts in '36 and '37 were the Dave Brown show. In '37, Souths had better attack though.

No idea about Wests Panthers and Valley Diehards.

Saints in '59 had one draw and a F/A of 360+ with 3 point tries. They scored 550 points in 18 games and let in 190 over the season (10.5 - Manly's 6.8 still stands as the best from memory). Compare that to 2018, where Souths scored 580ish (who's attack was lauded) and Brisbane 552; they beat all other teams in for and conceded 190; which in is less by nearly half of the top teams in 2018 (Roosters had lowest at 361). They went on to belt Manly 20-0 in the GF.

In saying all that; the stats for the Eels in 2001 are incredible and they're likely the best team statistically to have every played a season.

Some fascinating stuff.

Easts did not have Dave Brown with them in 1937 at all. He'd left Easts t the end of 1936 to take up a deal with Warrington in the UK on a big money deal where he played the next 3 seasons, returning to Easts at the end of 1939. Source: https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/dave-brown/summary.html

Of the 1921-22 Norths team, one of the other stars was the great Harold Horder. Horder, a winger, started at Souths in 1912, played for Norths from 1920 to 1923, before playing his final season at Souths in 1924. In his 136 first grade games, he scored 152 tries and kicked 150 goals. He also played 13 games for Australia scoring 11 tries. He was considered the first 'wonder winger" of the game. Source: https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/harold-horder/summary.html

The other key player for that Norths team was Horder's wing team mate Cec Blinkhorn. Blinkhorn played for Norths from 1914-1918, played at Souths in 1919, Norths from 1920-1923, and played a final season at Souths in 1924. In his 107 first grade games he scored 86 tries and kicked 5 goals. Played 4 tests for Australia scoring 3 tries. Source; https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/cec-blinkhorn/summary.html

Horder and Blinkhorn were a great wing scoring partnership terrorising teams from either flank.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

John “bludged for 300 games and never played rep” Morris

I had John as a bench hooker in one of may draft teams when he was a shark. Attack was definitely limited but bludge he didn’t

 

[glockers]

1989 Tigers who only lost due to a horrible coaching mistake taking Siro and Roach off the field.

All 6 starting forwards played Origin (Siro, Roach, Pearce, Elias, m3aguire, Brooks) NZ Test hero Freeman at halfback, Australian fullback Garry Jack at fullback, the criminally underrated Mick Neil in the 6 l,Wallabies player James Grant on one wing and lightning Steve O'Brien on the other, England test legend Andy Currier in the centres with schoolboy Tim Brasher.

The 88 team that had Hanley was also good, Roach was suspended and missed the grand final.

 

[Mr Spock!]

1989 Tigers who only lost due to a horrible coaching mistake taking Siro and Roach off the field.

All 6 starting forwards played Origin (Siro, Roach, Pearce, Elias, m3aguire, Brooks) NZ Test hero Freeman at halfback, Australian fullback Garry Jack at fullback, the criminally underrated Mick Neil in the 6 l,Wallabies player James Grant on one wing and lightning Steve O'Brien on the other, England test legend Andy Currier in the centres with schoolboy Tim Brasher.

The 88 team that had Hanley was also good, Roach was suspended and missed the grand final.

They still lost......From what I remember the raiders weren't a bad team....And the 89 Rabbitohs did better than Balmain and the Raiders in the season proper.

 

[TheDalek079]

1989 Tigers who only lost due to a horrible coaching mistake taking Siro and Roach off the field.

All 6 starting forwards played Origin (Siro, Roach, Pearce, Elias, m3aguire, Brooks) NZ Test hero Freeman at halfback, Australian fullback Garry Jack at fullback, the criminally underrated Mick Neil in the 6 l,Wallabies player James Grant on one wing and lightning Steve O'Brien on the other, England test legend Andy Currier in the centres with schoolboy Tim Brasher.

The 88 team that had Hanley was also good, Roach was suspended and missed the grand final.

if only Balmain ran the ball in the spirit of the game...

 

[GongPanther]

The 75 Roosters and then daylight second. They won 20 of 22 premiership games, they finished minor premiers by 10 points, they won the gf 38-0 against Saints, they also won the amco cup beating Parra 17-7, they had the best defense by a mile conceding only 198 points all year, in attack they scored 431 points (83 tries). As a 13 year old I would go to the footy knowing they would win. They won 19 premiership games in a row which is still the record. The team they had boasted Fairfax, Mullins, Brass, Harris, Schubert, Peard, Mayes, Reilly, Coote and big Artie and they were coached by Jack Gibson. They were a brilliant team.

Remember them well. Was simply awe inspiring in watching a sporting side as great as this one was.

 

[magpie_man]

Canberra 1994 immediately springs to mind.

If we weren't cap cheating I'd have probably thrown in Bulldogs 2002.

We were pretty good in 2012 as well but chucked a Parra '01 style effort in the Grand Final albeit not to the same scale.

The Dog's forward pack of 2004 was something else:

Steve Price
Corey Hughes
Mark O'Meley
Willie Mason
Andrew Ryan
Tony Grimaldi

Reni Matua
Sonny Bill Williams
Roy Asotasi

Oh, and some young wingnut kid hovering on the edge of firsts too; probably too small to make grade though...

 

[Timmah]

The Dog's forward pack of 2004 was something else:

Steve Price
Corey Hughes
Mark O'Meley
Willie Mason
Andrew Ryan
Tony Grimaldi

Reni Matua
Sonny Bill Williams
Roy Asotasi

Oh, and some young wingnut kid hovering on the edge of firsts too; probably too small to make grade though...

In fairness I don't think anyone could have predicted with certainty how good JT would be.

I agree we had one of the best packs of the modern era but our backline wasn't exactly world-beating, they just did the job the forwards allowed 'em to. Overall I don't think they're the best club side.