I thought the question was 'greatest' not 'overrated'.



It would have to be Hanley for me. An absolute Beast of a player who did not need to be a great tackler or tactician to be considered.



Not many players from the 80's and 90's would easily slot in todays modern era of RL, but hanley is definitely one of them.

It is an impossible question really. How do you do say whether a winger was better than a prop, especally in the days of specialism and competitive scrums,



I don't think many of us would able to comment on pre-WW2 but I guess some of British RLs best players came from that era.



As someone who started watching as a child in the early 1960s I just missed out on the best years of a number of the British all time greats. However, I once asked my dad the question and after a few moments reflection he said Brian Bevan. Objectively, he was the best wing man of all time and one of the / the most exciting player of all time with ball in hand.



As I said though, there are many facets to RL and finishing (even as I understand it often from your own in goal area!) is but one. Neil Foxas always a player I admired and arguably the best all round British player? A sort of Daley Thompson - superb at everything, but not necessarily the best centre, best tackler, best kicker, etc of all time.



Then there are those players who coud control and dominate a game themselves, Murppy, Fulton, etc and those who could produce the big play when it mattered - Fittler, Lockyer, Meninga spring to mind.



Then there are all those comparatively unrecognised players that set the platform to win games. Maqybe the best players of all time have been forwards? In my time some of the best forwards have been the unheralded ones - those who do the hard work quietly - never missing tackles, not making mistakes, but rarely doiung anything flash. Maybe one of those is in fact the best player or maybe to be a great you have to have that something extra to turn a game?



How do you choose?

Andrew Johns is the greatest player I've seen.



Although Greg Inglis is the most complete Rugby League player I've ever seen.

Ellery Hanley is the greatest.



Andrew Johns would have been up there with him but for the fact that he was a drug taking (rhymes with)anchor.

From this period would have Freddie fitter in there as well

Joey johns and mal maninga for me

If they play Rugby League they are all great players.



As for other sports, who cares!

Royston Lightning, purely for his name.

For example, take the current England international scrum half Matty Smith, full time player, oodles of time to train every facet of his game ,massive facilities at his disposal, sports science , numerous conditioners ,trainers , physios, doctors etc etc etc every advantage a player could possibly wish for...plays maybe 25 to 30 times a year on superb surfaces , with massive recovery resources.



International scrum half of the 80s Andy Gregory, part time in a non science era , very little back up apart from the odd physio , trains on dark nights for a few hours, plays on mud heaps at various times in a 40 plus game year, playing very often 3 times a week with no recovery resources.



Given those two scenarios i would suggest that Gregory is still some distance in front of Smith as a player...despite Smith having every advantage going over Gregory...



Now swap the scenarios around, give Gregory ALL the advantages, transport Smith into the 80s with all the disadvantages..what would the gap in quality be then..????

Would Andy Gregory done much if he played in 2014?

His physique limited his ability to get any better with modern science.

I never really rated him to be honest, last of the old era, tough, crafty with ball skills and..................................

I doubt he would have made a first grade Club team in the modern era, its Horses for courses.

Impossibly to answer as I doubt anyone has seen every generation of player. Even then it's all about opinion.



For me one of the the best players I've ever seen (some may disagree but it's only my opinion) was Henry Paul. One of the best tackling half backs I've seen. Sitting props on their backside. The skill set he had was unbelievable. Watched highlights of some bulls games the other day. No one in SL today comes close to his attacking class. Absolutely outstanding player. Not saying he's the best, he's not,but he's someone I was always in awe of watching.



I think in 25+ years time, we'll look at Burgess, Thurston, Slater, inglis, Smith, Thurston as some of the greatest to have played the game. Privileged to have seen them play.

My first-hand experience of the game goes back to the 92-93 season. I've seen some great players in that time but I think Andrew Johns is out in front. The perfect half back - immaculate hands, kicking and leadership, and a gritty defender, too.