Me neither. 'Dispised' the guy for years after that, but he was good.



Frano Botica for me was one of the best f/b's, but that may have been due to his incredible goal kicking......... again denying us a title when we finished 3rd on goal difference to Wigan when John Dorahy was coach for the pies

Played full back sometimes but was more of a half-back.

Thought he was a centre[Botica?

Just seen Botica's son plays for Harlequins RU, I thought Botica was a half back but could be wrong. He was some kicker though!

With all this talk about the merits of different full backs over the years, with a focus on the departed Hodgson, it got me thinking how we might play differently in some respects next season. Hodgson was a fantastic exponent of the full back assuming a third half back role, often joining the line to give a killer cut-out ball to create tries. The closest way we could replicate that would be to have Ratchford take his place at No 1 but he seems earmarked for the half back spot in Briers’ absence.



From what I saw of Matty Russell in the World Cup he is a very different full back, a dangerous runner and returner of kicks with real pace and strength and an ability to find gaps close to the line. He doesn’t seem to have, or at least didn’t show, that ability to become an additional pivot creating opportunities for others. Will this lead to us changing the way we play the game? I can see Russell thriving by following our offload game but wonder whether we will see any other changes in dynamics this season.

Matty Russell looks very lively at dummy half. We will need to give him the opportunity to show his skills.

I agree KT. I think we will have to play with a different style. Maybe Russell will play a bit more like Webb did for Leeds hanging around the ruck waiting for a quick play the ball or offload. Ratchford was more of a threat like that than Hodgson was. I do worry about our ability to create tries when we are 20 metres out now that Briers and Hodgson are gone.

With 2 FIT ex-england international centres, we dont necessary need to be so creative in the halves.

So, after 12 pages of posts, does anyone actually know what Brett Hodgson is doing ?

You should know by now that we know absolutely nothing of any value on this site, in fact it is a membership requirement. If the mods get any inkling that you know what you are talking about, you are thrown out and have to join the TotalRL board. They know even less than we do, but can write in long paragraphs and sound much more well informed.



You should also be more careful about trying to derail threads.

For what it's worth I think he may well show up in London.

He would be a good choice for captain of the club.

Cue another 12 pages.

I like this thread - with all it's twists and turns.... and I've made more comments on this than any other and still going......





Re Botica, I know he did play in the halves and as centre (and I think his preferred position was in the halves) but I just remember his exploits at full back.

Forgotten he was an All Black too. Boy was he a good kicker !





By the way - Hesford - heard he'd gone to Spain and was running a bar but seems to have disappeared.

Where's Hessie?

I thought about this the other night. Can't see it happening as he probably only has a year left in him then he will move back to Oz, I doubt he will want to move his family down to London for such a short period and it is a bit of a commute!

Hodgson was a better fullback than Radlinski or Wellens though.

Its only in the last few years that SL has caught up with the NRL in terms of how they see the FB's role. English RL has had an obsession with "ball handling" loose forwards and "strong defensive" fullbacks which is thankfully disappearing. IMO its no coincidence that a major weakness for GB/England has been this mindset of a plodding extra ball handler in the pack as opposed to one who can hit the line at speed.



Its also weird to suggest that a good attacking fullback shouldn't also be good defensively. Slater is a damn good defender, especially of kicks. Ben Barba is the only current NRL fullback I can think of who isn't a very solid defender.



IMO Wellens would never have had much of a career in the NRL at fullback (perhaps at halfback), as like Mathers his attacking play was never at the required level. I also never understood the Wigan fans' adoration of Radlinski - probably because I moved to Aus about the time he was playing, and the gulf in standard between British and Aussie fullbacks was enormous.



BTW I remember Steve Hesford - my second game watching Leeds was vs Wire in the old John Player Trophy. Wasn't he quite slow? Not at all unusual back then - Whitfield at Wigan, Hogan at Leigh, Mick Burke, Keith Mumby, even Fairbairn wasn't that quick. Mind you, I suspect Leeds unearthed the slowest and shall we say "least athletic" fullback ever once Ian Wilkinson moved there.

I see from the news that Ronnie Biggs has died. Now he was a real criminal, none of this hacking the internet stuff looking for personal banking records, or going fishing. He was a far better criminal than all the modern tosh we see nowadays. He was out there on the tracks with his sawn off shotgun, covering any moves from the guards " look out, he's gotta shooter !", so his mates could grab the mail sacks. Now HE WAS a last line of defence. Can you imagine the chaos if he suddenly decided he was going to catch the tossed mail bags and stack them in the getaway car ? Or get involved with the attack on the mail van ?



Get real

go home winslade, you're drunk.

I picked up my disability allowance this morning, and I will spend it how I like.

"Buster Edwards" for me every time, never saw him drop a mail bag !!! and he was far quicker at the get away than your average criminal.

Back on topic, in the modern game, Hodgson was a great full back for you guys, however, I think Russell will be better.

One off the standout youngsters at Wigan, two tries on his debut at Widnes and a pity we had to let him go IMHO.

Biggs was to criminality what some of the names mentioned on this thread were to the art of playing full back and he got caught just as easily.

How many of the names mentioned would have been capable of scoring the try that Johnson scored in the "Les Boyd" 1986 Championship Final? Probably Jiffy and Billy Slater. I could not see any of the others, including Hodgson, doing it.

Hodgson's strength was in his reading of the game and knack of knowing when and where to join the line. Not to mention his courage to put himself in harm's way for such a slightly built guy.

Whatever he does in the future I am grateful for his contribution to the cause and wish him all the best.

PS I am surprised that Eric Fraser has not had a mention. He played for Great Britain when we used to beat the Aussies.

Probably because most of us (including me) weren't watching the Wire when Eric Fraser was playing.

Just thinking that perhaps, as RL fans are wont to do, we are underselling our game and the demands of a RL full-back not just in the modern era but in general?



I well remember Leeds signing John Gallagher in the mid-80's. Now, Gallagher was not only the regular All Blacks full back, he was thought of as THE stand-out player in a hugely talented team and he was generally considered one of the best players of either code in the world at the time.



Leeds paid a fortune to sign him and it was considered a safe a bet as any RU-RL convert can be, and a cert in fact that he'd be a rip roaring success.



He sucked. Big style. In a RL jersey he suddenly looked 2 stone smaller and 5 yards slower and totally lacked the bravery, skill, fitness and tactical nous to play the game. Most of the players mentioned on this thread were Billy Slater to his Neil Kenyon.

Gallagher had a very good eye for hitting the line and could run a brilliant angle - scored a try against the touring Aussies doing just that (we were 10-0 up at one point), which far few fullbacks seem to know how to do.



Sadly the other aspects of his game - defence and running the ball back from kicks - were average at best. He also had his confidence shattered by a spear tackle which could have broken his neck.



In the meantime Wigan signed Frano Botica.



IMO you should look to sign players who look suited to your sport, not just a 'star' from another code. How much money did RL clubs waste on signing RU props in the 80s/90s when they were clearly suited for a role that hadn't existed for years in RL?



Its a mistake that RU is still making at times today. Thankfully in a way. The more Lee Smith style failures, the less likely they are to raid SL en masse.

Where is Brett Hodgson?