Botman wrote: ↑March 22, 2022, 8:15 pm
Azza wrote: ↑March 22, 2022, 8:08 pm
I loved Bateman in 2019 too. But it was one season. Not enough to make him a Messiah. Hodgson had a greater impact overa longer period.
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NO question at all. Hodgson's impact was so seriously significant that its tough to quntify
Bateman was amazing, i love him and will always love him, he was at the time the perfect auxiliary peice.
But Hodgson was what drove that run. None of what we had, could be achieved without him. He was the saviour. I'd be curious to know where someone like GE stacks him up as far as influential signings... im no historian but he's second only to Big Mal as far as i know.
I think he will go down as the second best hooker we’ve had and he will hold that place for a long time. Steve Walters clearly in front. By a long way, really.
He’s probably the most influential recent signing, particularly as he was the first of a batch of very good English recruits. The most influential signing after Meninga, I don’t really think so. The bottom line is we have no premiership as part of this era.
I guess you can look at signings in different categories… perhaps if we considered it in the context of recruiting an experienced player he might rank more highly. It is recruitment similar to Meninga in that regard.
But signing Ricky Stuart from rugby union, Ruben Wiki from New Zealand, players like Gary Belcher and Steve Walters from Queensland. Do we count Laurie Daley as a local? We probably shouldn’t. Dean Lance and Chicka Ferguson. These were far more influential signings that delivered premierships.
Have a look at the 40 Year Dream Team:
https://thegh.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34903
There were a lot more influential signings.