Can't deny nick that he was a great RL player when he came from union.

But in saying that when he played for Saints he was completely useless.

Doesn't he now coach the Aussies RU sevens side?

Although it would be RU with 13 players aside, less kicking, no lineouts or scrums which are solely designed to cripple participants. It would also be faster flowing with more emphasis on passing the ball and would still be dominated by teams in the North of england.

Offiah and Davies are great players that came from union.

Tait was a good player but not in the same league IMO.

I think it's fair to say that more Union converts have been successful in league than the other way round.

Too right.

Isn't it true that at the time of the great split in 1895 that the northern clubs where dominating the southern softies.

you cant be certain of that



the RFU has been resistant to change for over a century, it like the way its game is played



the nswru/ARU and NZRU have been begging them for rule changes for 100 years and they never do much



and had RL not been around in 1908 there would only be 1 major sport in australia, AFL



union was on the wane and AFL taking over in nsw and queensland until RL came and took over



so really ive got a lot to thank the RFU for. they gave me the nrl indirectly

That’s a pretty big call



I would be fascinated to know how you would go about proving that? (or were you just being facetious)



To help get you started, below is a list of the League converts since 1996 who have gone on to achieve full Union international caps that I can think of



Over to you



Jason Robinson

Barrie Jon Mather

Andrew Walker

Iestyn Harris

Henry Paul

Brad Thorn

Mat Rogers

Wendell Sailor

Lote Tuqiri

Andy Farrell

Berrick Barnes

Ben MacDougall

Chris Ashton

Ryan Cross

Lesley Vainikolo

Timana Tahu

Sonny Bill Williams

Craig Gower

Shontayne Hape

Only because it has been the last 15 years since RL players went to play RU. Prior to that hardly anyone would have gone to RU from RL.



Despite that RU is desparate to sign RL players now because they have problems developing players with the requisite handling and tackling skills.

Some good players there. As well as one or 2 who possibly shouldn't of been allowed out of the changing rooms.



I'm not going to list them all but a simple check of the pages in this thread listing great RU names who have played league successfully will confirm my point.

Yes, many greats have been listed on the last three pages (probably because we were discussing the best converts) but for every Billy Boston there is a John Gallagher



Of the 35 England rugby union internationals who switched to league between 1900 and 1995, just eight went on to play for Great Britain, and five of those had played league as youths



148 Welsh union internationals switched to league between 1895 and 1986. Of those 148 internationals, only 28 went on to play for the Great Britain rugby league team



Are you sure that “more Union converts have been successful in league than the other way round”

Yep.

I think I’m going to have to concede defeat here – you are clearly running rings around me!