One stopped a draw, one stopped a defeat. That's the way I see it.

Both great moments though!

We had the all time Hull team discussion a couple of years ago and many of the points in that remain valid. Of the current team probably only Ellis has the runs on the board to be a serious candidate for the starting line up. That is not to say that there are others that may finish up there.

Houghton is a great player but is up against some seriously good competition, indeed this must be the strongest position in the clubs history.

Of the others it is a matter of putting together a number of further productive seasons so there are a huge number of ifs and buts. RL is a tough game and sadly career affecting injury is always lurking in the background. So of the current squad I would say

Shaul - needs another 5 good years at least and this historically a strong position at the club.

Fonua - Slips under the radar a bit. Would need to stay a long time but this is unlikely as he is good enough for a place in the NRL.

Kelly - way too early and past history isn't encouraging. Having said that he is a prodigiously talented player.

Sneyd - half back isn't one with many contenders. Several more productive seasons and he comes right into it. His goal kicking since the start of last season is the best I've seen.

Watts, Taylor - They both could be around for a long time yet and though already good they have room for further improvement.

I like Mini but he's among a lot of other contenders and won't be able to get the service in some have.

The other thing to remember though is that its a team game and some of the best teams aren't necessarily overloaded with great individuals though there will be one or two in there.

Swain just edges it on ability for me, both fantastic players though. Can only imagine if we had then both in the squad together rotating off the bench, we'd never let a try in!

As for the rest of the squad I think Ellis deserves a spot, both for lifting a poor team in his early years here, and lifting the Cup.

Hard to judge a 'hall of fame' team though, due to different fitness levels and styles over the decades. Was only thinking the other day that some of the creative players we had just 10-15 years ago such as Blacklock and Ritchie Barnett wouldent be much good in todays super league as they were somewhat fragile and would rather look to make a break and possibly give away an error rather than play it safe and play sets out.

Also its a debate as to wether you pick players purely on ability or if you take length of service in to account, Stephen Kearney is one of the most talented players ive seen in the Black & White and his performance in the CC semi a contender for best individual display ive seen, but he was only here for one year.

Its hard trying to decide who's best when the players are from different times. Batten . Harris.whiteley. Norton. Topliss .Sullivan. The list goes on. Best fullback I've seen for hull was Keegan. Different game through the ages. Have seen some wonderful players over the ages and still seeing them now .

Blacklock was one of the most bizarre players I can remember playing for us.

I'd look down at the wing and think "where is he?", and sure enough he'd be in centre field 'tracking' the play looking for scraps . A gifted player and one who'd I'd have loved to have seen play for us in his prime. The try away at Leeds sticks out, as does the pass for Raynor's try in the 2005 CC.


On your last point, I think for me the mark of a 'hall of famer' is what mark did they leave on the club, what was their legacy. It's difficult to assess whilst they're still playing and only when the dust has settled do you realise what they brought/gave to the club.

Agree, it's their impact at the time that is important, how they were spoken of by other players and how they were revered by fans.

Shaul whilst he has his very good plus points I'm not sure he will reach the lofty heights of a Kemble or Keegan, I'd say that Prescott and Briscoe were better fullbacks too but no doubt JS if he stays at Hull will be considered one of our finer players in that position.

Fonua, defensively he's simply not good enough so no chance, just on that basis alone, Kelly, talented but has been here 5 minutes and similarly Sneyd whilst an amazing goal-kicker and has shown lots of improvement from 2015(Edit 2015, keystroke error) when he was dissapointing has a fair way to go to be thought of in the upper echelons IMHO, certainly has the potential to be up there.

Ellis is certainly one to think about but we haven't really had him in his prime, he's been great but not a patch on his NRL peak. Easy to forget that you stand out when the rest are average (2013/14/15) however his leadership qualities are second to no-one except Swain.
Hooker, DH is definitely going to be considered for sure, I can't see him leaving the club tbh and with his injury record he could be looking at 350+club appearances.

Minichello also has bags of talent and offers something that Ellis doesn't and is a consistant performer not to mention he's on the pitch for 80 minutes most games, tallying him up alongside servants to the club who would give it 100% all the time sometimes in teams that didn't have such a rounded squad as we have but stood out all the same is hard. Bill Drake is probably Minichellos superior if we are looking at like for like (ball handling skills/pace, great tackler etc) but did 11-12 years at the club

Would I have a Scott Taylor/Watts over someone like a Jum Drake/Mick Harrison both international rep players (Harrison at 20) and both hard as fooking nails, I'd have to say no.

You can make positive posts

I just say it how I see it whatever the subject matter is. we analyse as fans what we are doing well and what isn't going so well. Even when we win some things that aren't so good crop up that fans notice and feel could be improved so it's talked about.
Human nature genrally means we focus more on the negatives than positives, however some people (particularly on internet fora) see criticism/voicing an opinion that doesn't match the majority, of whatever that is, as being negative and then throw insults/personal abuse.

I think Richie Barnet would warrant a place in any side, pure class - for us and against us. He put in the best individual performance I have seen in a game against St Helens at the KC and was only on the pitch for about 20 minutes - time enough to demolish saints with a couple of tries and assists.

Him and Colin Best were a great combination. Neither here long enough to be in the all time list perhaps but on their day as good as those that are.

Would also add that Shane Mcmenamy was also outstanding in that semi final with the rest not far behind.

Good post, but would strongly disagree on the ellis comment, that is what makes him so unbelievable, that hes still performing exactly like he did 5, 6 years ago , nothing flash , just brutal and hard to stop, exactly what he did for west tigers