Joff Roff was a scourge against the All Blacks at the beginning of this decade.

Gregan’s team are undefeated with 9 wins and a draw and are in a scrap for the top place with Sanyo, who’ve won all 10 of their games but only lead the competition by a single point. Larkham’s team are fighting to avoid a playoff/relegation battle at the end of the season.

It’s a similar argument for Roff vs Tune. In the Super competition Roff ruled supreme but strangely he never dominated the international scene to the same extent whereas Tune was the man for the Wallabies and I certainly sat up in my chair whenever he had the ball in his hands while I never felt the All Blacks were as threatened when Roff had the ball in his hands.

The Wallabies are struggling in the second row at the moment. Horwill is probably the best of the bunch currently but the pack would be vastly stronger if we had Vickerman back. He has to be chosed ahead of Horwill the team of the decade.

Apart from that I’d have to agree with the remainder of the selections; certainly the current front row are the best we’ve seen in a while and the way the Australian scrum has gone from being ridiculed to being the benchmark is credit to their hard work. Your picks from 10-15 are all pretty spot on although Matt Burke is certainly unlucky to miss out. Joe Roff is my favourite all time Wallaby player and is example of everything you want in a winger. Lote might have brought the big bucks in but his game and skill set never even came close to what Roff could do.

Yes… too bloody true….

One thing I’ll say about Gregan and I’ve yet to see another player as good at it as him was his knack for confusing the ref…

Whenever play broke down he would hold the ball above his should in one hand indicating a penalty for his team rightly or wrongly but it seemed to work pretty often….

Vented I had forgotten Wilson, what a wonderful player, not of this decade of course. But what all this looking back does is highlight the cyclical nature of talent and how one day there is an excess of quality players and the next the well has run dry. Hopefully the next excess of talent is just around the corner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbKeWn34Zxc

He had an ordinary pass to his right. Whits shot bullets both sides – as does Genia.

Yes Gregan was more than a simple half-back – I was a big fan until his last 3 or so years when he preserved his body rather than putting it on the line. He’d outlived his effectiveness by then.

Point is he couldn’t pass unless he had a clear deck with a dominating forward pack in front of him. Which is exactly what the link shows… and how about Larkham’s pass??? beautiful, perfectly placed!

Poor larkham spent his entire career receiving the ball around his ankles above his head, anywhere but in the zone. Further they were often lollipops or harbour bridge passes if you like…

Then there is stare at the ball, eventually pick up ball when the oppositions defence has realigned, fiddle about, move ball to left in hands, take one step back two or three to the right and maybe just maybe pass the ball… which by the time it happens Larkham is smashed pretty much before gregan even releases the ball.

Let me think he didn’t run much either and the opposition loved it, they knew exactly what he was going to do and never had to worry. His tackling left much to be desired to … always seemed to pull them down he rarely put his shoulders in.

I’ve said it time and time again on other posts …. How good would have Larkham been if he had decent service and a dominating forward pack? Better than Mert’s and Carter i say.

Anyone who rates gregan must be doing to many or more likely not enough drugs.

Think i better take a bex and lie down.

Latham was rubbish earlier in his career, but in his later years he really became a class player. Pretty much the reverse of Gregan …

Not at the end of each of their careers though. Overall Burke never did for NSW what Latho did for Qld.

My team got swallowed by the board twice, but Gregan and Tuqiri ought to be in the side.

WALLABIES XV: Latham, Tuqiri, Mortlock, Giteau, Roff, Latham, Gregan, Kefu, Smith, Finnegan, Eales, Giffen, Darwin, Paul, Robinson

Reserves: Moore, Alexander, Vickerman, Lyons, Whitaker, Herbert, Burke