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Opinion
Cameron Smith is widely recognised as the greatest of all time to play rugby league in Australia, and who can argue?
He’s the GOAT when it comes to rugby league in on our shores. Let’s have a quick look at his achievements:
• 430 first-grade games for the Melbourne Storm over a 19-year career – the most of any Australian and also the most with just one club, finishing 58 games ahead of former teammate Cooper Cronk in second place.
• 2786 points in the NRL – the highest point scorer in history, and 368 points ahead of Canterbury legend Hazem El Masri who sits in second place.
• 42 State of Origin games for Queensland – the most of any player, and five ahead of fellow Queensland great Johnathan Thurston.
• 56 Test caps for Australia – the second highest of all time, and just three behind Darren Lockyer.
That’s a pretty impressive resume in anyone’s book, and it’s hard not to acknowledge him as the GOAT of Australian players.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
But then Manly supporters will bring up Steve Menzies, who clocked up 477 first-grade games in 21 seasons, including the 128 games he played in England for both the Bradford Bulls and the Catalans Dragons, and fair enough.
He’s Australian and he certainly played more first-grade games than Smith, although nowhere near as many as Smith did in the NRL.
Anyway, if we’re talking about Australians who have played a shedload of first-grade games, including those in England, what about the great Harry Bath?
He is one of the best forwards of all time who notched up 493 games in a 19-year career, including 364 in England and 39 in the Brisbane competition.
That then brings us to the most prolific Australian rugby league player of them all, the mercurial winger Brian Bevan, who played just eight games for Eastern Suburbs in a war-service-interrupted career, without crossing for a single try, only to go on and complete his career in England, where he finished with 670 first-grade games and crossed for an astounding 757 tries!
Unbelievably, he scored three tries or more in a game on over 100 occasions.
It’s easy to get so carried away by our own domestic game that we can remain blissfully unaware of the achievements of players outside our competition.
Just to illustrate, and to shine a light on some phenomenal feats of rugby league endurance, here’s a team made up of British legends who all played over 500 first-grade games. The number of first-grade games is shown in brackets.
1. Jim Sullivan (805)
The Welsh GOAT played 774 first-grade games with Wigan between 1921 and 1946, plus 31 games as a guest for other clubs following the Second World War. He scored an unbelievable 5083 points in his first-grade career and also played 54 Test matches in which he accumulated another 285 points. Surely, no one will ever go past 805 games.
2. Clive Sullivan MBE (592)
Sullivan was not only extremely fast but a very tough player who went on to captain England from the wing, making him the first black man to captain England in any sport. He scored 371 tries in his first-grade career and also appeared in 32 Test matches.
3. Neil Fox MBE (760)
Fox played at the top level for 23 years, scored 313 first-grade tries and scored 5577 points overall. He also played 30 Tests in which he scored another 237 points.
4. Gus Risman (791)
He played his last game in the top grade at the age of 43 and ran in 201 tries in his career. Risman finished with 3825 points in first grade, played a total of 36 Tests, and won multiple finals along the way.
(Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
5. Des Drummond (568)
At just 1.7 metres tall and weighing a mere 76 kilograms, there wasn’t much of Drummond but he was powerfully built and one of the quickest players in the game. He finished with 252 tries in his 22-year first-grade career and played 29 Tests for England and Great Britain.
6. David Topliss (628)
Topliss was a clever and durable half who was also a prolific try scorer, crossing for 271 first-grade tries. He played for both Penrith and Balmain in the 1970s and also played five Test matches.
7. Shaun Edwards OBE (542)
One of the best halves to ever play the game, Edwards has won just about everything there is to win including eight Championships, nine Challenge Cups and the Man of Steel Award. He also scored 303 first-grade tries and played in 40 Test matches.
8. Andy Platt (554)
Platt combined power and silky ball skills and went on to win six Challenge Cups with Wigan as well as taking out both the Man of Steel award and the Harry Sunderland Trophy in the early 1990s. He played 29 Test matches.
9. Keith Elwell (595)
Elwell was a Widnes legend who won four Challenge Cup finals with the club and set the record for most consecutive first-grade games with 239 games between May 1977 and September 1982. He also appeared in five Test matches.
10. Lee Crooks (526)
Crooks was a prolific point scorer with over 2400 career points. He made his first-grade debut at just 17 and played his first Test match at 19. He went on to play in 20 Tests and spent some time with both Wests and Balmain.
11. Kel Coslett (580)
Coslett was a rugged Welshman, a top-flight goal kicker and a dual international who went from rugby union Test fullback to rugby league Test back rower. He played 13 Tests for Wales and scored some 3500 points in his career. He also won two Challenge Cup finals and was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy.
12. George Nicholls (538)
Nicholls was a tough forward who played 18 years in the top grade and won a Challenge Cup final with St Helens. On a personal level he won the Man of Steel, Lance Todd Trophy and the Harry Sunderland Trophy. He also appeared in 40 Test matches.
13. Kevin Sinfield OBE (521)
Sinfield certainly was versatile, and played anywhere from half, hooker, back row or five-eighth in his 40-Test career. He could also kick goals and finished his career with over 4000 points. He won the Golden Boot Award, the Lance Todd Trophy, the Harry Sunderland Trophy twice, two Challenge Cups and seven Championships.
Now that’s what I call a very experienced team. Between them they have played exactly 8000 first-grade games, at an average of 615 games each, and 373 Test matches. Now that puts things into perspective!
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