Brad tighe
Tony Kemp
I think ponga has overtaken Robbie ‘O, definitely Darius and I don’t think Kurt Gidley played fullback for long enough during his career. Happy to hear ya thoughts.
Who is our greatest fullback of all time?
- Thread starter Brad tighe
- Start date
Billy
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Ponga has done enough to be our best now, but until he wins us a title, there will always be a footnote.
* But Robbie O won a Clive Churchill medal in a GF win.
Les Misérables
Andrew Hodge
I'd have a peak Kidley over O'Davis. Using silverware as a metric to measure individual capability is super flawed. Thurston was lucky not to go his entire career without a premiership or a Clive Churchill despite being a better player than Cronk, for example.
People sleep on how dominant a player Gids was for a period there. Unbelievable player. Granted that didn't exactly translate to Origin, despite captaining the Blues. Gidley was close to the best player in the NRL at one point. Just enormous in all aspects of the game.
Ponga is behind only Joey as the clubs best player in any position
People sleep on how dominant a player Gids was for a period there. Unbelievable player. Granted that didn't exactly translate to Origin, despite captaining the Blues. Gidley was close to the best player in the NRL at one point. Just enormous in all aspects of the game.
Ponga is behind only Joey as the clubs best player in any position
Lefty
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
I strongly agree with this.
Les Misérables
Andrew Hodge
Who's Upton?
Area51
Dairi Kovae
all due respect to Robbie but if the Pong was playing in a side with the 8th Immortal we'd have just played our 4th GF in a row against the Panthers, and won most of them.
Good Times
John Morris
Tamika Upton.
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Talent wise Ponga but until he replicates Robbie O’s grand final heroics will always be Robbie.
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Bedsy, BK and chief say hi, Pongas has had one stellar half a season where he has owned the team, those other guys bury him as Knights greats.
Les Misérables
Andrew Hodge
Certainly not going to get in the way of anyone arguing in favour of Bedsy, but Ponga is the only Knight aside from Joey to win a Daly M.
They don't give those out to talented players, they give them to deserving players.
While I'd be happy to make the argument that Bedsy has probably contributed more to the club than Ponga--although I'm not at all certain of that--Ponga stands alone with Joey and Kurt Gidley as the only players to truly carry the club on their shoulders during their tenure.
Yeah I guess it depends on exactly how you define the question. Ponga is objectively the better player, but he hasn’t reached that club legend status for me yet.
O’Davis achieved a lot at the club and I feel like he’s being downplayed a bit in this thread. Two grand final wins, one Clive Churchill medal (and we’d have been nowhere in that 1997 GF without his brilliance), tests and origins (he was selected for Australia at fullback ahead of Lockyer at one stage, which says a lot), nine finals series and 223 first grade games across 13 seasons. He was a one club player, as well.
Greatest fullback for the club is still Robbie O, for me.
But I hope Ponga emulates all his achievements and surpasses them!
Buderus won the Dally M as well, 2004.
Also back in the day, before the Dally M was the official player of the year award, Mark Sargent won the official player of the year award, back in 1989. It was called the Rothmans Medal back then.
Area51
Dairi Kovae
that sure is an impressive record no doubt.
if we can give him a team to do it I've got no doubt he'd seal the deal.
Joshhh
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Ponga is an elite player but if we can't get our **** together and do something significant, then history is unforgiving and his career will be looked back upon as a case of what ifs. Have to do great things to be considered great. The concussions almost put a stop on it all. Promising thing is he's still young and has plenty of time to achieve things.