Best XIII: Nik Kosef

1.    Matthew Ridge

Pure competitor. Wasn’t the fastest bloke or the strongest, but every game, every minute, every play, he was ripping in. Great anticipation. He would be there before things happened. And he could make things happen. His short kick-off in the ‘96 grand final an example. I was lucky enough to throw the last pass when he went under the posts. Almost revolutionised goal-kicking. So yeah – fair player!

2.    John Hopoate

Hoppa. Big plays. X-factor. No-one saw the best of him. It’s a shame he’s remembered for other stuff. Should’ve played 20 Tests, 20 Origins. He barely trained as a young bloke. Did everything on talent. Naturally strongest bloke I ever played with. Sneaky fast. I played with him from 16s on. Saw him catch it in his in-goal, go a hundred. He’d take blokes into touch on the opposite wing. Hell of a player.

3.    Craig Innes

The Postman! He delivered. Really direct runner. Hard. Solid. Nothing got through him. Good hands. Skills. Smart. Pretty much what you want in a centre. And he will enjoy this but he’s kept Mick O’Connor out of my side! I only played a couple games with Snoz so Craig gets the jumper.

4.    Terry Hill

Athlete. Strong. And for a centre, he could carry on! But teams need a bloke that. The narky tough prick. Blokes your opponents don’t like, and who don’t like playing against. Terry had a double-dose of that! He could make things happen. Could run. Aggressive, competitive. And very talented.

5.    Craig Hancock

Tough one. Few good wingers in my time. But Craig, he was sneaky quick. Top finisher. Could play fullback. Centres. Rarely made mistakes. And keeps some good wingers out of this XIII.

6.    Cliff Lyons

The great Cliffy. You’re not leaving out the Godfather. Best hands you’ve ever seen. And he kept doing it. Like wine, he got better. Just silky. He was the best I ever saw at playing “slow” – playing at his pace, making defenders play at his pace. The whole game did! Then he could turn it on and bolt if he had to, punch out a quick 20 metres. There’s an art to that. Like he wasn’t moving. Genius.

7.    Geoff Toovey

I played with Dessie Hasler a few years and he was magnificent. But Toovs gets the start in the No.7. No more competitive, tough and inspirational bloke to play with. Or even who’s played the game period. He could run. Tackle! When you’re a forward and you’re spent, and you see the smallest bloke on the field up-ending their blokes, bleeding out of his head, it’s huge.

8.    Mark Carroll

Great bloke to run out behind. Everyone’s seen those battles he had with Paul Harragon. We saw that every week – Spud picking out the on the biggest bloke in their team and running hard as he could at him.

9.    Jim Serdaris

Smart. Tough. He was similar to Steve Walters down in Canberra. Good little dart out of dummy-half. Very good defender. Old-fashioned hooker. Probably one of the last who had to compete in scrums.

10. David Gillespie

I played with him the end of his career and he was still belting blokes. Wish I’d played with him early on because “Cement” was well named! The shoulders on him. Great player. Great fellah. Just a top man to have around.

11. Steve Menzies

Enough said, really! I tried to sneak around Cliffy like Beaver used to but I wasn’t quick enough! I had my moments, because Cliffy could put anyone through a hole. But Beaver made a career out of it. He probably could’ve played in the centres. He was one of the first blokes – Bradley Clyde probably the first – who could play out wide or in the backrow. Played forever. He'd reckon he could now.

12. Daniel Gartner

Gentleman. Should be more of ‘em. Silky swerve. Good hole-runner. Good defender. Pretty similar to Beaver. Good wide runner. They call them edge men today. Danny was very handy on the edge, running at ragged lines out wide.

13. Owen Cunningham

He could play anywhere in the pack. Classic lock, though. Really good defender. Skilful with the ball. Nuggetty. Had a low centre of gravity and could bash around through the middle. 

14. Ian Roberts

Pretty much everything you want in a front-rower. Hard worker, aggressive, dynamic. And bloody big. Could play second-row, too. Very fit, professional. I played a lot with Neil Tierney, too, and he's unlucky to miss out here. But there's three pretty good front-rowers in front of him.

15. Danny Moore

A classic centre-three-quarter. Long-striding. Also very close to starting somewhere in this team. Could play centres, wing. He and Hoppa would get a giggle out of this pic, too.

16. Craig Field

Mouth! Loved playing with him. Always had a go.

17. Des Hasler

Tough as a pair of old Doc Martens. Good story about them we’ll tell one day too.

Coach: Bobby Fulton.

Bozo wouldn’t fire you up in the sheds. He did most of his talking through the week. Stuff blokes are doing it now he was doing it 20 years ago. Good man manager. Had good blokes around him, too. Marty Gurr, Frank Ponissi. Just a quality coach. Still would be today.

Clubman: Warwick Bulmer.

The great Wok. He’s still there. Always has been! One of those blokes who’s the backbone of the joint. Leads the team song. Always up for a beer. People love him. Ripper bloke.