Who is your favourite?

Every week The Chronicle sport team talks about the big issues in sport.

With the Titans and Dragons in Toowoomba this weekend the team talks about their favourite NRL players.

Jason Gibbs: I wasn’t a huge NRL fan until the Melbourne Storm joined the competition in 1998.

The majority of my “experience” with rugby league was watching State of Origin with my dad – a passionate Blues man. But when Melbourne joined the comp it gave me a reason to invest more of my time watching the game, so I guess you can see where this is going.

My favourite player is Cameron Smith. Hookers are naturally a large part of the modern game but the thing I love about Smith is he just seems to be everywhere.

In defence he’s there making tackles and marshalling his teammates. In attack he never seems troubled or stressed – he dictates the pace of the game with a timely run from dummy half or a well-placed kick.

He’s the type of player I think any coach could build a successful player around.

I’m also a fan of Andrew Johns and Darren Lockyer because of their ability, like Smith, to control and change a game.

I guess I’m showing my relatively young age with my choices and yes they’re pretty standard picks.

But I know what I like and I reckon these three blokes would shine in any team – in any era.

Glen McCullough: I go way back further than my two mates here and sometimes being a fossil is not a bad thing.

I’ve been lucky enough to live through many great rugby league eras.

Graeme Langlands was the best player I’ve seen, so I suppose that makes him one of my favourites.

But for sheer entertainment and the enjoyment of watching him play, my all-time favourite player nod would go to Geoff Robinson.

Geoff who??? I can hear many of you asking.

He was a fearless Canterbury-Bankstown forward of the 1970s and 80s some people will recall but my memories of Robbo go back to his under-23 days with the Berries.

I was living in Sydney during that time and with a few of my mates we used to sit on the Belmore Oval hill watching this barnstorming secondrower with hair halfway down his back tearing into opposition teams like a man possessed.

But when I think of hard footballers I doubt I’ve seen anyone pound-for-pound more lethal than the late Mal Green who played for Oakey before moving to WynnumManly.

Green — not a big man — had little regard for self preservation and his kamikaze-style attack and defence was something I’ll never forget.

Of the modern-day players, I am a fan of Billy Slater.

There is just something about exciting fullback play I’m still drawn to, after watching former greats like Les Johns, and few have been better at it than Slater.

Sean Teuma: Growing up in the late 90s and early 00s following South Sydney wasn’t an easy time.

We’d head out to the nearempty Sydney Football Stadium and often head home disappointed.

Wins were scarce, and for two years there was nobody to support.

In those days my family and I appreciated workhorses such as Luke Stuart and Ashley Harrison who helped provide some bright spots during a dark period of league.

Stuart never took a backward step, and was someone that could be relied on to make metres when the rest of the forward pack was being pummelled.

On the other hand, Harrison was more of a ball player, and could create something out of nothing, a valuable skill for a back rower.

These days, I’m a massive fan of Jack Bird, who has recently made the shift north to the Broncos.

He is dynamic with the ball in hand, always has the defence in two minds and is a strong defender.

The influence he had in the Sharks winning their maiden title was enormous, and he was unlucky not to receive the Churchill Medal after injuring his arm (I promise I’m not just saying that because I was on him).

I look forward to him tearing up the Maroons this year.