worthing wire wrote:
Yeah, OK, sorry for the gratuitous pic of him as a right fat knacker, but he played like he was in his fifties when he was with us.
Roach remains the most disappointing signing ever IMO. He was a fully fledged Aussie international, with a massive reputation. He is named in the top 100 Australian players OF ALL TIME. He was, clearly, a proper player.
For Wire, though, he was bloody diabolical. Bossed a game against Keighley in the CC. Tremendous. Apart from that, he was toilet.
Agreed....If ever somebody just turned up for the cash, it was Roach.
Players like Rodwell, Wilson, Sullivan etc, were not particularly good to start with, so it can be little surprise that they flop when over here, but as Worthing Wire says, Roach was THE best forward in World rugby at that time, so to turn in the rotten displays he did really hurt to see.
The most appalling thing, in that same season, Les Boyd came out of retirement for half a season, and despite being past his best, was still head and shoulders above Roach, who needed to take a close look at his compatriot for a lesson into how to actually earn the big wedge that Warrington had paid to them both.