AMERICAN REACTS TO THE 10 MOST BRUTAL RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MODERN ERA || REAL FANS SPORTS

[@jimkat2]

Cheers guys! The little guy was Geoff Toovey - punched way above his weight! With regards the shoulder pads, they were used up until the early 90s before being phased out.

[@davidarmstrong3564]

I never saw another player with Toov's ability to get up after hit. You would think some of those that he copped would put a normal person on soft food for a week. He'd spring to his feet as if immune.

[@RealFansSports]

Yeah definitely going to have to check that out! Gotta show some love for the short people like me lol

[@lfbashir2967]

@davidarmstrong3564 I was at the 1997 Grandfinal as a 12 year old. I'm a Dragons fan but my uncle had free tickets and that day I became a fan of Toovey. he got absolutely smashed and very concust and could barely stand but he'd get up and fall and kept falling and getting up and didn't want to be pulled off the field. as much as I wanted Newcastle to win as revenge for 1996 GF, I gained so much respect for toovey that lasts till today

[@bernardcarthy2365]

Sonny Bill Williams is one of those guys you'd hate at school because he was good at every sport 😂. World champion in Rugby League, Rugby Union and a National champion heavy weight boxer

[@EamonFarrell-c5i]

From the stands you can hear the hits . It is scary if you are sitting on ground level you not only fear for the players but you fear for your self

[@fabiacooney9378]

6:02 Tonie Carroll also knocked out a referee by accident. Knee contacted the referees head and the ref still can't remember that game even now.

[@stoneagepig3768]

There was a period in the 80's going into mid 90's where pads became quite common especially for forwards but they were just foam padded not plastic like the NFL. I wore them a little when I played amateur in my younger days but honestly they got in the way and I found it much easier to pass and wrap my arms round an opponent in tackles without them, plus they never prevented any pain so I didn't use them long. Forearm pad was the only one that was useful

[@RealFansSports]

Ahh that makes sense. And yeah the pads definitely get in the way. obviously NFL pads are more bulky but when kids go into high school and play for the first time it is usually a big adjustment period as you are slower, less shifty, struggle with tackling and even catching.

[@stevewren1079]

You guys should try to catch the Harrigan versus Carol feud. There must be footage on the net somewhere.

[@terryallen345]

The mark of an outstanding defender is that when they meet the attacker goes backwards

[@charliered105]

Some absolute bell ringers, as a little guy playing in the 80s and 90s I was sooo glad I was quick! 😂

[@EaglesRback33]

Little dude was Geoff Toovey. Played for Manly same as Matai. Check out the hit Paul Harrogan on Mark Carrol. I was at the game. Biggest collision you'll ever see

[@masiTzz]

Solid video boys🔥

[@RealFansSports]

Appreciate you Dox!

[@BenWilde-gm2ks]

Ruben wiki was the best

[@garrymercer757]

Missed the best, any list should include terry fearnley, steve kneen, dane and Kurt Sorensen. I remember Dane tacking so hard on his try line he spewed his guts out. And Kurt was a savage as wide as he was tall, I made the mistake of trying to walk through a swinging door as kurt came through the opposite way and that was a mistake. shoulder pads were used in some eras but they werent anything like nfl gear they were just thin soft things which slowly turned to just a bit of mesh with a tiny pad over the sternum and now nothing. Pads are mostly used in kids grades but not compulsory

[@RealFansSports]

That makes a lot sense. especially at the youths age group. And I wonder why they werent added. Were they not modern generation players?

[@jvvoid]

Gee, I wonder who's a Sharks supporter.

[@stevewren1079]

The older footage did often display players wearing pads. They were pretty thin pads, but nonetheless shoulder pads. Only the forwards wore them. Also, Ian Roberts can be seen in Superman returns behind Kevin Spacey as one of his henchman

[@troystaunton254]

7:02 shoulder pads are legal but uncommon in the professional league but a lot of rugby league players adopted them in the 80s including north Sydney bears players who wore motorcycle body armour so they could hit people with fibreglass instead of foam pads.

[@RealFansSports]

Ahh ok that makes sense

[@troystaunton254]

3:17 fun fact, Ian roberts is to my knowledge the first openly gay athlete in the world. And given the time he played in, there’s a reason he’s the most brutal man on any field he was on.

[@RealFansSports]

LOL! No one would try to talk disrespectful to him while hitting hard like that lol

[@stephanieyee9784]

Ian Roberts is a very tough bloke. He played a hard game and played it well.

[@garyspeed8961]

geoff toovey, the little guy.. toughest per /kg player ever in the NRL

[@RealFansSports]

Ok sweet! Thanks!

[@garyspeed8961]

@@RealFansSports kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmXQeqiihdWFhNk

[@garyspeed8961]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWe5ominjsqHopo

[@jvvoid]

Steve Folkes was just as good, if not better.

[@caribstu]

For a brief period in the 90s, some players wore pads. Thankfully that trend stopped. Occasionally, if a player is carrying an injury, they might wear a rib or shoulder protector similar to something a Motorcross bike rider might wear. But you don't really see pads anymore.

[@RealFansSports]

Ahh ok that makes sense. Appreciate the explanation!

[@noelwebb6843]

They all wear shoulder pads they're just not thick bulky ones, they are thin & apparently comfortable to wear, I wouldn't know.

[@gusdrivinginaustralia6168]

When Taufua hit Munster it was a great tackle but Munster got back up immediately and ran more. While it looked bigger than his favourite, it wasn't a layout.

[@ericrowleson7065]

Ian Robert’s was also 1 of the only men to be openly gay and no one messed with him lol

[@davidarmstrong3564]

He still plays the hard man in several Hollywood movies.

[@jimkat2]

i was at Kogarah that day he flattened Potter. That was the first tackle of the 2nd half. He didnt play the first half because as they ran on, a guy in the crowd yelled out some homophobic shit. Cops were called in (I think Roberts lost it). When he came out in the 2nd half, he was fired up!

[@timheavyable]

He really loved his tackle.

[@timheavyable]

He loved tackle.

[@peterlinsley4287]

Pads were mostly worn by forwards in the scrum in the days when you had to push they were about 8 to 10mm thick of spoung in leather or nylon about the same as the head gear some players wear. It was mostly to stop the other players' heads from driving into your shoulders during a scrum. If you look at the NRL trophy, the big guy Norm Provan is wearing shoulder pads.

[@RealFansSports]

Interesting. We definitely did not know that. Thanks for giving us the background on it. Ill be sure to take a look at the trophy as well

[@GTMkarma]

I agree 💯 Steve Matai Bring back the shoulder charge. Cos attacker can. Drop all ref. Hired X player 2 ref. Or rip NRL?

[@kristianwhite7278]

List is 👌👌👌👌 Matai was the only Reason I Watched Manly Sea Eagles play .

[@RealFansSports]

Yeah they were the first big hits video that we reacted to and it was insane! They are freak of human beings

[@missopinionatedpenny8461]

The little pocket rocket is Geoff TOOVEY - Giant Killer - Manly sea Eagles. 9 Ian ROBERTS- Robby - Manly sea eagles 2 Jorge TAUFUA- Reaper- GorgeousJorge. Manly Sea Eagles. 1 Steve MATAI - The Hitman - Manly Sea eagles. See why I go for Manly. Aussie chick, NRL obsessed. I loved and approve this video 😂

[@Sonikgav]

The 'pads' they have in some of the older video's are just some light leather strapping. Kinda like an early form of under-armor. It's not much more protective as the scrum caps you sometimes see people wearing to avoid friction cuts.

[@StevenNikoia]

Look up Shaun Johnson. He’s retired now but some of the best highlights you’ll see

[@kerrylynch449]

In the older some players did wear foam shoulder pads.

[@ProfessionalRuin218]

So to answer about the pads - Rugby players can wear padding but theyre very thin pieces of foam built in to a compression shirt. Theyre more a placebo than anything. Some players will have their shoulders heavily strapped too because of injury and that can look like padding with a shirt on.

[@RealFansSports]

Ahh ok. Yeah I assumed they wore something like that. Most athletes in most sports wear something similar. The bulky padding definitely confused us a bit though

[@mrimperfection1112]

Steve 'The Hitman' Matai = Perfect tackler

[@RealFansSports]

FACTS!

[@nrlsuperking6702]

Can you react to the best NRL tries of all time please

[@RealFansSports]

If we can find a compilation that we are allowed to do, we definitely can!!

[@RealFansSports]

If you have a preferred video fill out the request form in the description of the video so we know the exact one!

[@loufrost824]

They used to have leather shoulder pads but it was proven to not help at all and everyone stopped bothering with them

[@richardnraikaraika5507]

Shoulder pads were optional back then hence why only some guys wearing them. Personally I preferred not to wear them. 😅

[@siryogiwan]

still are optional, just not as bulky and you don't notice them

[@richardnraikaraika5507]

@@siryogiwan chur bro. They are still optional😆 They're not huge n bulky anymore.

[@rodneychalker715]

Most of this footage is up to twenty plus years old when these hits were legal. Jorge Tafua & Steve Matai did this stuff legally...they played for my mob, Manly Warringah.

[@MrBrenos]

Steve and Jorge didn’t just play on the same team, the were side by side. As an attacker, you don’t want to run that side 😊 They are great blokes off the field, very humble.

[@RealFansSports]

Crazy two guys can have such a big impact on how the game is played when they are on the field together. Reminds me of the Ravens with Ray Lewis, Suggs, and Ed Reed

[@timheavyable]

The above the shoulder tackle is actually a foul and extremely dangerous.

[@handsolo1209]

A clothesline has never been legal. You are confusing it with a shoulder charge, which was legal, but got outlawed about 15 years ago.

[@RealFansSports]

You are probably right. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@vlofvl]

A far faster more skilled and athletic sport than the other code. Historically The British Empire exported Union around the world while totally banning League from being played. It was also banned in Universities in the UK & Irl thus stopping RL from having wealthy supporters while RU had high ranking Executives gifting them commercial deals or even BBC execs offering them TV contracts and so on. This only ended in the late 90s.

[@50NewEyes]

Trevor Gillmister was a giant killer!

[@liamtee9898]

Do a reaction for Kyle Laybutt biggest hits on NRL players playing for PNG KUMULS

[@DaveStreet-v2t]

Rugby league is much faster and far superior code than union and almost completely ignored by the national press

[@LuckyCarathanassis]

Spot on. It's ridiculous how such a superior sport in rugby league is virtually hidden in comparison to other football codes..

[@WhoAmEye187]

Lmao that is far from the church also league is only big in australia 😂😂

[@DarwinNorth]

​@TropicalRainMan National sport of PNG and apart from New Zealand, where is Rugby number one sport ??

[@wetknuckles]

@@DarwinNorth Dubbo

[@DarwinNorth]

@wetknuckles Yeah, it's west of Sydney about 5 hour drive

[@hudsonsled454]

Matai and Taufua mostly hit blindside, a halfback can smash a prop if they blindside them. Hundreds of genuine big hitters in front of these two.

[@PaulDavid-r5p]

Why didn’t other centre, wingers do the same then?

[@hudsonsled454]

@@PaulDavid-r5p because they defended in the line like you're trained to do. More risk than reward shooting out of the line.

[@ericrowleson7065]

Mark o mealy

[@jvvoid]

Shrek was a beauty. Not literally.

[@AndyFNQ84]

Johnathan W-H and Nelson A-S would squash most of these guys

[@theosittytoo675]

It is easy to look good putting in tackles around the head/neck, it's banned in union.

[@MrAdriaxe]

It's banned in rugby league, too.

[@BenWilde-gm2ks]

He knocked people out by running the ball

[@PaulDavid-r5p]

Manly Sea Eagles have had the best hitters hands down. Steve Matai, Jorge Taufua, Ian Roberts, Solomon Haumono, Cement Gillespie, Spud Carroll, Les Boyd, Ronnie Gibbs, Terry Randall, Haumole Olakau’atu. Stop the fight

[@gregdaniel9539]

They missed out Greg inglis

[@johnchrysostomon6284]

Roberts is the only player to come out as gay He had a cameo in "Superman Returns" whcih was filmed here in Sydney

[@CHILLVIBES_STUDIO437]

Missed Justin olam

[@PurestBollocks]

I hated Steve Matai, which is testament to how good he was

[@ericrowleson7065]

Jeff tuvey

[@aacwallis4455]

Two different games both with their own merits. I prefer union!

[@ericrowleson7065]

Some guys in the 80s would wear pads

[@siryogiwan]

they still do, just super slim lined these days, so less obvious

[@ericrowleson7065]

@@siryogiwan literally only just brought them back in past few yrs

[@ThomasEdge-v1w]

not pads full muscle

[@tekanawateoti3952]

check out what roberts did to garry jack for questioning his manhood

[@kerrylynch449]

Just out of interest.ian Roberts was the first openly gay player.