Jamie Peacock is our YEP Jury’s favourite Leeds Rhinos prop – but which trio pushed him close?

CHRISTINE KIDD

My first choice Leeds Rhinos prop has to be Jamie Peacock. He made his debut for his hometown club in 2006, having previously had a very successful time at Bradford Bulls.

He came to Leeds at just the right time. Without him the Rhinos may not have gone on to win so many trophies over the time that he was part of the team.

Jamie often looked tired and beaten out on the pitch but would then put in some super human effort to help Leeds win important games. He was inspirational on and off the field and was a driving force behind the Rhinos’ great success.

Kylie Leuluai is my second choice of Leeds Rhinos prop. He joined the Rhinos in 2007 and soon became a fans’ favourite playing over 250 games for the club.

He was an integral part of the team’s success during the years that his name appeared on the teamsheet.

Barnstorming runs up field and great defence were Kylie’s stock in trade. It was a boost for Leeds when he delayed his retirement plans in both 2012 and 2014.

GRAHAM POULTER

Hi everyone, hope you’ve all adapted to the new normal now for the foreseeable future. It’s in everyone’s interest to play the game.

So this week’s position in the team consists of our best two props. There’s only two for me that stand out.

My favourite prop has to be Jamie Peacock for the length of service he gave to this club.

When he arrived he raised the standards that were required to take the club to the top of the tree both domestically and on the world stage – Grand Finals, Challenge Cups and World Champions.

He had an aura and presence around him that transmitted through to the rest of the team. His never-say-die attitude and will to win was infectious and he took on all comers. He’s a champion in every sense of the word.

My second favourite prop is of course the fearsome Big Barrie McDermott.

He took it to whoever wanted it and would run at the opposition as hard as he could, gritting his teeth and literally running over his opposite number.

He was definitely the enforcer.

His battles with Stuart Fielden were legendary - oh to see battles like that again, bring back the biff, proper rugby, not the PC Brigade rugby that’s played nowadays!

DIANNE HALL

Prop forward, the engine room of the team. I am going to steer away from the obvious choices and plump for a prop at the very start of Super League, Barrie McDermott.

The first prop to have cult status with the South Stand in the new competition.

A larger than life character off the field but someone who you would want on your side in a battle.

He was one of the enforcers who turned our “soft” side into one that could look after its own no matter which team tried to out muscle us.

His on-field battles with Stuart Fielden have gone down into rugby folklore. All the more remarkable due to him only having one eye.

Another unsung but popular prop with Leeds fans, and a favourite of mine is Ryan Bailey.

One half of the “Bash Brothers”, he not only got under the skin of the opposition but their fans too. Quite an achievement!

My abiding memory of him is during a game in Perpignan when he made a spectacular break to set up a Danny McGuire try.

IAN SHARP

Another week passes, and this time we are on to our favourite props.

Now, the first one is easy, a player that was the final linchpin to our years of success, Jamie Peacock.

Not only an inspirational player, but also another leader, captain of the national team and our enforcer on the pitch. It has been a special privilege to watch him play live.

The next is a bit harder and some say he didn’t always put in 100 per cent, but Ryan Bailey for me was a great foil for Peacock.

Full of pent up aggression, the opposition fans hand players hated him with a passion, which just fuelled his role as the bad boy of rugby league.

He was the first in at any altercation, but with six Super League titles and three World Club Challenge – and being picked week in and week out by some of the best coaches in the game – he must have had something.

You can’t have props without mentioning Kylie Leuluai, the smiling assassin, probably our greatest overseas signing. When you got hit by Kylie you definitely felt it.

ADAM ANDERSON

This week we’ve been asked to look at our favourite prop-forwards.

We have some unbelievable talent in this position with Adrian Morley, Adam Cuthbertson, Barrie McDermott and new talent of Ava Seumanufagai, Mikolaj Oledzki and Cameron Smith coming through the ranks.

But it would be wrong to be picking anyone but Kylie Leuluai and Jamie Peacock wouldn’t it?

They were at the heart of our golden generation, winning every honour possible at the club. Leuluai came from Manly Sea Eagles with a big reputation ahead of him. He played nine seasons at the club and clocked up 258 appearances.

Jamie Peacock needs no introduction.

We knew exactly what he was going to bring to Leeds and we saw that ourselves in that Grand Final in 2005 where he wore his heart on his sleeve for Bradford Bulls.

I’d like to say he was the best prop-forward I’ve seen play for the club and I still believe to this day that both would still do a job in any team’s front-row.

MATT FOWLER

It is favourite prop-forwards this week. Watching the game for over 25 years the prop-forward position has had to change probably the most in terms of size, speed and most importantly their discipline.

Fights are few and far between in this day and age and of course the shoulder charge is no longer legal.

I have chosen one prop who was from the modern era and one who managed to just about bridge the gap into the modern-day game and win Leeds their first Super League title.

Barrie McDermott was a battering ram forward who liked the confrontational side of the game.

He was the enforcer and his battles with Stuart Fielden were worth the gate receipts alone. His game was built on aggression and upsetting the opposition pack.

The fans loved his style of play and he was the cornerstone of Leeds’s rise to prominence.

My other favourite is one of Leeds’s best overseas signings. Kylie Leuluai was phenomenal, an eight out of 10 every week as a minimum and never took a backward step.

The Rhinos’ success was built on his go forward. He had a quiet unassuming manor but when he hit, he hit hard.

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