The fans’ Dream Wales Rugby League World Cup Squad

May 18, 2020
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For the last two weeks, the general public have been invited to vote on their Dream WRL XIII and World Cup squad.

Here were the results and how it compares to Ian Golden’s selection that was published in late April…

These were the voting rules…

  • Only players who had won 10 full Wales or 10 full Great Britain caps (the latter whilst also being Welsh born) were considered for selection. Records in clubs or other codes weren’t taken into account.
  • Voting took part in one playing position per day for nine days.
  • Top player from each playing position (1-13) went into the side (two centres, two wingers, two props, two second rows, one in all other positions).
  • The next ranked player in each position (except loose forward as there were just five candidates) went into a wildcard vote on the final day.

Voting took place on the official WRL website. Links were promoted daily on the following sites to achieve a wide range of fans and demographics. Between them, it was a potential audience of more than 60,000 people who had a chance to vote…

  • Official WRL Facebook
  • Official WRL Twitter
  • Official WRL Linkedin
  • Official WRL Instagram
  • Facebook – Rugby League Historians
  • Facebook – Rugby League Fans.

So how many people voted for which player each day? The figures are below.

Full-backs – 305 votes

  • Paul Atcheson: 28 vote(s)
  • Jack Evans: 2 vote(s)
  • Phil Ford: 70 vote(s)
  • Damian Gibson: 5 vote(s)
  • Joe Jones: 2 vote(s)
  • Elliot Kear: 106 vote(s)
  • Jim Sullivan: 92 vote(s)

Wingers – 142 votes

  • John Bevan: 5 vote(s)
  • Billy Boston: 55 vote(s)
  • Arthur Daniels: 0 vote(s)
  • Adrian Hadley: 1 vote(s)
  • Roy Mathias: 1 vote(s)
  • Anthony Sullivan: 6 vote(s)
  • Clive Sullivan: 25 vote(s)
  • Emlyn Walters: 1 vote(s)
  • Rhys Williams: 48 vote(s)
  • Frank Wilson: 0 vote(s)

Centres – 303 votes

  • Allan Bateman: 25 vote(s)
  • Jason Critchley: 117 vote(s)
  • John Devereux: 12 vote(s)
  • Adam Hughes: 2 vote(s)
  • Bert Jenkins: 44 vote(s)
  • Gareth Price (1940s): 1 vote(s)
  • Gus Risman: 31 vote(s)
  • Christiaan Roets: 4 vote(s)
  • Peter Rowe: 0 vote(s)
  • Kris Tassell: 1 vote(s)
  • Ted Ward: 9 vote(s)
  • David Watkins: 56 vote(s)
  • Les Williams: 0 vote(s)
  • David Willicombe: 1 vote(s)

Stand-offs – 236 votes

  • Courtney Davies: 26 vote(s)
  • Jonathan Davies: 97 vote(s)
  • Bill Francis: 0 vote(s)
  • Iestyn Harris: 51 vote(s)
  • Danny Jones: 5 vote(s)
  • Lewis Jones: 17 vote(s)
  • Lloyd White: 40 vote(s)
  • Dicky Williams: 0 vote(s)

Scrum-halves – 147 votes

  • Billy Banks: 3 vote(s)
  • Lee Briers: 64 vote(s)
  • Kevin Ellis: 22 vote(s)
  • Dai Jenkins: 2 vote(s)
  • Mark Lennon: 19 vote(s)
  • Billo Rees: 18 vote(s)
  • Johnny Thomas: 2 vote(s)
  • Ian Watson: 16 vote(s)
  • Paul Woods: 1 vote(s)

Props – 310 votes

  • Gareth Dean: 2 vote(s)
  • Ross Divorty: 1 vote(s)
  • Gil Dudson: 13 vote(s)
  • Ben Evans: 12 vote(s)
  • Elwyn Gwyther: 6 vote(s)
  • Jordan James: 11 vote(s)
  • Mel James: 3 vote(s)
  • Mark Jones: 2 vote(s)
  • Craig Kopczak: 26 vote(s)
  • Jim Mills: 67 vote(s)
  • Gareth Price (2000s): 30 vote(s)
  • Joe Thompson: 0 vote(s)
  • Frank Whitcombe: 119 vote(s)
  • Dai Young: 18 vote(s)

Hookers – 376 votes

  • Neil Budworth: 12 vote(s)
  • Keiron Cunningham: 140 vote(s)
  • Tony Fisher: 7 vote(s)
  • Tommy Harris: 6 vote(s)
  • Mel Meek: 0 vote(s)
  • Con Murphy: 0 vote(s)
  • Frank Osmond: 2 vote(s)
  • Steve Parry: 84 vote(s)
  • Ian Webster: 125 vote(s)

Second Rows – 464 votes

  • Matty Barron: 6 vote(s)
  • Colin Dixon: 26 vote(s)
  • Norman Fender: 0 vote(s)
  • Trevor Foster: 159 vote(s)
  • Bryn Goldswain: 2 vote(s)
  • Aled James: 145 vote(s)
  • Rhodri Lloyd: 83 vote(s)
  • John Mantle: 5 vote(s)
  • Paul Moriarty: 24 vote(s)
  • Chris Morley: 3 vote(s)
  • George Parsons: 0 vote(s)
  • Doug Phillips: 1 vote(s)
  • Rowland Phillips: 10 vote(s)

Loose-forwards – 294 votes

  • Joe Burke: 8 vote(s)
  • Kel Coslett: 56 vote(s)
  • Ben Flower: 210 vote(s)
  • Phil Joseph: 16 vote(s)
  • Ike Owens: 4 vote(s)

Wildcart vote for final two places – 357 votes

  • Phil Ford: 13 vote(s)
  • Anthony Sullivan: 24 vote(s)
  • Gus Risman: 64 vote(s)
  • Lloyd White: 44 vote(s)
  • Mark Lennon: 24 vote(s)
  • Craig Kopczak: 7 vote(s)
  • Steve Parry: 136 vote(s)
  • Colin Dixon: 45 vote(s)

Total votes – 2,934

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