It was an easy question to pose as the Otago Daily Times considered ways to mark 30 years of Highlanders rugby.
Answering that question was never going to be easy.
Ranking and comparing rugby players is an art, not a science, and is famously difficult in a sport featuring players as diverse as a prop and a halfback.
The Highlanders have had lots of outstanding players - way more than 30, obviously.
They have also had cult heroes, devoted stalwarts and a handful of men who made a big impression in a short time.
How best to cut a longlist to 30 then rank them from top to bottom?
We decided to go all-out. The ODT assembled a panel of no fewer than 20 expert judges, all of whom were asked to rank their 30 greatest Highlanders players from the 350-plus who have taken the field for the club.
We kept the criteria as loose as possible - again, an art not a science - but boiled it down to:
• General impact on the team
• Ability to influence and win games
• Pure performance
• Favourable comparisons with peers (i.e. would demand selection in any other New Zealand team at their peak)
• Longevity
Once all 20 judges had submitted their teams, yours truly had the task of collating the points - 30 for a No 1 ranking, 29 for a No 2 ranking and so on, down to 1 for a No 30 ranking - to determine the final list. Yeah, lots of fun.
We can reveal the judges, but you will not find out how they voted.
Otago Daily Times sports editor Hayden Meikle was joined by sports reporters Adrian Seconi and Kayla Hodge, former sports reporter Jeff Cheshire, former long-serving rugby writer Steve Hepburn, New Zealand rugby journalism royalty Bob Howitt, and Rugby News editor Campbell Burnes.
The always opinionated Paul Dwyer and fellow commentator Paul Allison, also a former Highlanders board member, had their say.
It was our pleasure to welcome two former Highlanders coaches (Tony Gilbert and Greg Cooper), two former Highlanders players (John Blaikie and David ‘‘Crazy’’ Latta) and two long-serving men from Highlanders HQ (chief executive Roger Clark and rugby general manager Greg O’Brien).
Women’s rugby greats Jacinta Nielsen and Margaret ‘‘Bro’’ McKenzie brought their unique perspectives, and we extended a warm welcome to two of our maroon brothers, former Southland Times sports editor Nathan Burdon and tireless Southland Tribune writer Logan Savory. (Amazingly, neither of my old mates submitted a list containing 30 Southlanders.)
Finally, we decided we needed a fan in the stand, and there was nobody better placed to join the judging panel than Mark Currie.
While I can’t divulge anything about our final rankings, it might be interesting for you to be reminded of previous stories in the ODT celebrating the greatest Highlanders - but keep in mind they had no bearing on this exercise.
In 2006, marking 10 years of Super Rugby, our best Highlanders XV was: Nick Evans, Jeff Wilson, Pita Alatini, John Leslie, Brian Lima, Tony Brown, Byron Kelleher, Isitolo Maka, Josh Kronfeld, Taine Randell, Simon Maling, John Blaikie, Carl Hayman, Anton Oliver, Carl Hoeft.
Our greatest XV to mark the Highlanders’ 200th game in 2012 was: Israel Dagg, Wilson, Alatini, Leslie, Ben Smith, Brown, Kelleher, Randell, Kronfeld, Adam Thomson, James Ryan, Maling, Hayman, Oliver, Hoeft. Reserves: Jason Rutledge, Jamie Mackintosh, Tom Donnelly, Craig Newby, Jimmy Cowan, Evans, Brendan Laney.
And, in 2016, our team to celebrate 20 years was Ben Smith, Wilson, Malakai Fekitoa, Leslie, Waisake Naholo, Brown, Aaron Smith, Randell, Kronfeld, Thomson, Maling, Ryan, Hayman, Oliver, Hoeft. Reserves: Rutledge, Kees Meeuws, Donnelly, Nasi Manu, Kelleher, Evans, Laney.
