To counter the apparently 'negative' thread elsewhere i've thrown together my favourite 17 from the superleague era. We all know of the legends of the 60's and there has been good spells and players since then but i'm concentrating on the modern era. I've probably missed some candidates out but there is actually quite a few to choose from. Whilst some are some of these guys may not always necessarily be the best players on paper but the ones who were good to watch, put their bodies on the line time and time again, gave 100% everytime and/or offered great value for money. Feel free to adjust as you see fit! These are the guys who for me stood up and stood out when we really weren't very good at all! Once again i've not included any of the current squad, they still have time to write themselves into Wakey folklore. Due to us never having the biggest squads many of these played in more than one position but such is life. Anyway my candidates...

Fullbacks
Martyn Holland, Colum Halpenny, Matt Blaymire

Wingers
Wasaile Sovatabua, Semi Tadulala, Damian Blanch, Neil Law, Ben Cockayne

Centres
Sid Domic, Ryan Atkins, Jason Demetriou, Luke George, Daryl Millard, Justin Brooker

Halfbacks
Ben Jeffries, Jamie Rooney Danny Brough, Shane Kenward, Brad Davis, Paul March, Tim Smith

Hookers
David March, Paul Aiton, Sam Obst, Julian Rinaldi, Ryan Hudson, Tevita Leo-Latu

Props
James Stosic, Shane Tronc, Adam Watene, Olivier Elima, Andy Fisher, Michael Korkidas, Chris Feather, Francis Stephenson, Paul Johnson, Paul Jackson, Oliver Wilkes

Second Row/Loose Forward
Gareth Ellis, Glen Morrison, David Solomona, Duncan McGillivray, Troy Slattery, Jamie Field, Willie Poching, Ian Knott, Kevin Henderson, David Wrench

Special mention also to those who weren't here a long time but in their short spell, sometimes just a matter of a few games or the one season where they stood out and helped out and conributed to our survival in superleague. So thanks to messrs Evans, Moana, Tassel, Betham, Broadbent, Pearson, Prescott etc.

So the chosen few...

1 COLUM HALPENNY - Mr dependable, knew where the tryline was although not the quickest his long legs got him over the ground quick enough
2 NEIL LAW - A genuine try scoring threat in the early superleague days. Decent size & pace and never shirked the workload.
3 JASON DEMETRIOU - Wore his heart on his sleeve and would run through a brick wall for the team. But a daamn good player and leader as well. The run out of the in goal at Bradford in '06 is legendary.
4 SID DOMIC - His partnership with Solomona was as good as they come. Probably the best attacking centre we have had in superleague.
5 SEMI TADULALA - Big, quick and willing he liked to try running over his opposite number rather than round but was a valuble assett to have
6 BEN JEFFRIES - Good kicking game and bags of pace, scored plenty of tries thats to his good support game but also made plenty too.
7 DANNY BROUGH - Probably the best scrum half i've seen in my time watching Wakefield. Quick, clever, fiesty and one of the best kicking games around he was a pleasure to watch. Kicked goals for fun.
8 ADAM WATENE - Maximum effort, great go-forward and a sound defence. Top bloke as well. What more do you need?
9 DAVID MARCH - A true niggly sod of a hooker what he lacked in pace he made up with quick thinking around the ruck. Around 200 games is testament to his durability. Could kick a goal as well.
10 SHANE TRONC - Not here long due to, by all accounts, the club not coming up with what they promised but in the short time he was here he looked extremely impressive. Made a real impact whilst here and a shame he wasn't here longer.
11 GARETH ELLIS - Played a few positions with aplomb but was probably at his best in the backrow. Captained the 2004 team, quite possibly the best we have had in the modern era.
12 DAVID SOLOMONA - Genuinely world class player his skills with the ball were worth the admission money alone. Tough to stop near the line he was a support players dream with the impossible offloads he got away.
13 WILLIE POCHING - Stood out a mile in the first 3 years of superleague a quality highly skilled player with a great work ethic. Modern day legend.

14 JAMIE ROONEY - A points machine who had one of the best kicking game around. A try record of one every other game shows he was a threat with ball in hand as well
15 GLEN MORRISON - An inspirational captain and a damn good player during a time, especially 2011, when they were thin on the ground. The fact that the 2011 team didn't finish bottom was a remarkable acheivement and much was due to the leadership he gave.
16 ANDY FISHER - Equally effective at prop or second he was hard as nails and flatly refused to ever take a backward step. Anybody who messed with him knew about it.
17 KYLE AMOR - Joined on loan and enjoyed it so much he stayed. One of the most honest hardworking pros we have had and gave a great platform for the halfbacks to do their thing. Set for big things.

Ali deserves a mention for me, in my opinion he's probably one of the most effective players with ball in hand we've had in the SL era.

A tough second row to get into though, Solomona was always brilliant

Missed the bit about current squad, apologies

What about Ryan Atkins, came in when the team was lets face it playing awfully and nobody knew a great deal about him. Was bought for peanuts, was excellent for us and sold for a very large profit.

I applaude your positivity.
I've resisted getting involved in the other one but quite like this.
My only clarification is, I'm picking people who were most effective in terms of ability compared to Return on Investment to Wakefield

EG, clearly Shane Tronc was very good but Korkidas gave us more in comparison to his skill and implied cost.
So I'd question the nominations for George and Millard as they were not effective enough, even though they had bags of potential.
I pretty much agree with your final team.
March and Obst would have been a keen battle. One of them would have been on the bench

Julian O'Neill(the prop) and Adrian Brunker were pretty good also

Choosing from the players you've listed I would go for (Did this as I read through the list of names before seeing your selections, same choices for most with a couple of differences)

Martin Holland - Solid, dependable, not the greatest attacker but did make the odd break

Semi Tadulala - 1st time around, big, strong and difficult to stop
Jason Demetriou - Would get in on pure effort alone, one player I never saw give anything less than his best
Sid Domic - Class centre that I would have loved to have had in the side for longer
Neil Law - Another big, strong winger who knew how to score (plus he used to be my neighbour!)

Jamie Rooney - Plenty of pace in his younger days, prolific goal kicker, and good in game kicker.
Danny Brough - The best Scrum half we've had in the modern era IMO (although I liked Geoff Bagnall but not sure if he fell in your "modern era" category)

Adam Watene - Did all the little things right and never shirked responsibility
Sam Obst - Could terrorise defences on his day and tackled like someone twice his size
Andy Fisher - As tough as they come, a proper old fashioned prop.
Gareth Ellis - Got better after he left us but in his final season was absolutely awesome for us.
David Solomona - World class, could conjure things up out of nowhere and could offload for fun (occasionally too much)
Willie Poching - Another player who I just remember as being head and shoulders above the players around him,

Subs:
Paul March - providing half-back and hooker cover
Shane Tronc - Would have been in my starting line-up but I had to drop him for leaving us too soon (although maybe not to blame)
Olivier Elima - Tough as old boots, penalty prone when with us but never took a backward step
Glen Morrison - Great player, would have loved to have him a couple of years earlier

no Wally Lewis

OP implied Super League.
He'd be in any team I picked where he was eligible.

Try an all British team from the same period:

Prescott
Law
Fawcett
Atkins
Fox
Rooney
Brough
Amor
Newton
Westwood
Ferguson
Kirmond
Ellis

Sykes
Murphy
Grix
Griffin

What, no Justin Ryder!!

That kid just needed to admit he was thinning all over and get a hair cut!