Team of the decade - centres

Over the years there have been some amazing centres. Players who wow the crowd with dazzling side steps, outrageous back-door passes and often a short burst of speed. More importantly, a centre has to provide his winger with a large amount of quality ball and area for the winger to run in. He must draw both the opposition centre and winger to him in order for his winger to run through the space created.

Brent Tate
What can I say about Brent Tate that hasn't been said already? Even playing with a neck brace he is one of the best centres to have ever worn the green and gold, on 19 occasions since 2002. No matter what team he was playing for, his winger would always score tries and so would he. He has scored 47 of them in 141 NRL appearances. He started his career at Brisbane where he became a household name thanks to his performances that earned him a Queensland shirt. He made his début for Brisbane in round 21 of the 2001 season against Melbourne. That was one of three games he played that year. The following year he achieved his potential and was selected for both his state and his country. Injury has forced the 27 year-old out of the game for a long time in the past. Most noticeably was when he suffered a career threatening neck injury which resulted in the permanent use of a neck brace whilst playing the sport. Despite the injury, he was still selected for Australia and Queensland the following year, and despite further visits to the physio's room, he continues to be one of the best experienced players in the NRL.

Jamie Lyon
Life is never dull for Jamie Lyon. In 2000 he made his début for Parramatta against West Tigers. The following year he made a bigger impact on the competition, scoring 11 tries and was part of the squad that won the minor premiership, but lost the grand final to Newcastle. His performance for Australia in 2001 against Papua New Guinea earned him a plane ticket to Great Britain, in which Australia won the series 2-1. From there he earned State of Origin call ups in 2002 and 2003. In that time he won several club awards and was well on the way to becoming one of the best players in the game. That was until he suddenly quit Parramatta without warning, and went home. Despite his homesickness a year earlier, in 2005 Ian Millward convinced him to fly to England and play for St Helens. It worked wonders. He was instantly regarded as one of the best centres in the competition, scoring 39 tries in 59 league appearances. Despite not playing in the NRL, he earned selection for Australia in 2006 and played in their 23-12 defeat to Great Britain, the last player to play for Australia not in the NRL at the time. In 2007 he returned to Australia with Manly and immediately made an impact, guiding them to two consecutive grand finals in 2007 and 2008. After winning the grand final in 2008, Manly won the 2009 World Club Challenge.

Mark Gasnier
The nephew of the immortal Reg Gasnier, Mark Gasnier just about lived up to his uncle's legacy. He made his début against Newcastle at the turn of the millennium for St George Illawarra, and ended up playing 141 times for the red vee contingent. He was one of the popular player in Australia, and hardly ever got into trouble keeping his nose clean. His first appearance for New South Wales came in 2004 in which he scored two tries and one goal. From that moment on, he was a regular starting centre and scored two more tries in the 2005 series. I will never forget his final appearance for Australia in the Centenary Test in 2008. It was the perfect send off for a true modern rugby league great. His first try was a stunner, and came off a Jonathan Thurston kick, and a Greg Inglis catch and throw over the head for Gasnier to touch down. A remarkable player.

Shontayne Hape
Along with Lesley Vainikolo, he formed one of the most devastating left flanks in Super League history. While his team mate scored 135 tries, Hape himself was scored 76 tries meaning the total partnership scored 211tries combined. He started his career at Aukland where for three seasons he only managed to appear 28 times. In that time though he scored seven tries, his first two coming against Canterbury Bulldogs in 2000. He only playing one game for the New Zealand based side in 2002 before moving to link up with Vainikolo a year later.

The right centre for the Team of the Decade is Brent Tate, while the left centre is Shontayne Hape.