Jamie Peacock: James Roby top three all-time hooker

KNOWING James Roby will walk out for the last time on St Helens turf today got me thinking about amazing hookers I was lucky enough to play with during my own career.

When looking at British ones, the top three - in no order - would be Robes, Jimmy Lowes and Kieron Cunningham with an honourable mention for Terry Newton.

I was fortunate enough to play with Jimmy as I was coming through at Bradford. He was a super smart player, a guy who had the IQ of a half-back but the toughness of a forward and was aggressive with it, too. He was such a competitor and one of the reasons Bradford were so successful at the beginning of Super League.

I played with Cunningham for Great Britain and he was hugely skilled but very powerful running the ball, too, and such a talismanic figure. Tez (Newton) was another exceptionally tough, fit hooker with great ball skills.

Robes' level of consistency is immense; everyone recognises that now. His standards are so high and he?s nine out of ten every week, playing in an incredibly difficult position in the middle where fatigue can have a big impact on your performance. Yet it never seems to impact Robes.

He's such a high skill level and is such an honest character.

Read Jamie Peacock's full column on the Daily Mirror website here.