Dream Team: Steve Boden – Yorkshire Carnegie forwards coach

1. Tom Davies – Known as ‘Toddy’, he is very good at the set piece but also very skilful ball in hand. A case of an outside back stuck in a prop’s body.
2. Tom Youngs – I played against him soon after his switch to hooker and, even if he had an awkward day at the lineout, you could tell he was going to be special and he became a Lion.
3. Ngalu Tau – The former Tongan international was strong at the set piece but set himself apart by commenting on what he was doing during games. He even called himself ‘Mister Me’.
4. Mick Watson – He played for Harlequins but I played with him for half a season at Hull Ionians. Hard working lock and really good to be with in the pack.
5. Chris Planchant – He’s normally a back row but he’s played in the engine room so I’ll stick him in there. Punches well above his weight and very good on the socials after a game.
6. Chris Hala’ufia – I played against him when he was with Rotherham. One of the biggest hand-offs I’ve ever received in my life which wasn’t very enjoyable.
7. Simon Grainger – Probably the fattest openside who’s ever played the game but one of the best over the ball. Not sure he knows how he did it but he’d guarantee you three-four turnovers a game.
8. Gareth Eves – Another one I spent time with at Ionians. He was 40 then but was still ridiculously quick and understood the game really well.
9. Chris Hallam – Any No.9 with a cauliflower ear can be in my team! Called ‘Camp-bed Chris’ because, being the smallest, we’d always stick him on a camp-bed on away trips if we ran out of room.
10. Mark Woodrow – Brilliant skilset and bosses the forwards really well. Played for Bristol and Doncaster but if he was a little bit bigger he’d have gone to bigger and better things I think.
11. Justin Bishop – The former Irish international was player-coach at Doncaster and he brought so much energy to the team.
12. Carlos Spencer – I played against him when he was at Northampton. A few of our boys targeted him because of who he was but he was still sidestepping them four or five at a time.
13. John Cannon – He sadly passed away last March but he was the best ball carrier I’ve ever played with. Just a human pin ball putting you on the front foot.
14. Wes Davies – The former Wigan Rugby League star had a great knowledge of the game and some of the lines he’d pick were just brilliant. Ruthless banter too.
15. Anthony Carter – Probably the slowest full-back around but his rugby brain made up for it. Dropped only one high-ball in all the years I’ve played with him.