TOM van Vollenhoven, Roger Millward and Vinty Karalius....could it ever be possible to get a more iconic rugby league trio of legends in one photograph.

All now sadly departed, Bernard Platt captured the Hall of Fame members on the pitch before a Great Britain Ashes match in the early noughties.

But it is a measure of how big an impact these three legends of the game made between them that all are still revered and talked about fondly today.

Those who did not have the privilege of witnessing Voll's majesty in the flesh have had stories passed down to them through the generations.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

Statistics jump out; 392 tries in a career, a record of 62 tries in a season in 1958/59 and twice scoring six tries in a game – against Wakefield and Blackpool.

And the tales of two of those stick out in particular – one against Hunslet in the 1959 Championship Final at Odsal, missed by the film crew, and the other against Wigan at Wembley in 1961.

These were tries in which Voll exhibited pace, balance, swerve – even a hand off and no little strength. The former Springbok was a truly inspirational and unique player.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

And what of Roger Millward - only 5ft 4 in his stocking feet - but what a masterful performer on the pitch and something of a ground-breaking innovative coach off it.

Roger the Dodger, the moniker the R-rolling commentator Eddie Waring bestowed upon the diminutive half back, brightened many an afternoon for Grandstand viewers with his weaving runs and scheming in a playing career spanning 1964-80.

He started at Castleford before turning Hull KR into a Champions and Challenge Cup winners, first as a player and then as a coach. Listed by many a neutral as their favourite player, Millward played 29 test matches for Great Britain, skippering them in the 1978 Ashes, and a further 17 times for England.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

And on the right of the picture, his steely stare glaring down the lens, is Vinty Karalius - one of the toughest men ever to play the game.

Even the Aussies feared him, dubbing him the Wild Bull of the Pampas - due to the way the Widnes-born loose forward fearlessly and ferociously brought his immense toughness, strength and aggression to the grass arena.

Karalius made a huge impression at Saints after joining from West Bank in 1951, going on to play 252 matches in a glorious spell for the Knowsley Roaders - including the side's first ever Challenge Cup final win in 1956 and he was Wembley skipper in 1961.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

At test level he was in the star-studded Great Britain side that won the 1960 World Cup on home soil.

He signed off as a player with a further 132 appearances for hometown Widnes, skippering them to Challenge Cup glory in 1964 before retiring at 34 in 1966.

He transferred his huge rugby knowledge into coaching - and in two stints guided the Chemics to Wembley wins in 1975 and then a different crop in 1984.

Three legends of the game.....and imagine what all three would bring to modern Super League.

Not simply their playing prowess, but their star-quality and presence.

Those that have followed in their footsteps really do stand on the shoulders of giants.