Having seen the game played since the sixties and when there were some real hard men and some hair raising violent acts, all I can say is Hamill would not have survived long term any time back then.
His despicable low act mongrel sniping (knees almost exclusively) would have quickly earnt the ire of many a teams enforcers. How I'd love to see him face up to a Neil Balme, Carl Ditterich, John Nicholls or Ron Andrews after kneeing a hapless honest guy with his eyes on the ball.
To call him a hard man, fierce tackler etc etc is purely wrong, he reeks of cheap shots in a game where retribution has been all but wiped out.
Hamill deserves venom, contempt and vitriol from us all not any form of modest praise.