Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 10:30 am  

Well done Lockers for making the final. The run out will be useful for England.

The best thing for me about the last few weeks has been that SW has built a team that can cope with players missing.
Of our 2 highest profile players; that team today would have won with Flower at loose instead of Lockers; and Sam has not had the influence on the CCF and the play-offs that he did early season.
SW has built a genuine team. Its been great that the play-offs have produced 3 magnificent performances with no specific stand-out players, take your pick from Flower, Micky, Green, Smith, Charnley, Hansen, Farrell, Hansen ...

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:20 am  

Wane's decision to play him almost backfired - match fitness was way off...

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 1:20 pm  

Madderzahatter wrote:

Wane's decision to play him almost backfired - match fitness was way off...

He put in a solid first stint, nothing flashy, just the hard yards and great defence, lead from the front as usual. Had a rest, then came back on with more of the same and setup a try. He was blowing hard at one point and had a rest. Add the leadership and confidence he gives the rest of the squad to the hard work, it was a calculated decision that paid off perfectly, to say it almost backfired is way off the mark, IMO.

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 1:31 pm  

might have been way off but his pass for Richards try was a cracker

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 1:38 pm  

ChrisA wrote:

He put in a solid first stint, nothing flashy, just the hard yards and great defence, lead from the front as usual. Had a rest, then came back on with more of the same and setup a try. He was blowing hard at one point and had a rest. Add the leadership and confidence he gives the rest of the squad to the hard work, it was a calculated decision that paid off perfectly, to say it almost backfired is way off the mark, IMO.

IMO it isn't. The game was pretty much won when he put Richards in. He was also culpable in defence for one of Wire's tries... If Ratchford hadn't gone off I think we'd be here questioning SW's decision. IMO...

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 1:42 pm  

ChrisA wrote:

He put in a solid first stint, nothing flashy, just the hard yards and great defence, lead from the front as usual. Had a rest, then came back on with more of the same and setup a try. He was blowing hard at one point and had a rest. Add the leadership and confidence he gives the rest of the squad to the hard work, it was a calculated decision that paid off perfectly, to say it almost backfired is way off the mark, IMO.

Due to Lockers playing we had 4 props going into supposedly the best set of props in SL. Flower, Crosby, Taylor and Mossop tore them to shreds. Lockers on 1 leg is better than most players on 2 and for someone to comment it almost backfired is a joke.

It worked perfectly. We would have been weaker with the props if Flower had to go to Loose forward.

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:16 pm  

Madderzahatter wrote:

IMO it isn't. The game was pretty much won when he put Richards in. He was also culpable in defence for one of Wire's tries... If Ratchford hadn't gone off I think we'd be here questioning SW's decision. IMO...

If players being culpable for a try is backfiring, 3 or 4 players a game on average from each side shouldn't be picked.

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:34 pm  

It didn't nearly backfire in the slightest. He was his usual self but probably managed about 15 mins fewer then he normally would.

If we lose that game its not because Lockers is out on the field. That would have been a very lazy excuse.

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:25 pm  

Madderzahatter wrote:

Wane's decision to play him almost backfired - match fitness was way off...

I've got to disagree with this mate.

Purely for his presence and leadership it was worth him being there, add to the fact i thought he did remarkably well considering he's played 1 game in months before this , and that makes it a great decision from Wane.

Re: Lockers : Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:27 pm  

We were so much more secure defensively with him in the team. Not just for the tackles he puts in, but for how he directs the other players around him. He is a monster, and should get far more recognition for the player he is.