All hail the great Darren Lockyer

[King_Lockyer]

Well done Locky! He deserved this far more than anyone! Hail King Lockyer!

 

[Jeza23]

Well done to Locky!! Not really surprised about it even though he didnt feature in the QLD win. He should get it pretty much every time if he is fit and firing thats how good he is

 

[Professor47]

Congrats to Locky, though it has not been the best year for him, I have to say, he's had some injury concerns towards the latter of his career, ever since 03. Unfortunate, he had such a good run until then. It is clear ever since then he's never really made a 100% recovery and when he's just about to, he's run into another.

Side topics:

- Civo vs Webcke is a big debate, put it this way, no one will ever run the ball like Webcke. Civo though, has become the 'rock-solid-never-fail-you' prop, a must have in one's team. I'd say Webcke in his prime is the better, but if I had to choose one over the course of ten years in my team, I'm happy to go with Civo.

- Joey: Look, I've hated this guy ever since I was a kid, and I do agree that channel 9 made him better than he really was, (ala Thurston/Slater) but this barge ass pill popper can play. I don't hate on him much nowadays since he has retired. To not acknowledge his playing abilities as a rugby league fan would be just biased and petty. He can play. Lockyer vs Joey debate? Well, that one has been going on for years, I'd say QLDERS will say Locky, NSW will say Joey, some will say either or.

 

[Jeba]

I am happy to argue that in terms of football ability, Johns is the best since Lewis. However, since Lewis, Langer and Lockyer have dominated at all levels of the game for longer periods than what Joey did in his career. Therefore IMO Langer and Lockyer > Johns.

 

[mick]

Big call putting Petero above Webcke. I love Petero but I doubt I'll ever see a forward as good as Webcke.

Lazo? I love Webcke as much as the next person, but I reckon big Glen Lazarus was at least his equal.

 

[Hamm.0]

You have to ponder this;

If Lewis never existed or worse was a NSWmen, would the Sydney-centric bots club and Ch9 have been so keen to put such a huge pedestal under Johns? I highly doubt it, especially when Johns was being compared to Lewis immediatly after the 97 ARL GF. lolz

 

[mck62]

Ah yes! But was Wally ever caught with drugs??? And amit to taking drugs for x yrs? I think not!
Sorry! I can't and won't hail a drug cheat [icon_thumbs_do

 

[dukey]

Ah yes! But was Wally ever caught with drugs??? And amit to taking drugs for x yrs? I think not!
Sorry! I can't and won't hail a drug cheat [icon_thumbs_do

Joey used party drugs recreationally. Not performance enhancing drugs. Calling him a 'drug cheat' or belittling his ability as a footballer for that reason is wrong.

 

[Jeba]

Big call putting Petero above Webcke. I love Petero but I doubt I'll ever see a forward as good as Webcke.

Lazo? I love Webcke as much as the next person, but I reckon big Glen Lazarus was at least his equal.

Lazo was awesome definately, probably the 2nd best of the 3. I'll still take Webcke out of any of them though.

 

[Coxy]

Ah yes! But was Wally ever caught with drugs??? And amit to taking drugs for x yrs? I think not!
Sorry! I can't and won't hail a drug cheat [icon_thumbs_do

Joey used party drugs recreationally. Not performance enhancing drugs. Calling him a 'drug cheat' or belittling his ability as a footballer for that reason is wrong.

Yes, a better term would be drug abuser. Just as dishonourable IMO.

 

[Clintos]

Ah yes! But was Wally ever caught with drugs??? And amit to taking drugs for x yrs? I think not!
Sorry! I can't and won't hail a drug cheat [icon_thumbs_do

Joey used party drugs recreationally. Not performance enhancing drugs. Calling him a 'drug cheat' or belittling his ability as a footballer for that reason is wrong.

Yes, a better term would be drug abuser. Just as dishonourable IMO.

Exactly right Coxy. I cannot believe you are trying to put a positive spin on what he did. Who gives a crap about what kind of drugs he took. The issue was that he took drugs, which is against the rules of and sporting code in the world. Recreational drugs are a probably a lot worse when you think about it. He wasn't trying to enhance his game, he was just doing it for shits and giggles, which IMO is even worse considering he was seen as a role model by so many people.

Are you a member of the Ben Cousins fan club as well?

 

[Je$ter]

Webcke was a bit under-rated when it came to offloads IMO. He didn't do it as much as other props do, but the times he did it were the times when something was on. A lot of props just throw an offload for the hell of it these days, but Webcke knew when the time was right. Petero is good at it too, don't get me wrong, but I'll take Webcke any day.

Are you serious? Webcke threw some absolute shit off-loads, and some of his play before the line was hideous.

IMO, Petero>Webcke. Just has a few more strings to his bow.

 

[Professor47]

I never got to see Lewis in the early 80's and what not, but is it true that he didn't really make the cut as a club man? The week-in and week-out level of competition? I've heard many Bronco fans from up north say that Lewis was the king of origin and there will never be any better, but he certainly doesn't deserve too much accolades when it comes to the Broncos, many seem to say the Broncos seem to give him special recognition simply because he was the king. Many claim Alf and Walters is where it was all at.

 

[The Brizz]

He was an absolute legend in his prime at club level but in the QLD Comp rather than the NSWRL he is seen as a god at Valleys and Wynnum Manly where he was named in the team of the century for both. It should also be noted that the QLD Comp in the 80's was extremely strong.

 

[The Brizz]

It should also be noted that the Broncos were initially successful (in terms of crowds and public interest) because they got Wally. The club may not be near what it is today had he not been recruited.

 

[Professor47]

^
Yeh that i what I have read/heard as well, but he seems to be named in Broncos important teams as well, team of the century and what not. etc.

 

[Hamm.0]

Because he IS QLD football.

The Broncos came too late for Wally, no doubt his best years were behind him. However that said, have a look at his personal stats in his 2 seasons at 5/8th!!

The reality is that for Broncos club services, there are more deserving 5/8ths, that said, if they didn't get The King's signature, they would have struggled getting many others.

As for club level, it should be noted the skill level and very good results of touring "Brisbane" (combined Brisbane club sides) in the knock out comps played against NSWRL clubs, as well as the excellent results of the toruing QLD sides of the early 80's.

For the younger genreation that may be brainwahsed by the great lie of N(sw)RL history books which claim that the NSWRL was the be-all and end-all of RL in Australia; the QRL was a formidable competition, which produced massive talent. The fact is, it produced so much talent, that origin spawned from them stealing so many players.

QRL was very strong.

P.S. This doesn't take into account that The King played against a 5 metre line, with no 40/20's. And a leather ball which wouldn't fly anywhere near as well as the synthetic Steeden.

/The King is the greatest rant.