I actually expect his form to pick up now he has made the decision and announced it - it will be a massive weight off his mind. And as for the selector's not picking him - as long as he is running around he will be picked. He has already said this is his last year of rep footy so they want to make sure he gets a farewell like he deserves.
Locky expected to announce his future tonight.
- Thread starter Charmamba
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I can't believe some of you have the hide to call him selfish and to suggest that he is past it because he isn't killing it at club level... the broncos have a very poor pack and a very weak back line due mass injuries and poor recruitment, and yet again you blame Lockyer. You get our pack to bend or break the line and get our backs to catch the ball, and you'll have lockyer and co cutting up other teams, till then STOP blaming the oldest player on the field for not being able to do it all for the rest of the team.
Raw Boned Youngster
QCup Player
- Mar 9, 2008
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Does Dasher expect to be picked?
Will the selectors have the bollocks to drop him?
Why does he see the need to play on when there are many reasons not to?
They are the real questions.
Dasher should not be in the team. Cronk or Prince at 7 and Thurston at 6.
Dasher is showing huge amounts of ego by declaring that he wants to go around again. He knows the selectors will pick him but he obviously doesn't realise he shouldn't be picked.
He will, as C Cox has mentioned, make the team weaker.
Maybe Dash is secretly hoping to be dropped so he can become disillusioned with QLD footy.
Then he could justify going somewhere else as a protest.
I believe he will end up with the Wayne Train again in some way, shape of form for you 80's types.
Will the selectors have the bollocks to drop him?
Why does he see the need to play on when there are many reasons not to?
They are the real questions.
Dasher should not be in the team. Cronk or Prince at 7 and Thurston at 6.
Dasher is showing huge amounts of ego by declaring that he wants to go around again. He knows the selectors will pick him but he obviously doesn't realise he shouldn't be picked.
He will, as C Cox has mentioned, make the team weaker.
Maybe Dash is secretly hoping to be dropped so he can become disillusioned with QLD footy.
Then he could justify going somewhere else as a protest.
I believe he will end up with the Wayne Train again in some way, shape of form for you 80's types.
Mister Wright
NRL Captain
- Jun 8, 2009
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Oh please? How is his decision selfish? He really couldn't be a better servant for the Broncos. I don't get it, I grew up a passionate QLDer and I still consider myself one, and as much of a Broncos fan as I am, I'd rather see QLD win origin than Brisbane win a premiership. Lockyer should be praised for his passion and if he believes he still has something to offer at rep level good on him. I hope he rips it up not just at origin level, but also club and international level.
Anonymous person
Banned User
- Dec 16, 2008
- 4,635
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he'll either show us hes still got it, or he'll join the list of people that played on a year too long. i guess we'll soon see.
rod78 said:
geeez.. thats cold...and although your joking i can see some logic in that maybe if he thought he had a serious shot at anouther broncos premiership that he might have been content to focus 100% on the club... perhaps he did see a tough year ahead and the idea of some maroons highlights swayed him??? eusa_think
Flutterby said:
I am thinking the same thing. Hopefully it will be a big weight off his mind and he can start to focus on his game again.
Anonymous person said:
Yeah, I am hoping the former, but the way he's been playing at the start of this year it's quite possible he will have a shocker. I think he's an awesome player, but he's definitely looking like he hasn't got his game head on. Which could be because of what FB mentioned above. QLDER!!
- Mar 4, 2008
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Anonymous person
Banned User
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heres a better article IMO, and one that i agree with:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl ... 5850626373
Broncos captain Darren Lockyer making big mistake in continuing Test, State of Origin career
"HAD Darren Lockyer announced he was quitting Origin football, I would have said the decision was delivered like so many of his brilliant passes throughout his career, with impeccable timing.
I'm not sure he's done himself any favours by saddling up for another Origin series.
Having enjoyed his wonderful career to this point, I wish he could continue to display his consummate skills forever and a day, but eventually father time comes knocking on everyone's door.
Lockyer can't possibly feel duty bound to play on for Queensland on the grounds that they can't win their fifth straight series without him.
In 2008, Queensland put the cleaners through NSW with Johnathan Thurston at five-eighth and Scott Prince at half.
If Queensland win five in a row, surely they won't pressure him to line up for a sixth.
As a matter of fact, Neil Henry uses Thurston at second receiver regularly throughout a game.
The gaps are a little more generous out there.
Not only does it put him in a better position to make a break himself, but he's the one ball-playing for the wide strike power, not throwing the ball to someone else to do it. It was that way when Queensland won 30-0 in one of their 2008 victories.
I was hoping we could have all farewelled Lockyer from rep football in the one-off Test.
He has nothing to prove there either. He has already surpassed big Mal's record of 46 Tests, with 50 to his credit. His captaincy of the Australian team on 29 occasions has also eclipsed the Little Master Clive Churchill's record of 24.
What concerns me most is that there are telltale signs of a long, arduous career.
Lockyer's line breaks have all but dried up. His vision and ability to hit the right person with the ball is still unmatched, but what he does with footwork and speed to open holes before he passes the ball is not close to what it used to be.
Normally with ordinary mortals, when it gets to the stage in their careers where they are having second thoughts about retiring from the game altogether, it's time to hang up the boots.
Lockyer is no ordinary mortal, but State of Origin is not club football either.
Here we have one of the greats of the game agonising for weeks over whether to continue to perform on the most demanding stage rugby league has to offer. I would have thought that if there was ever any doubt at that level, there's really only one decision to make.
His task of captaining the Broncos in their current rebuilding phase looks herculean enough. The Broncos line-up stares back at you without the usual who's who of the Queensland and Australian teams.
Of all the challenges he's faced, trying to lead this young team to a 19th straight finals appearance looks to be the toughest.
Brad Fittler went through this dilemma. At the time when he finally withdrew from the representative arena, his form with the Roosters had noticeably got to the point of non-involvement so that supporters were hard-pressed to remember what he actually did in games other than kick the ball at the end of a set.
The transformation when he got the decision off his chest was remarkable. He became a matchwinner again and played like he enjoyed the challenge every week. I have no doubt the Roosters' title in 2002 had a lot to do with the fact that Fittler's entire focus was on club football.
Apart from the physical demands that an Origin series makes on players, Shane Webcke has often talked about the mental drain and how difficult it is to get up for club matches immediately after a series is over.
He also pointed out on an ABC Grandstand program at the weekend that the pressure is much greater on champions like Lockyer because they are the ones who are expected to make the difference in tight contests, while everyone else, particularly the forwards, are just ripping in and doing their jobs.
I regularly bump into former players who have found their way into the media and I know Lockyer is held in such high regard by those who played with and against him, none of them are willing to publicly suggest there are signs that it's time.
I also know there is a private concern for him that he could be going one year too long in this unforgiving business.
Champions have a habit of making chumps out of anyone who dares to be the least bit sceptical. I'm fully aware of that. Lockyer's no doubt got an array of good games still left in the tank. Knowing what a competitor he is when he's in better company, he might produce three of them for Origin, but then again he might not.
Like all great batsmen towards the end of their careers, the centuries get further and further apart. It's sport's remorseless law of diminishing returns at work. No one is immune.
Ian Chappell raised the issue of timing when Shane Warne retired. He related the story of his own retirement and an associate of his saying: "Ian, it's better to go a year too early and have people asking why did you retire than a year too late and have them saying, 'Why don't you retire?'."
Frankly, I hope it's my timing that's astray, but I can only report what I'm seeing and thinking. At the moment, Lockyer's just passing the ball to others to do the work. I've enjoyed his sublime skills and magnificent contribution to the game probably more than anyone south of the Tweed River and I don't want to see him diminished in any way by a decision that somebody else may have influenced him to make.
As a commentator on the game, though, I have a responsibility to give an honest appraisal.
For mine, Queensland's most threatening combination would be to have Cooper Cronk, who I'd consider to be the best team half in the competition, join his clubmates Cameron Smith and Billy Slater as a 9-7-1 combination, and have Thurston out at six terrorising the defence and aiming the wide strike power like he did in 2008."
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl ... 5850626373
Broncos captain Darren Lockyer making big mistake in continuing Test, State of Origin career
"HAD Darren Lockyer announced he was quitting Origin football, I would have said the decision was delivered like so many of his brilliant passes throughout his career, with impeccable timing.
I'm not sure he's done himself any favours by saddling up for another Origin series.
Having enjoyed his wonderful career to this point, I wish he could continue to display his consummate skills forever and a day, but eventually father time comes knocking on everyone's door.
Lockyer can't possibly feel duty bound to play on for Queensland on the grounds that they can't win their fifth straight series without him.
In 2008, Queensland put the cleaners through NSW with Johnathan Thurston at five-eighth and Scott Prince at half.
If Queensland win five in a row, surely they won't pressure him to line up for a sixth.
As a matter of fact, Neil Henry uses Thurston at second receiver regularly throughout a game.
The gaps are a little more generous out there.
Not only does it put him in a better position to make a break himself, but he's the one ball-playing for the wide strike power, not throwing the ball to someone else to do it. It was that way when Queensland won 30-0 in one of their 2008 victories.
I was hoping we could have all farewelled Lockyer from rep football in the one-off Test.
He has nothing to prove there either. He has already surpassed big Mal's record of 46 Tests, with 50 to his credit. His captaincy of the Australian team on 29 occasions has also eclipsed the Little Master Clive Churchill's record of 24.
What concerns me most is that there are telltale signs of a long, arduous career.
Lockyer's line breaks have all but dried up. His vision and ability to hit the right person with the ball is still unmatched, but what he does with footwork and speed to open holes before he passes the ball is not close to what it used to be.
Normally with ordinary mortals, when it gets to the stage in their careers where they are having second thoughts about retiring from the game altogether, it's time to hang up the boots.
Lockyer is no ordinary mortal, but State of Origin is not club football either.
Here we have one of the greats of the game agonising for weeks over whether to continue to perform on the most demanding stage rugby league has to offer. I would have thought that if there was ever any doubt at that level, there's really only one decision to make.
His task of captaining the Broncos in their current rebuilding phase looks herculean enough. The Broncos line-up stares back at you without the usual who's who of the Queensland and Australian teams.
Of all the challenges he's faced, trying to lead this young team to a 19th straight finals appearance looks to be the toughest.
Brad Fittler went through this dilemma. At the time when he finally withdrew from the representative arena, his form with the Roosters had noticeably got to the point of non-involvement so that supporters were hard-pressed to remember what he actually did in games other than kick the ball at the end of a set.
The transformation when he got the decision off his chest was remarkable. He became a matchwinner again and played like he enjoyed the challenge every week. I have no doubt the Roosters' title in 2002 had a lot to do with the fact that Fittler's entire focus was on club football.
Apart from the physical demands that an Origin series makes on players, Shane Webcke has often talked about the mental drain and how difficult it is to get up for club matches immediately after a series is over.
He also pointed out on an ABC Grandstand program at the weekend that the pressure is much greater on champions like Lockyer because they are the ones who are expected to make the difference in tight contests, while everyone else, particularly the forwards, are just ripping in and doing their jobs.
I regularly bump into former players who have found their way into the media and I know Lockyer is held in such high regard by those who played with and against him, none of them are willing to publicly suggest there are signs that it's time.
I also know there is a private concern for him that he could be going one year too long in this unforgiving business.
Champions have a habit of making chumps out of anyone who dares to be the least bit sceptical. I'm fully aware of that. Lockyer's no doubt got an array of good games still left in the tank. Knowing what a competitor he is when he's in better company, he might produce three of them for Origin, but then again he might not.
Like all great batsmen towards the end of their careers, the centuries get further and further apart. It's sport's remorseless law of diminishing returns at work. No one is immune.
Ian Chappell raised the issue of timing when Shane Warne retired. He related the story of his own retirement and an associate of his saying: "Ian, it's better to go a year too early and have people asking why did you retire than a year too late and have them saying, 'Why don't you retire?'."
Frankly, I hope it's my timing that's astray, but I can only report what I'm seeing and thinking. At the moment, Lockyer's just passing the ball to others to do the work. I've enjoyed his sublime skills and magnificent contribution to the game probably more than anyone south of the Tweed River and I don't want to see him diminished in any way by a decision that somebody else may have influenced him to make.
As a commentator on the game, though, I have a responsibility to give an honest appraisal.
For mine, Queensland's most threatening combination would be to have Cooper Cronk, who I'd consider to be the best team half in the competition, join his clubmates Cameron Smith and Billy Slater as a 9-7-1 combination, and have Thurston out at six terrorising the defence and aiming the wide strike power like he did in 2008."
- Mar 14, 2008
- 9,308
- 11,974
Once again Lockyer as a weakness is being completely overstated, and is laughable at best.
Can anyone name a NSW half option that is better than one D Lockyer?
Oh... you can't? So why the conjecture on selection? It's not like we're selecting Chris Sandow.
Lockyers exp and leadership and how it can be useful can be put down to one pivotal moment in a game this year.
Cowboys v Broncos. 77th min. Thurston opts for a highlight reel chip kick to Mason (??) instead of squaring and putting it over for a 1 point lead, and eventual win. Thurston ***** it. Brisbane go down the other end where Lockyer sucks in two players and offloads, who passes to kemp, who scoots away to win the game.
That's why he'll be picked, and that's why he'll be effective. Other players may come up with the money ball these days, but no one does it better in a tighter situation than Lockyer.
Can anyone name a NSW half option that is better than one D Lockyer?
Oh... you can't? So why the conjecture on selection? It's not like we're selecting Chris Sandow.
Lockyers exp and leadership and how it can be useful can be put down to one pivotal moment in a game this year.
Cowboys v Broncos. 77th min. Thurston opts for a highlight reel chip kick to Mason (??) instead of squaring and putting it over for a 1 point lead, and eventual win. Thurston ***** it. Brisbane go down the other end where Lockyer sucks in two players and offloads, who passes to kemp, who scoots away to win the game.
That's why he'll be picked, and that's why he'll be effective. Other players may come up with the money ball these days, but no one does it better in a tighter situation than Lockyer.
- Mar 5, 2008
- 54,901
- 35,349
Yet if Lockyer hadn't pulled it off in that situation, we wouldn't even be discussing it.
He didn't do anything special. Thurston saw something, it wasn't to be, Lockyer saw something, and it just happened to work.
Once upon a time, Lockyer played the entire game to win, not just the final 5 minutes when it was close.
He's a brilliant player, but he should be looking at his last days with the Broncos, not Origin.
He didn't do anything special. Thurston saw something, it wasn't to be, Lockyer saw something, and it just happened to work.
Once upon a time, Lockyer played the entire game to win, not just the final 5 minutes when it was close.
He's a brilliant player, but he should be looking at his last days with the Broncos, not Origin.
Locky is a champion. He's a rare breed. This guys bread and butter is proving the doubters wrong. He left most of the rugby league world eating humble pie after he made his successful switch to 6, after he came back from his knee recon.. the list is endless. He has done it countless times before and he will do it again. I have no reason to doubt him.
I think all deep down we feel (at least a little bit) the same as that article in the Courier that AP posted. But I'm still happy he decided to stay because I love my State of Origin and I think he still has it in him. But boy if he qnd QLD fail it's going to be really tough for him and the Broncos. The article also suggests that someone may be pressuring him to play one more. I hope it's his decision and not pressure from others that made him stay one more series. In the end I still would've been happy if he stepped down, definitely would've felt a bit more at ease for the Broncos. Let's just hope he has a stellar origin series and his confidence and performace are better for it at the Broncos.
- Mar 14, 2008
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I... I don't even know where to begin with this post.Nashy said:
The fact is, Lockyer DID pull it off, like he has done so many countless times. It is pointless arguing on ifs and buts. What if a satellite fell down on Thurston when he was just getting momentum in that game? It's just a plausible scenario if we're gonna talk hypotheticals.
Your second sentence shows you don't get it.
The match winning play doesn't have to be beating 5 players single handedly before palming off the entire subs bench to score under the posts. It's about maintaining your composure and making the play count when it matters. Lockyer did this. Thurston did not do this. And he admitted it afterwards in the press conference. I am curious to hear anyone who can suggest a better clutch player than Lockyer.
Oh and LOL at the notion Lockyer only plays to win in the last 5mins. I am not sure if you were baiting or being serious, but in either case, you're still very amusing.
Anonymous person
Banned User
- Dec 16, 2008
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i would prefer Carney, Pearce, or Anasta to be honest.
And lets not forget who has been the one doing the 'clutch' plays in Origin for the last 3-4 years - Thurston, not Lockyer.
And lets not forget who has been the one doing the 'clutch' plays in Origin for the last 3-4 years - Thurston, not Lockyer.
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