BK - The best lock of all time?

[Tigertread]

Raper and Coote are by far the best two locks I have ever seen play the game.

 

[RAM]

No contest, Kennedy doesn't rate when you compare him to Raper, Price, Pearce etc.

 

[innsaneink]

Most older people i talk to regard Johnny Raper as the best ever. They make a good point when they explain what he did. I never saw Raper play, but i dont doubt he was the best lock of all. In modern times, of those ive seen Clyde was a true freak, but was too injury prone and was rarely there for club games ... so i'd have to side with Kennedy. Ray Price wasnt bad either. He wouldnt be out of place in any era.

Slightly OT....I hear I think it was Heaps on radio saying he was talking to Ned Kelly or Arthur Summons at the 60's do recently...cant recall exactly which....anyway he mentioned most Aussies never ever got to see our greats like Raper Kelly Summons Beetson Gasnier Coote etc at their best, cause they played PT here, held a job while playing & training twice a week....but when they went away to England + France on tour they played & trained FT, had almost 100% focus on footy and were at their absolute best then.

 

[Noa]

Most older people i talk to regard Johnny Raper as the best ever. They make a good point when they explain what he did. I never saw Raper play, but i dont doubt he was the best lock of all. In modern times, of those ive seen Clyde was a true freak, but was too injury prone and was rarely there for club games ... so i'd have to side with Kennedy. Ray Price wasnt bad either. He wouldnt be out of place in any era.

He became injury prone in the 2nd half of his career whereas before BK joined Manly he was always injured so it's not fair to say was Clydes fragile and Bk's not. I'd take Clyde's first 4 years over Bk's last 2.

And for the poster comparing Hindmarsh's and Clyde's metres gained. Remember Brad for the first couple off years operated under the 5 metre rule.

 

[Phillips]

Slightly OT....I hear I think it was Heaps on radio saying he was talking to Ned Kelly or Arthur Summons at the 60's do recently...cant recall exactly which....anyway he mentioned most Aussies never ever got to see our greats like Raper Kelly Summons Beetson Gasnier Coote etc at their best, cause they played PT here, held a job while playing & training twice a week....but when they went away to England + France on tour they played & trained FT, had almost 100% focus on footy and were at their absolute best then.

:-s

 

[innsaneink]

Noel 'Ned' Kelly

 

[Mr Angry]

Simple answer no.

Great player, I rate many higher though.

 

[Raiders Plight]

BK is fantastic, but Clyde is still the benchmark for modern locks, 2 clive churchill medals don't lie.

 

[JJ]

I never saw Raper - so can't comment on that. What I will say, is that great as he is, Kennedy will not become an immortal. While Coote and the like were great, Raper is clearly the bechmark from previous eras.

We should note that locks these days are much MUCH bigger than they were in the 50's and 60's.

Of the great locks I've seen, Kennedy is in my opinion clearly better than Price, Lindner, McGahan, and Pearce (if McGahan and Pearce deserves to be in that grouping).

Ellery Hanley is an interesting one, depending on your back row he might be the lock you'd have in a post 70's team (obviously Clyde and Kennedy could play in the back row)

But I couldn't chose between Brad Clyde at his peak and BK at his peak, for me they're the two best I've seen.

 

[Nutzcraw]

I'm a Manly fan!

I rate Johnny Raper as the best (an immortal, 11 consecutive premierships)
Then Brad Clyde (the benchmark of backrowers, changed the way forwards play the game)

Then i'd throw in BK (a premiership winner, one of the most brilliant and consistent footballers i have ever seen, single handedly turned a club around, is an inspiration in all facets of the word)

 

[Noa]

I never saw Raper - so can't comment on that. What I will say, is that great as he is, Kennedy will not become an immortal. While Coote and the like were great, Raper is clearly the bechmark from previous eras.

We should note that locks these days are much MUCH bigger than they were in the 50's and 60's.

Of the great locks I've seen, Kennedy is in my opinion clearly better than Price, Lindner, McGahan, and Pearce (if McGahan and Pearce deserves to be in that grouping).

Ellery Hanley is an interesting one, depending on your back row he might be the lock you'd have in a post 70's team (obviously Clyde and Kennedy could play in the back row)

But I couldn't chose between Brad Clyde at his peak and BK at his peak, for me they're the two best I've seen.

Great observation. If Ellery played his whole career here he'd be an immortal, I have no doubt about that.....hang on as far as I'm concerned he is an immortal of the game of Rugby League.

If he played now he'd still be in the top 3-4 players in terms of athleticism and he was so strong, when he got on your outside shoulder you could be sure you'd be left on the ground clutching air.

In the short time he played in Oz it could be said he was the best player in the ARL.

They say Maradona is the only player to single handidly lead a team to the World Cup, well save for Terry Lamb, Ellery would have done the exact same thing.

 

[seajay23]

i attended my first league game in 1963 so i have seen a lot of good locks and i am a mad keen manly supporter. Love BK's work but he has somewhat limited talents that he utilises to the max. He is not even the best lock to play at Manly - Malcolm Reilly was sublime, especially before his famous knee injury, he revolutionised forward play in this country. Raper, Coote, Price and Clyde well all much better than BK, to me Coote was the prince but i'd choose Raper or Price to save my life.
If you're going to call someone 'best of all time' you need some historical perspective, not just the last few years.

 

[Iafeta]

Monty Betham would have a thing or two to say about BK being the #1 lock of all time.

What... a man can't try to get his own version of cWo going? Pick a hopeless neville and pretend he's the greatest player of all time?

 

[innsaneink]

What... a man can't try to get his own version of cWo going? Pick a hopeless neville and pretend he's the greatest player of all time?

Ive been waiting for Kirk Reynoldson to recieve this accolade, though he must be too good.

 

[Stagger eel]

1 Johnny Raper
2 Brad Clyde
3 Ronny Coote
4 Ray Price
5 Ben Kennedy
6 Wayne Pearce
7 Mal Reilly
8 Paul Langmack
9 Hugh McGahan
10 Brad Mackay.

 

[Ewan McGrady's Lovechild]

If Nik Kosef hadn't had four knee reconstructions, then we would be talking about him as a great great lock.

and if a gorilla had feathers he would be a duck ;-)

 

[Ewan McGrady's Lovechild]

1 Johnny Raper
2 Brad Clyde
3 Ronny Coote
4 Ray Price
5 Ben Kennedy
6 Wayne Pearce
7 Mal Reilly
8 Paul Langmack
9 Hugh McGahan
10 Brad Mackay.

Not bad at all. I'd go with the top 5 for sure.

 

[JJ]

1 Johnny Raper
2 Brad Clyde
3 Ronny Coote
4 Ray Price
5 Ben Kennedy
6 Wayne Pearce
7 Mal Reilly
8 Paul Langmack
9 Hugh McGahan
10 Brad Mackay.

IMO Bob Lindner and Ellery Hanley should probably be on that list somewhere.

I think Reilly might be a bit low, and there must be other Poms.

8-10 are pretty debatable inclusions

 

[Raiders Plight]

1 Johnny Raper
2 Brad Clyde
3 Ronny Coote
4 Ray Price
5 Ben Kennedy
6 Wayne Pearce
7 Mal Reilly
8 Paul Langmack
9 Hugh McGahan
10 Brad Mackay.

c'mon wheres the fatman?

 

[JJ]

c'mon wheres the fatman?

He's about #92 on the list