K Locke ------> Salford

[Mixmasterreece]

Pity another NRL club hasn't snapped him up, he's good enough if he wants to be.

Was never going to happen. The guy has a serious reputation around the clubs as having an attitude problem.

 

[WellsNZ]

Have some people not seen Fishs strike rate over the past 10 games? As soon as he's back he should be on the wing. Fusitua then is unlucky. Not Locke. Some people are forgetting some of the weak performances from Kev on the wing I think.

From what I heard on the radio Kev was fairly poor last weekend anyway.

Still has the third most tries in the comp this year despite the games he's missed.

Yes it gets pumped by the Tigers game, but that doesn't mean they somehow don't count and finishing off tries is pretty much what wingers are meant to do.

Hopefully he can get back on the field and Hurrell and keep his dick in his pants while driving and we'll get to see a little more from them.

 

[hitro]

Too early Kev, there's still a role for you at the Warriors or the other NRL clubs. Don't retire to England!

 

[vvvrulz]

Yes it gets pumped by the Tigers game, but that doesn't mean they somehow don't count and finishing off tries is pretty much what wingers are meant to do.

He scored a lot of tries but look back at them and you'll notice he wasn't doing much creating at all. It was just Hurrell smashing past defenders and laying the pass on, any decent winger could have had a cup of tea before dotting the ball down. Think Wolfman Williams.

I'm not saying he's a bad player, but he is still inconsistent in defence and isn't hungry for work. He has one good game for about two average ones.

 

[Iafeta]

Aside from the Sharks game where his shoulder was hanging by a thread and everything else around him was going haywire, where are these bad games?

 

[WellsNZ]

With the likes of Tomkins, SJ, Hurrell, Mateo, I wouldn't expect him to need to do much creating. There's plenty of guys capable of creating in the team if they're playing well. Fish should be the one finishing what these guys are making and so far he's done that this year. Hopefully, now that they appear to be turning a corner, they can capitalise on that even further.

Most of the tries in that Tigers game were gifts, but if I recall correctly the one where it was nudged through he had to make a pretty nifty finish on. All wingers will get some easy tries but with the attacking weapons the Warriors have, if they can put Fish into space you know you can pretty much shut the gate because he's as fast as anyone in the comp.

 

[southwalesrabbitoh]

You just need your forwards hammering it up the middle and for S Johnson and Tomkins to play off the back of that, simple, like the Kiwis did last Friday in the first-half. So it comes down to the attitude and desire of the forwards in my opinion, I might be wrong mind. Obviously being a Welshie, have had a soft spot for the Warriors, but wasn't happy about spending so much money on a slightly overrated English boy. Felt it was a waste, but then again, not sure which top Aussie player would come to the Warriors.

 

[reykaine]

Aside from the Sharks game where his shoulder was hanging by a thread and everything else around him was going haywire, where are these bad games?

I don't have a problem with the Fish on attack. Its his defensive choices on the wing that hurt us. For every try he scores, he lets one in at the other end and hes a wee bit fragile for my liking. Its always a rib or a shoulder injury hes coming down with. And you want some one fairly robust on the wing who is not going to shy at making a desperate tackle and knock someone over the tryline which i think he is a bit gunshy at doing so because of all the injury issues he keeps having.

Not saying he is alone in being bad on D out of all the warriors wings. Not at all.
And some of the time wingers are left high and dry because of the bad decisions their inside guys have just made.

I just feel he is best suited as a backup fullback now that Locke is gone. He seems to be more at home on D there. I still remember that brilliant game on attack and defence he played against the Roosters last year. The pass from Lowrie to Fish inside their own D then Fish just gassing it was a thing of beauty.

As others were saying, I think by this stage of his development he should be more consistent and making wiser decisions on D.

So Fullback imo is his best spot.

 

[The European Polynesian]

Have some people not seen Fishs strike rate over the past 10 games? As soon as he's back he should be on the wing. Fusitua then is unlucky. Not Locke. Some people are forgetting some of the weak performances from Kev on the wing I think.

From what I heard on the radio Kev was fairly poor last weekend anyway.

I don't think Fish would have scored that try Futsitua did against the Storm, nor would he have set up that one for Johnson. Might be harsh by me assuming that. I still probably rate Fish just above Futsi, but I think Futsi deserves that spot after last game's effort.

 

[sup42]

I was pleased to see Kevin return to first grade.

I thought he did well. While secretly I had hoped he would have a break out performance at dummy half, the reality was he turned in a Amish plain eighteen minutes or so.

Kevins not a hooker, we all know that , he tried some pleasing things ( there was a one on one spot tackle attempt on a prop forward....onya Kev ) and one nice scoot out of the ruck.

So....his passing was labored and he couldn't do it on the run.....small potatoes when you're playing out of position.....he could have tried to get flash......take a greedy mindset to that cameo.....he could have tried to shamelessly win his Jersey back.....instead he did the one percenters.

Zero errors , no speed bump horror show.....and he tried to back up in support when Feleti did one of his silly inside our zone offloads.

I thought it was interesting McFadden threw Locke an opportunity so soon after the Salford deal ( mature from our coach ) but Kevin's comments today on the Radio about the club lying to him over the Tomkins deal might well have ended his time in FG.

Still if Inu can come back from Ivan's naughty mat as injury cover , alls not lost for Kevin this season.

As for Fish, after auditioning behind Bill Tupou...and having to wait till Tupou was injured before getting his wing shot....that man deserves his position in the team....that was pretty humbling seeing Fish who was once rated the next big thing.....have to play bridesmaid to Bill.

Glen was a disaster on the Wing the first year it was tried, no defence , a Fish out of water.....he went away and reinvented himself , those are the qualities some of our other players could learn from.

Even when Fish started to slot in on the Wing....he still looked gumby and slipped around the place like a Tongan Tomkins.

Dropped balls off missed timed runs too. The Tigers game was the arrival of Fish as a polished finisher. Sure lots of wingers could have scored those Try's.....but not so many Warriors wingers could have that chemistry and timing with Tomkins and Hurrell to make sure the balls not dropped, the pass isn't over run etc.

Fish was leading try scorer for the NRL briefly till the Injury....I picked that he would finish top try scorer with Tomkins in the team by seasons end.

Whether he is injury prone or not is by the by....we've had plenty of injury issues with outside backs....and the Fish's defence is not as bad as some think either.

There were moments where Hurrell got away yesterday and Laumape was pushed to his Limits to get up there.....Fish cruises up there.

The right edge is improving defensively with Bukuya and Johnson forming a great combo...Fish and Hurrell are capable of stepping up too.

 

[vvvrulz]

I'm a Kevin Locke fan and I thought he did a decent job at hooker.

But is he a hooker? No... Havili and Leulaui (apparently) are, and they're the ones who should be relieving Friend.

The big question is where does this leave Locke and Fish?

I'm happy with the combination of Tomkins, Manu, Henry, Hurrell, Laumape. Townsend and Johnson in the halves works for me as well, Townsend isn't perfect but he's fitting this gameplan.

Friend to start, and Leulaui to play a Hohaia type role off the bench, he needs to be in the mix somewhere.
I'd still persevere with Mateo but he needs more game time.

So to me this leaves all of Fusitua, Locke and Fish surplus to requirements or injury cover.
It would take a big reshuffle if Locke was to come in somehow, with Townsend probably missing out. I wouldn't mess around with a winning combination.

 

[MKEB...]

but Kevin's comments today on the Radio about the club lying to him over the Tomkins deal might well have ended his time in FG.

Serious?...Good god, that is a great way of limiting your future career options.

 

[sup42]

Yeah Kev was pretty upset. Mainly over the way he was stopped from a Penrith contract and lied to about Tomkins.
He resented having to hear the truth from ESL players he knows and then wait for the club to fess up when it was too late for him to get out ( that would have to have been during that shoddy period Wayne Schurrah told him he could look around for three weeks and then Matt Elliot put a stop to it ).

That left Kevin with a choice of Salford or Salford.

Wayne Scurrah told Koukash Kevin was going to be a looking for a job next year....I'm glad I don't know the truth of Schurrahs intent there , I would rather be left to imagine Wayne was helping Locke.....at the end......

 

[vvvrulz]

Yeah Kev was pretty upset. Mainly over the way he was stopped from a Penrith contract and lied to about Tomkins.
He resented having to hear the truth from ESL players he knows and then wait for the club to fess up when it was too late for him to get out ( that would have to have been during that shoddy period Wayne Schurrah told him he could look around for three weeks and then Matt Elliot put a stop to it ).

I can believe this, the Tomkins signing was handled horribly.
It took forever to secure the deal and make it public that he's definitely coming.

 

[sup42]

I can believe this, the Tomkins signing was handled horribly.
It took forever to secure the deal and make it public that he's definitely coming.

It's a bit tragic for Locke.

In some ways Locke was a victim of Sam Tomkins unique contract conditions with Wigan.

Tomkins was signed under a long term Anti poaching deal.

Part of the Contract included clauses where he was not allowed to speak with Rugby Union or other clubs.

For Wigan it would have been a public relations disaster for their 2013 double GF winning season had they confirmed to their fan base that they were letting Sam go with their blessing ( and 800k in transfers and shit ) and reneging on all their clubs Major announcements " we're Keeping Sam at Wigan Long term "

So unfortunately for Locke Wigan couldn't afford to let the cat out of the bag.....the contract had not been signed......it all hung on the Warriors agreeing to the condition that Wigan Warriors will announce Sams leaving first.
In some ways letting Locke go when he wanted to would have weakened the Warriors (x2) clubs respective positions of maintaining 'plausible deny-ability'.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

If Locke was a model pro who had always done well by the club, I'd have a soft heart. But he's never been overly interested in squeezing all of his talent out. If he was, we wouldn't have had to go hunting for another fullback.

 

[tangalife]

^ this.

He had so much potential but always been a lad off the field.

 

[sup42]

If Locke was a model pro who had always done well by the club, I'd have a soft heart. But he's never been overly interested in squeezing all of his talent out. If he was, we wouldn't have had to go hunting for another fullback.

I've often wondered where Locke lost the hunger....at one time he was a driven player.

Lots of theories....most center around the Injuries ( logical ).

I'm not so sure with our players , there have been some known poor influences in our teams and a general malaise that set in post Cleary.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Kevin has always been a bit of a loose canon, I remember Ivan mentioning it at one point. I think Ivan kept him on a pretty short leash though, and as long as he was fit and getting picked all was good. Once he got injured I think boredom set in and then when Ivan left Bluey and Elliott never really got him back into line (along with a few others). Cappy seems like he'll take less shit than those two, which is what a few of the young guys need to keep their heads in the right place.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

I think Locke is going to struggle in England
I know for a fact the Warriors have repeatedly gone above and beyond time and time again cos hes a ratbag that will never grow up. He needs a strong support network around him and with a young family now he wont have that in England.
Hes been a good player for us but im not sad to see him go.
Hes going to be Salfords problem now