Lockyer back to fullback

[Dazzat]

Should Darren Lockyer go back to fullback next year, swapping with Karmichael Hunt?

Here's a few facts to ponder. Darren Lockyer looks far more dangerous when he receives the ball as second receiver at pace than he does at first receiver. It looks to me that most ofthe teams in the competition have figured out how to stop him with an up-and-in defensive pattern. He doesn't have the strength to break tackles regularly, so his options are becoming limited. He is far more dangerous when he picks and chooses when to come into the attack. And it is obvious that the extra defence workload is taking its toll the longer the season goes.

On the other hand, Karmichael Hunt has the build to handle the five-eighth role. He's only going to bigger and stronger, and has the Benji Marshall type skills to ignite a team. Don't know about his defence, though he seems very capable chopping down big fellas from fullback.

It's too late in the season to make this change now, but I think it's something Wayne Bennett should look at. Any thoughts out there?

 

[bluesbreaker]

Yes, please put Karmichael Hunt at 5/8th.

 

[JoeysChiropractor]

Todays game against the dragons proved a few things:


1. Brisbane's attack lacks creativity. They fail to keep the ball alive and have played with little to no depth

2. The backs don't get enough football

3. We are lacking a decent hooker

4. Lockyer is a great player, but isn't suited to 5/8 as much as he is at fullback

5. The passion that was there in the 90's has gone

6. Losing Berrick Barnes is the worst thing that could've happened to the Broncos for the future

7. There is no impact off the bench and someone like Thaiday needs a go

8. There is no variety or creativity in the kicking game, and 5th tackle options are dreadful

9. Seymour hasn't stepped up this year apart from the games where Lockyer wasn't playing. That makes Brisbanes attack very predictable

10. The big names are playing without confidence, except for Webcke

11. We are missing Tate

12. At the start of the year Hodges was seen to be our weak link in the backline, at the moment he is our strength

I could probably go on but I won't. We have a lot of work to do and although we are on top of the table and have had a terrific season (so I shouldn't complain too much), we are fading and falling at the wrong time of the year.

 

[Ghoulies]

Errr... Round 24 is hardly the time to be replacing your main playmaker with an 18 yr. old who's yet to actually play a senior game at 5/8th.

 

[Dazzat]

Ghoulies, please look at the last line of my post ... not until next season.

 

[Ghoulies]

Ghoulies, please look at the last line of my post ... not until next season.

Sorry mate, I must have misread it.

 

[God-King Dean]

I found it disturbing from a fullback POV that Barrett was able to get around Karmichael with no more than a change of direction

 

[Big Pete]

^Agreed I was extremely dissapointed with that.

However we need someone with experience to play five eigth, I doubt Hunt will be able to handle the defensive work as well as Lockyer anyways.

Broncos just have to realise passing to the backs might actually pay off and stop doing the predictable plays everyone is used to.

 

[pennywisealfie]

"1. Brisbane's attack lacks creativity. They fail to keep the ball alive and have played with little to no depth"

Damn right! everyone has figured out our only move of pass to lockyer, then lockyer cuts out the back rower to berrigan/hodges, every time we do that we just get tackled straight away, either that or berrigan f**ks up.

"5. The passion that was there in the 90's has gone"

dead right! we are the least passionate team by soooo far, whenever any team scores they all celebrate and stuff, when we score we just shake each others hands and whatever, but this hasnt always happened, its only happened since Lockyer has taken a senior role and now into his captaincy we are as conservative as ever! the only times ive seen passion in the side was against the raiders and the sharks, yep thats right, when lockyer wasnt playing. we would be ten times the better team if we cared ten times more.

"7. There is no impact off the bench and someone like Thaiday needs a go"

Hell Yeah! someone who actually has a go, f**k carlaw, we all know he has the talent but there is no heart, even bring in nick kenny, the game he played he tried so hard, id prefer someone trying hard over some primadonna.

"8. There is no variety or creativity in the kicking game, and 5th tackle options are dreadful"

not just 5th tackle, but 2nd, 3rd and 4th as well, there was times this year where we would put a kick in and itd be on the money, now we have just lost vision or something.



Its very upsetting to have so many great players just to see them play bad every 2nd week. Webcke, Civoncieva, Thorn and you could probably say Hodges and Hunt are the only guys u can rely on every week, even the so called worlds best player isnt consistent now, bennett needs to stop being so loyal and drop some big names to the clydies for a week or 2 to get there confidence up.

 

[bluesbreaker]

Lockyer isn't the so-called best player in the world anymore PWA, God returned to rightfully show who owns that title and who doesn't.

 

[fridge]

u guys are kidding right ? i reckon lockyer is the best 5/8 in the game.

unfortunately he's the best fullback too i reckon it'll be a disaster if u put hunt at 5/8 unless u guys get a more creative halfback.

 

[TooheysNew]

u guys are kidding right ? i reckon lockyer is the best 5/8 in the game.

No he's not. He's a liability at 5/8. If he was the best 5/8 he wouldn't slip off the radar like he has as worlds best player.

 

[fridge]

No he's not. He's a liability at 5/8. If he was the best 5/8 he wouldn't slip off the radar like he has as worlds best player.

i guess each person has their own opinion. lockyer has only slipped off the radar as the world's best player because johns is back.

of all the good 5/8's in the comp (barrett, scott hill, anasta, thurston), he has the most dangerous running game and kicking game of all of them. think back to the kangaroos squad, in the second game vs britain without lockyer we lost. with lockyer we hammered them.

sure he's a bit out of form now, but great players can play anywhere. wouldn't u rather the best player in your team gets as many touches as possible ?

my prediction is that if u guys move him next year you'll look a bit like the roosters. a highly talented squad who will find it difficult to score tries because of a lack of creativity in the halves.

 

[bluesbreaker]

i guess each person has their own opinion. lockyer has only slipped off the radar as the world's best player because johns is back.

... Yes, that's right.

of all the good 5/8's in the comp (barrett, scott hill, anasta, thurston), he has the most dangerous running game and kicking game of all of them. think back to the kangaroos squad, in the second game vs britain without lockyer we lost. with lockyer we hammered them.

Player of the series: Brett Kimmorley. Thrashing the Poms is nothing, I could do it at 5/8th. I disagree entirely on all points, but hey, you said it the best, everyone's got an opinion. I'm just lucky enough to have Joey in my team.

sure he's a bit out of form now, but great players can play anywhere. wouldn't u rather the best player in your team gets as many touches as possible ?

my prediction is that if u guys move him next year you'll look a bit like the roosters. a highly talented squad who will find it difficult to score tries because of a lack of creativity in the halves.

The thing is, Lockyer has always played like a 5/8th in attack, even when he was fullback. He can't handle the defensive side of things, he needs to go back to where he is most dangerous.

 

[renouf]

Lockyer had 3 different blokes at dummy half on Sunday, 2 of them were forwards, the other a utility player. Wake up people, he is playing the way he is because Berrigan is isn't there. Take Danny Buderus out and Andrew Johns will struggle.. Just wait until Barry Berrigan gets back on the field.. You'll see a different team.

Think about this, the 2 form sides (Parra and St.G) of the competition.. what do they both have? 2 first grade hookers. How many do Brisbane have? 0

Mark my words we fell away last year for the exact same reason.. no hooker. If Barry Berrigan gets injured again, the seasons over.

 

[JW]

Yep, Barry Berrigan's service to the team is often underestimated.

Cheers.

 

[Azkatro]

I agree with a lot of comments here. Any team will struggle if they're losing in the ruck (Johns wasn't doing anything overly good this year until Buderus' foot got better) and with BB injured that's happening to Brisbane, among other things.

As far as Lockyer at 5/8th goes, well I believe the problem is that he just doesn't work that well in the halves with Seymour. With an in-form Kimmorley at half Locky demonstrated how devastating he can be at 5/8th, but I thinx perhaps Seymour just doesn't compliment him as well as he could.

The Cowboys played their best footy this year with Thurston the halfback, Justin Smith as a defensive 5/8th (like Manly did with Menzies in round 22) and Bowen playing Locky's old role by moving up to second receiver in attack.

Part of me would love to see Lockyer return to his brilliant best at fullback. That's where he played consistently best football and I can't help but feel that had he stayed there he might already be pencilled into the Immortals list at 27.

 

[Razor]

Barrett and Anasta are better 5/8ths

Defence is half the game, and Lockyer is a total sh*thouse defender. His attack isn't bad, but lately Barrett and Anasta have been better.

 

[renouf]

Look at the cowboys last year, they had 2 dynamic hookers.. look how well they went. Look at how poor Brisbane's form as been since he got injured.. look at how we were still able to win games during the origin period... it all adds up to the creativity that Berrigan creates around the ruck. He is a classic hooker (ex-halfback).

 

[perverse]

put him back at fullback, he is a class player and is being completely wasted at 5/8th.