Lock - who and why?

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seaeagledave

Reserve Grader
Looking through our latest Yarts and Lock is by far the position that we have most disagreement on. Taupau, Jake, Buhrer, Symonds, Leary, Mateo and Brown have all been proposed. Taupau is most common, but I wouldn't have thought he had the stamina for the minutes. So tell us who you would choose and why.
 
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For me Id have Buhrer if fully fit . Good defensively , Ball runner , Can offload
Reminds me of Bradley Clyde who was a great lock even though he played for the raiders but liked watching him play
 
Tapau only plays low 40 mins a game.
I would of thought Tapau and Buher would of rotated but I have no idea.

Not sure if Trent will use the position as an extra ball player or an extra front row forward
 
Once the roster is somewhat finalized (i.e. after Peta / Walker have confirmed where they are going) it might be worth going through each position to get a handle on what everyone thinks
i.e. all the contenders for wing in a vote
 
Ferris, Lussick, Taupau or T-Red for mine.

Most coaches these days seem to be playing their more mobile props at lock. I wonder if Barrett will follow and go with Lussick or Taupau or go with a ball playing lock such as Ferris or T-Red or even Mateo?
 
There is a false impression that lock is an 80 minute position, it's not.
-Roosters/Taukeiaho
-Cowboys/Taumalolo
-Bulldogs/Eastwood
-Storm/Finucane
-Dragons/Cooper
-Eels/Choc
-Knights/Smith
-Panthers/Merrin

Not every team has an 80 minute lock, in fact the majority of the top 8 teams have an impact lock. Taupau played great this year why move him out of his position? Jake is a prop don't move him after a great year.
 
Buhrer is the ultimate lock if fit.
Fact is Buhrer has attacked that left edge in recent years with the ability the modern coaches struggle to teach - timing & angles - Imo up with Cooper as that left edge runner for different reasons.
Still think many underestimate Leary who in limited NRL time has done exceptionally well, but is more your tradesman with added skill - not up to Buhrer.
Some will spit here but Tommy Symonds will struggle to make the 17 with options in the back row, but no doubt can step up when needed.
 
I would play either Jake or Myles as lock. Let Kapow have impact minutes at prop. Jake and Myles thrive on big minutes. Then rotate Mateo in as the ball playing lock to exploit tired forwards. Use Brown, Buhrer or T-Red as 80min backrowers.
 
If fit, and still with us, I'd go with buhrer. 80 minute player, great defender, awesome footwork. Personally my top 17 in 16' would be
B. Stewart
J. Taufua
J. Lyon/D.Walker
P. Hiku
T. Turbo
D. Walker/J. Lyon
D. Cherry Evans
J. Turbo
M. Parcell
N. Myles
F. Mateo
L. Brown
J. Buhrer
14. D.Lussick
15. B.Lawrence
16. M.Taupau
17. S. Matai
Of course if hiku goes, matai back to centre. Tom symonds or api koroisau to the bench, depending on the opposition
Then there is:-
L. Knight
J. Starling
B. Leary
L. Burgess
A. Demetriou
H. Lavaka
I. John
my reasoning behind matai, is i think with the reduced interchange, he could be a huge impact player with a tiring defensive team, with his speed and his no fear in his hit ups. Plus to break up the centre pairing before retirement. Anyway, just my opinion.
 
It's a tough one but I'd go Buhrer at lock as was said in earlier post, he has ball playing skills and can put a player in holes . Hang on ball playing and holes I think I'm on the wrong site.
 
We really lacked impact in a the middle last year against the physical teams. The current trend of 3 middle forwards as "props" will more than likely continue even with the reduced interchange. I'd go with Myles, Jake and Tapau really doesn't matter what number is on their backs. They all need to roll up the sleeves and rip in. The minutes doesn't matter all will be replaced at some point with Lussick first cab off the rank.
 
Tom T is my pick. He is enthusiastic, has good ball skills and is lighter on his feet compared to a buhrer type lock
 
I tend to agree that Nate Myles played his best football at lock...he is also the soundest defender of all the forwards and the modern lock defends smack bang in the middle of the field next to the hooker, so he gets my vote. Then we can have Jake T and Taupau as the starting props.
 
There is no way that I would have Tom Terrific in any other position than wing and replacement full back. He's young and developing and I'd be keeping him away from the big boys as much as possible in his first year. And he should be in the starting line up. We dont wont him seriously injured before he has a chance to shine. And the kid needs space to show his amazing pace, not be stuck in among the forwards.

If Buhrer is still with us and still has a bit of his pace and swerve, I would have him as lock. He's a fine defender and can cover ground quickly. He's also the sort of player I would have wider where he would have a bit more maneuvering room. Could be more effective when he's been wider out.
 
They are just numbers on jerseys. Depends whether the make up of the team requires a middle forward or an edge forward. I think you pick your best starting 5, with 3 middle forwards and 1 on each edge.

I think the best 4 we have are Jake, Myles, Kapow, and Buhrer. Then I don't know. Presuming the first three play the middle third and Ferris is right edge as usual then we need a left edge runner. Now assuming that our new 5/8 (Walker ?) plays left side as Foz did (notwithstanding DCE's alleged roving commission) it'd be handy to have someone on that edge who can maybe ball play a bit more to make use of Walkers superior running game. So I'm thinking Mateo maybe, although Brown my also be an option (not sold on his ball skills though, nor his hole running to be honest)

The other theory is that if DCE plays both sides of the ruck then you get a big unit on the LHS running holes, a big unit like Kapow would be frightening out there. He'd attract attention whether he gets the ball or not, which might give that Snake second man play a new lease of life (God knows it's needed). If Marty plays wider then you bring up Lussick/Lawrence/Starling to start in middle

Anyway I reckon the final make up will depend on who plays 6 and what style DCE plays. The other thing to consider is whether Baz is a fan of carrying an impact hooker on the bench or not, or whether he is an 80 minute hooker kind of guy. If you opt for that extra dummy half then you have to pick the rest of your bench with that in mind and probably increased minutes for all, more so with interchanges reduced.
 
I reckon Symonds plays best on the right, running off DCE. They seem to have a good understanding of each other there. However with the talent we have, it is hard to see him as our starting back-rower, but given he has never been mentioned as expendable in all reports so far I can see him getting much more game time than we all think.

You'd have to think that Kapow will be playing in the middle somewhere with Myles and Jake T.

Which means Maeto, Brown and Burher are probably fighting over two spots (Left edge or the bench). Personally I'd pick Burher (he's younger, great mates with DCE) over Maeto, who's "X-Factor" I don't believe we have seen or need with the current pack and backline we have. But Brown and Burher are very similar...

I reckon, round One will see:
8. Jake
9. Api/Parcell
10. Myles
11. Burther/Brown
12. Symonds
13. Kapow

14. Parcell/Api
15. Brown/Burher
16. Lussick
17. Lawrence or Maeto (Depending on how many mins the coaching staff reckon our middle three can play)

If Kapow doesn't get fit enough to have the impact, I think we will see him move out to the edge to terrorise wingers (which will still be good, but he should be trying to continue to have the same impact in the middle or long mins). Burher can play big middle minutes if Kapow comes off for a rest, and you can replace him with a Left edge player (Brown or Maeto), so I'd prefer him.

Barrett will play two hookers in the hope that forward packs cannot manage with the reduced interchange.
 
Depending on Baz's coaching style and our final halves pairing I would like to see one of a few options between;
80min Lock= J. Buhrer or J Turbo
Impact Lock combo= Marty and feleti
Also happy with Tommy Symmonds and Nate Myles depending on the final make up of forwards.
Jake T would play like a Trent Merrin style Lock but I always felt we hung on to Buhrer to succeed choc and gift to lock in the scrum and finally rid him of the utility tag. Hopefully he returns to good form after a long injury layoff!
 

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