Great honour. He received the VB $1000 award from Andrew Johns who said " We love having you here and enjoy watching you play."

The commentators, especially Ray Warren, were raving about him throughout the match.

He and Sam Burgess and George Burgess are having a huge impact on the NRL, and are raising Australian awareness of English rugby league talent.

It will be interesting to see if Hock, Mossop and Casty can match the impact of those three, especially since Tom Burgess is due to burst on to the NRL scene very soon and form the Terrible Twins with identical brother George.

Dont think many people will be surprised at the impact burgess and graham have had on the nrl.hock has the potential to be a big hit but anything could happen with him,hes a complete hand granade.mossop and casty are good props and will do well similar to luke burgess but they cant be expected to have the same impact as burgess and graham who are a different level.

Glad to read that Jammer received the MoM award today. I've recorded the match and am looking forward to watching it tomorrow night when there is no Superleague on TV.

He's fantastic.

While we often hear Sam talk about how much he loved it here, I don't even know how Graham feels. He's probably spoken about it and I've just missed it, but I hope he's really enjoying himself because we'd love him to stick around.

Josh Reynolds should have got it

Graham and the Burgesses ought to be doing well as they are our best players

For once come the WC at least the Aussies and Kiwis will think that the Poms actually have some decent player which is different from the last few years

It's all in the mind........apparently

We have a great pack that can easily match the Aussies.

Its not all in the mind anymore but it is in the halves.

Which is rubbish IMO

We have options in the halves something which we've rarely had. Despite what the doom mongers say on here we actually have the strongest squad in a very long time, saying that so do the Aussies

And we have some big, strong, athletic backs.

Defence out wide is a worry, as that's were we can fall short. Fingers crossed we can get that sorted too.

I've heard rumors that he is homesick but I hope it isnt true because the Dogs are a different team with him in than they are when he isn't there. Just look at how our pick up of form coincided with his return to the side. Im sure since he came back theres only been 1 loss, and that was to Newcastle.

They do and they don't.

Thurston/Cronk are no where near as good as Lockyer/Thurston or Lockyer/Johns. The later 2 were better than anything I have ever seen and although Thurston is often talked about as being up there with the best (and he is better than anything we have ever had over here in recent times), he cant take a game like Lockyer did in the '(was it) '04 or '05 Tri Nations final and win it on his own.

Still better than our halves but they arent scary. They can be controlled if we play well enough. Johns and Lockyer could go through teams like they were playing against kids if they were in the mood for it.

Agree about their halves, I sometimes forgot how lucky I've been to see the johns/Lockyer era, they were scarily good.

Cronk and thurston can be contained look at origin 1. I also don't think outr half backs are half as bad as people on here make out.

Johns and Lockyer only played 3 games together in the Halves, against New Zealand.
Johns career was nearly over when Lockyer was moved from Fullback to Stand Off.

And it was Brett Kimmorley at 7 (a Newcastle junior who had to go elsewhere because Joey Johns was in front of him!) who played alongside Lockyer when the destroyed Great Britain in the last two Ashes series.

The forwards haven't managed to get the bestter of their opposites no matter how often people try and 'big up' our pack and tell ourselves our pack is better than there's on paper it doesn't mean it will translate on to the field. The way the English pack has been almost mythologised over the last few years is very similar to how the English soccer team (the golden generation) was always held in the same regard as the best soccer teams in the world despite never managing to match them, especially when it really mattered.

I meant those two in the same side (not necessarily in the halves), sorry wasn't clear

Quote ="christopher"I meant those two in the same side (not necessarily in the halves), sorry wasn't clear'" No worries Chris For those that don't remember 2004. youtu.be/wXGkdD9dIY4 It was 38-0 first half I think from memory it ended up 44-4, it was a sad turn around from the build up where GB were confident of a win.

Quote ="christopher"I meant those two in the same side (not necessarily in the halves), sorry wasn't clear'" No worries Chris For those that don't remember 2004. youtu.be/wXGkdD9dIY4 It was 38-0 first half I think from memory it ended up 44-4, it was a sad turn around from the build up where GB were confident of a win.

Quote ="Buggo"No worries Chris For those that don't remember 2004. youtu.be/wXGkdD9dIY4 It was 38-0 first half I think from memory it ended up 44-4, it was a sad turn around from the build up where GB were confident of a win.'" I was there that night, mixed feelings I was gutted we got hammered but was glad I witnessed what I still think is the best half of rugby I've ever seen from a team.

Quote ="Buggo"No worries Chris For those that don't remember 2004. youtu.be/wXGkdD9dIY4 It was 38-0 first half I think from memory it ended up 44-4, it was a sad turn around from the build up where GB were confident of a win.'" I was there that night, mixed feelings I was gutted we got hammered but was glad I witnessed what I still think is the best half of rugby I've ever seen from a team.

They probably didn't play in the same side together all that much either.

When they did play those few games in te halves together, they didn't click. Both were dominant playmakers, it just didn't work like it promised on paper. Johns once again got injured before they had time to work it out in the halves. The one game that year they did blitz it was when I think it was Hunt went off injured and Lockyer went to fullback for the rest of the game and it was just beautiful. Lockyer suddenly looked like the best fullback in the game again after not playing there for 2 years and Johns dominated from the halves. Pretty sure they ended up putting on 50 points that night.

That would be the 2004 Tri-Nations Final you're talking about. He was incredible. I haven't seen anyone or any team play like Lockyer and the Kangaroos did in that first half, before or since. There wasn't an aspect of Lockyer's play that wasn't literally perfect. I remember a pin point 30m pass to Andrew Ryan at pace to create an overlap directly leading to a try. Pin point 40m bomb landing directly on the line for Willie Tonga try. Handling the ball 4 times in a magnificent lead up to the try of the tournament, including switching play to assisst Minichiello over for his second. Supporting a Hindmarsh offload and running 70m for a try of his own. Finding the grass with his kicks all night.
Goal kicking 6 from 6. Just way, way too good.

EDIT: Ok, didn't need to write any of that with the video posted. Just watched it and, oh man, that pass to Ryan is just ridiculous. How can you pull it off to that standard? And that second try, a thing if rugby league beauty. Webcke offloading to Buderus while falling with two players hanging off him and Buderus passing over his shoulder without looking, all precise and at 100km/h.

I posted that 2004 first half link above.
I remember watching that game and everything just worked out, I was surprised that Tonga and Hindmarsh were playing Test footy, I must be getting old.

As you say balancing the on field Generals and kickers can be an issue for Australia.
Many Australian Test teams have six or more Club Captains that call the shots for their respective Clubs but have to defer to designated playmakers in a Test Squad.
The Best Test Teams have had an organising Halfback General with a smart fast running Stand Off that could run himself or set up the play if needs be.
England have not had these type of players in recent memory and its why England do not win against Australia IMO.

Yeah I knew they only played a handful of games at most together in the halves but I'd say even before that as a partnership, Barrett/Johns and definitely Fitler/Johns were better than Thurston/Cronk.

I was also at that '04 game (can't believe it's 9 years ago now) and think the same. I doubt I'll ever see a singular performance as good as what Lockyer put on that day again. I'm happy to say I was there to witnes it, even though it wasn't for the team I wanted to win.

Its all in the eye of the beholder I guess.
Johns was one of the best ever.
Fittler was right up there.
Barrett was a good Club player and a solid SOO performer but in many fans opinions had an inside lane in selection for the Test team similar to Kurt Gidley nowadays.

Thurston is considered in Australia as one of the best players in the NRL for many years and is often rated in the top three players in the game.
Cronk has had to wait in the wings for some time but is an accomplished player and right up there but had to wait for a chance in the Kangaroos halves. (IMO Lockyer played a year or two past his best where he was no longer a threat running the ball past 15 yards and consequently limited his play that opposing Coaches nullified a lot of his threat)

I've never understood why JT is so underrated in this country. He's up there with the best I've seen in my life time.

His prime years have been with the Cowboys and they are always talked about as contenders without ever really having the ability to live up to it, Thurston's name is a big part of that expectation.

If he had played for the Storm, Manly or perhaps stayed at Canterbury he would have had a better balance of players around him so that he could shine rather than be expected to do it all himself.
A Half can only do so much and if his backs can not complete what he sets up it nullifies some of the skills he brings to a game.

The Cowboys have very good backs: Matt Bowen, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett and a couple of good wingers.