I had to laugh as the Teams were taking the field before the start of the game, the young girl who walked out with Lockers wasn't impressed with him,she wouldn't hold his hand,the look on his face , priceless.

If you read it again you'll see that I'm actually praising Lockers
So I'm not sure what planet your on pal?

As i said, i was playing devils advocate... ... Pal..

I have a couple of friends who are "inside the Wigan system" When they tell you that the likes of Ryan Hoffman, Pat Richards and Jeff Lima say that O'Loughlin is up there with the BEST players they have EVER played with or against than you appreciate just how good he is.

What's always stood out to me about SOL is that he plays his best for England. If every other player did the same we'd be much harder to beat. Sadly too many look like startled rabbits.

He's been like that since his debut as well. I think it was 2003ish when he first broke in to the side and he took to it like a duck to water. Around that time he hadn't even convinced a good portion of Wigan fans how good he is. He's faced critics all his career but slowly but surely he wins everyone round and people realise what a top class talent he is.


I lost count of the amount of battles I had on the VT about Lockers ability.

His ability has never been in question except for silly opposition fans (although he had a few dodgy games at 6 early on). His injury record (recently) and leadership/captaincy was questioned around 2006/7 but he has grown into that role immensely.

I think he's always been steady in his performances for England dependable in defence and good in attack. How many more internationals has he got left in him? I think the four nations will possibly be his last? I'm struggling to see a replacement for him atm.

Sam Burgess, or Savelio will, I think.

How about Sutcliffe?

At loose forward? Well, the chances of him playing there for Leeds are remote, Leeds (along with the majority of teams tend to favour an extra ball carrier at 13, and when you already have a hooker, 2 halfbacks, and a full back do you really need a 5th pivot?

I mentioned him as being the best replacement for Lockers in my view. Don't forget
Lockers started at Stand Off.

Sutcliffe is a big lad who will mature into a great all round player.

You need as many ball players as you can get I would have thought. And I'm sorry to sound like a broken record but you can hardly count Hardaker as a pivot.