I think that is a very unfair comment. Paul Loughlin was every bit as good a centre as Paul Newlove. They had slightly differing styles but were equal in terms of talent. the only reason Lockers left in the deal was that Newy was Early 20's and Lockers was very late 20's

I was a massive lockers fan and he was the perfect wingers centre but in terms of pure talent he doesn't come close to newlove imo

Pretty much agree.

Loughlin like many local St.Helens lads was vastly under appreciated by the Saints fan base.
Infact as a teenager i remember being sucked into the general fan mood that he wasnt that good a pleyer .
Its only when i revisited match videos from the late 1980's and early 1990's when i was older and wiser in understanding RL that i got a full appreciation of his ability and value to the team.

He is one of the few genuine world class centres Britain has produced in the last 30 years.

SaintsFan is this board's Washington Generals at the end of the day. She's there just to prat about and look preposterous and stupid and give the rest of us something to laugh at and argue against. Boards need people like her to provide comedy value and avoid getting dull. Bless her.

Not just well hidden, but her many accounts have set up Sleeper numpty trolls all over the trolls. Ban one of them and another 10 spring up to take it's place. be very afraid...

Dobbin was great in his prime, one of a handful of players we had at the time who Wigan lusted after, but the injuries had knackered him good and proper by the time we got Newlove (and he wasn't kicking goals any more by then either). But Newlove was ultimately on a different plane - he cost us big but was well worth it.

I think you have hit the nail on the head. Lockers was a centre in the true definition of the position. He made breaks and put his wingers in for plenty of tries. Newlove wasn't a centre by the true definition in ther way Lockers was, But he had the X-Factor and made breaks for fun. They both had some pretty good wingers outside them as well.

I beleive that Lockers was the best centre in GB at one point, but I started watching around '93 when his form had become sketchy to say the least. He had a bit of a revival before he left, but nothing to ever rival what newlove had.

From what I remember, we got Newlove, Bradford got Loughlin, Nickle and Dwyer plus £250k. And we got the best end of the deal, which just about sums up the difference between Newlove and Loughlin.

I would never bag Lockers as he was one of our best players in a barren time and a great centre, but Newlove was a different class.

I was not trying to bag Lockers. Just trying to explain to Saints fan that to get top quality sometimes you have to lets very good local talent go. I know Lockers for Newlove is not the same as dixon going for Manu, but it was the best example I could think of at the time.

It was a bit of an insult to Lockers, I used to think he was great, I started watching I think as he was off with that arm injury. But an inspiration for lots of us local lads from that area, from the St' Tersea's school of Rugby with no field. Same school as Wellens I think???

You've said it yourself, it's not a fair comparison.



I don't think there's any need for that kind of patronising sexism bro.

I'm not entirely sure what you think was sexist about it bar the use of the words "she" and "her"... And as you well know I am simply incapable of patronising anyone...

Bradford got an ageing Loughlin, an ageing dwyer and Sonny nickel who didn't want to go but knew he was coming back in 2 years. Newlove was entering his prime.

It's like comparing Wellens today to Tomkins and ignoring the player Wellens has been.

Loughlin in his prime was as good a 'CENTRE' as Newlove in his prime. Lockers kicked goals and Newy had a devastating sidestep and awareness.

They both played in the same position but offered different things to the team. Ask Ledger and Quirk how good a centre Loughlin was.

Hang on a second here, Loughlin may have been a good wingers centre but I'm pretty sure that Newlove sent Sullivan in for many a try whilst here. The difference between him and Loughlin (besides goal kicking) was that often Newlove was good enough to score tries on his own. This is no slight on Loughlin (who did more in a GB shirt that Newlove did really) but Newlove helped us to win the league in 1996 with his try return. The only time I've seen Loughlin play as well as Newlove was during that purple patch he had from the JPS Final v Leeds through to that '88 tour and into the early year's of McClennan's reign, however even then he wasn't as consistently good as Newlove was e.g. Newlove wasted less ball that Loughlin.