Quote: Cherry_&_White "Isn't that the point though? There are reasons why O'Loughlin was underrated when he was in his early 20s, and they were often more about spurious comments about leadership or the fact that the team generally wasn't up to much?
Having said that, I agree that Bateman is incredibly hard if not possible to replace like for like, and we should be doing as much as we can to keep him. I just think that SOL is a once in a generation player who was unlucky not to be appreciated in his early years. Come to think of it, I think the way he's seen now isn't that different to Paul Scholes at man United. He's always been quality, but it was only towards his twighlight years when he was really appreciated.'"
This is difficult because I rate Lockers so highly, but I also remember 2006, and I do believe Bateman, age for age is better. I don't think Lockers is a one in a generation player at all. I think it's a massive overstatement, he's 35 now, just look at the players who was also part of the same generation, let me help you out:
Sinfield
Peacock
Cam Smith
Thurston
Slater
Gallen
Lockyer
Inglis
SBW
Cronk
This is getting a bit silly now.