He may have give some penalties away, but he wasn't a penalty machine and has never been a liability.

He was worth at least a penalty or two per game early in his career and had a reputation as a head hunter! Good to see he worked on that part of his game and is now a class act.

Always a blow to lose your leader, especially with such a young team. I hope Sam handles the mantle better than he did against Wakefield where I thought he was poor in that capacity.

Locky has been outstanding for us ever since he recovered from major knee injury which robbed him of 2 seasons form. Since then he has been our most important player over the years.

We have some big games coming up, Widnes and Wire in particular, and whilst we should be ok against Widnes, not having him for the Wire match is damaging. I don't buy this "it's not important attitude" we are a young team and confidence can be fickle.

Lets hope it all goes well and he is back sooner than expected, but only if he is ready obviously.

It was missed in the last two games which Wigan nearly lost.

NEARLY lost ... but we won didnt we ? this is the reason why we are clear at the top of the pile. Wire, Hudds and Leeds have lost similar such games.
The fact that we won, playing below par, is testament to the fact that we are no longer a team dependent upon players like lockers (sam is different). in fact this is what SW did to us last year, which is why we finished top - but this year we've done it with more bodies missing.

I actually dont think lockers has been that special for us this year (especially as the rest of the pack has upped its game). The stats this year would appear to back this up eg he has most errors by a forward, pretty average meter's per carry, most penalised player in the team. I also think that Sam has been more dynamic and leading when the chips have been down, and we needed to up the performance levels (although without the pressure of being the nominal skipper, which I think adds too much pressure on him).

Therefore, having Lockers fresh and fit for the end of season allows us to give Greg Burke more game time, whose figures are better than lockers in virtually all areas.

yes, we lose the skipper (and for the reason above I wouldnt give it to Sam, but H), and the experience, but i dont honestly think our pack is much weaker this year without him.

Lockers is good but I wouldn't put 'nearly' losing at Widnes solely down to him. The other 8 or 9 players missing couldn't have helped.

I'm just looking forward to watching Greg Burke play now. He could well get an extra 5 or 6 games at loose forward he wasn't expecting and that will really aid his development for next year, when he should move up the pecking order.

Dear me! You need to watch the game rather than rely on stats. He plays more minutes than most other forwards, is consistently in the top 1 or 2 tacklers, throws passes out like an half back, has a good short kicking game and, particularly this season due to the number of injuries we have been carrying, has chopped and changed positions throughout most matches. More importantly, he has helped galvanise a young team for much of the season (it's been noticeable that the same young team hasn't been anywhere near as consistent without him) and also shoulders the responsibility of captain with ease, even in difficult circumstances, something both yourself and others have pointed out that even the best player in superleague hasn't managed to do with the same effectiveness. Greg Burke is an excellent player and prospect but to suggest he brings as much to the team at this stage is quite frankly ridiculous. As for that last paragraph; Wow! I truly thought the days of such ill informed statements were consigned to history. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.

you obviously know jack about rugby league

I... um.. what?

My only hope is that you don't watch many live games and you've based your whole post off stats on the SL website. And even that is unbelievably stupid.

just a few points - where did i say lockers wouldnt be a loss ? ive stated that his form this season hasnt been SPECIAL. he's been solid, reliable and does all the things we expect of him (but he's been making more mistakes than normal), and I honestly wouldnt say he has been as inspirational as he has been in the last couple of years. i wouldnt be at all surpised if hes not been 100% fit all season. because of this, i believe that the team will benefit at the end of the year by having him rested and fully fit.
greg burke's form has been such that he is a capable deputy that he has been NEARLY AS GOOD AS lockers this season. (hence the statement that the team will NOT BE MUCH WEAKER)

as for the captaincy statement, ive watched the team enough to see that the player who gives us the lift/energy/motivation when we look jaded has been Sam. therefore, so long as he is in the team, we can cope without lockers (as we have done in the 4 games he has missed this year). Lets face it, Sam is far and away the best player in the league.

please point out where i said that lockers was poor ? i have said that this season, the quality of the other players in the team has meant that lockers really isnt head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, as has been the case in recent seasons. in the last couple of season lockers would have been in the running for MoS. This year, I would say he's not even in our top 4 players (sam, green, faz, micky). That doesnt mean he is a bad player - just not at the heights he has previously scaled.

please dont read things into my posts that are not there.

Err....what game do you watch? Lockers has been consistently mentioned as a Man of Steel candidate throughout the year by both fans and pundits alike. Most recently, just prior to his injury, on the Superleague show where Ian Millward lauded him as one of the most complete players in Superleague and the man who makes Wigan tick. It was, interestingly enough, in relation to one of your 'top four' picks, Faz, where he pointed out that, as well as Faz was playing, he wasn't as important to the then rampant Wigan team as SOL. He then went on to say that he is undoubtedly a front runner for this years Man of Steel. That was a couple of weeks ago. Talk about short/selective memory!

I understand that some people (and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt by including yourself in this) can't see 'past the flash' and don't always understand true worth. However, in this instance, that's not really an excuse. SOL has quite simply been the cornerstone of this team this season. Even posters like BK and DaveO, not normally known for their unequivocal support of Lockers, have made comment on that this season. Frankly you'd have to be an idiot (apologies for the implied insult) not to see that. With all due respect to Greg Burke, and as good a player/prospect as I believe him to be, to say that a newly promoted squad player making his way in he game is ''NEARLY AS GOOD AS'' England and Great Britain international, club captain and universally regarded MOS candidate Sean O'Loughlin shows, in my opinion, the level of your insight here.

Oh, and for the record, I'm not reading things into your post. Your opinion was set out for all to see and comment on. I merely did exactly that.

Jeff Lima was asked who was the best player he had ever played with. His answer was "Sean O'Loughlin"