Why isn't he? He is strong and tough and runs his blood to water, whilst being able to fit in as a third pivot, thus expanding our attacking prowess.

Just because he kicks goals doesn't mean Sir Kev is better than him.

Best player on the field by a country mile.
Best 13 in this country by plenty.

If Sam, the greatest British player of the SL era, does go to the NRL at the end of the season the only silver lining to the very dark cloud will be that the best player in SL will still be a Wigan player. Lockers is now at the very peak of his career and while he goes about his work more quietly than other great captains his leadership is vital to this side. If he stays fit we have every chance of the SL title, if not then frankly I'd be amazed if we won it.

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Agreed. We've had some very special 13s at Wigan over the years, haven't we? Lockers is now among them.

When he first emerged my thoughts were "how is this kid going to replace Faz"...........He's running him close in the legend stakes, and the best 13 in the country by miles, the best FORWARD by miles

I said before the game yesterday that when O'Loughlin doesn't play, we struggle as a team, and that's regardless of whether Sam plays or not. Every SL defense pretty much has Sam's game covered now. If he played at 6 then it'd be a different story but that's another argument all together.

I remember when I first saw O'Loughlin play and he was a cracking player even then, technically correct in just about everything that he does.

We miss him so much when he doesnt play, much more than we miss Sam imo. He brings so much in attack and our half back arent half as effective without him ion the team. When he doesnt play our right hand side in particular just doesnt get the ball as Smith and Green seem reluctant to pass that way. This is made even worse when Tomkins doesnt play and I think yesterday was the first time I have seen Goulding get a pass in open play for 3 games. In defence O'Loughlin is just immense and I think he has been the best Loose Forward for some time.

Lockers = MACHINE

Theres some right exagerations in this thread.

Tomkins is not the best player in the super league era.

O'loughlin is up there, but the best ''by miles''?

Get a grip and get your sh*t together.

Great player, probably my fav at the club, however I still think Sam is more important.

The teams win/loss record with Sam is like nothing I've seen, without Lockers we're weaker, but the win/loss record with/without Lockers is no where near that of Sams.

I hope people saw the TV coverage of the game, especially the after the match analysis which showed how much of an off the ball influence Sam is in attack, his movement and direction and communication to the other players is second to none on the field, he's almost in control telling the team how to play and execute the drills.

It's as if, Lockers is the key to the def, while Sam is key to the attack. Without them both, as we have seen, we suffer,

Strong as an ox, can pass, tackle, amazing fitness, and has the vision to act as a third pivot.


What more can you ask for? If he kicked goals more people would be waxing lyrical about him i.e Faz, sinfield

Lockers would walk into any team in the world. Hes world class, hes got everything.

He is THE outstanding forward in the competition without question. Wigan simply aren't the same team without him. We miss so much from his game when isn't there; his defence, hit ups, leadership, organisational skills, world class passing game, vision and inspiration among them but what we miss most is his ability to play at the line. EVERYTHING Wigan does flows from this. Exceptional player and an outstanding performance yesterday.

It's his versatility that is the key.
He can be a ball player, a running back row, or drive it in like a prop. Add to that a really tough, hard tackling, defender, and he is the most completer forward in Superleague at this moment in time.