I was very disappointed to see him go and considered him a potentially great asset for us. However, once we had apparently accepted that we were in full rebuild mode, rather than a true finals contender, I think management decided he was surplus to requirements, sadly.
I regularly have a coffee in the Entertainment Quarter (the old Sydney Showground), and the Swans and Roosters players and staff are very much in evidence and do a bit of mingling.
I always felt that we lost more than we gained from his 30+ possessions. Unlike Tom Mitchell whose 40+ possessions were generally hard one contested balls, clearances or turnovers, Newman was good at one on one contests but his other possessions tended to be uncontested. His was too arrogant about his own game and defensively made poor decisions.
Compared to Mills, Allir, Rampe, O'Riordan and Cunningham, I believe we've now got the right mix of attacking flair and decisive defence. LLoyd also provides the outside run and carry that Newman offered but with more pace and grit than he was able to produce. Its true that Newman was a superior kick but Dawson has all of the quality that he showed when delivering the ball but with better marking and decision making skills.
Paul Roos has left fox footy. The man has the best career timing I've seen. He always leaves on his terms, and never waits until he's worn out his welcome.
Because of this, I bet all his previous employers (swans, Melbourne, media companies, etc) would welcome him back anytime.
A good lesson in career management.
I didn't know Plugger had a nephew playing for the Gold Coast Suns Academy!
From last years Under 16 Championships:
#28 Jye Lockett (Gold Coast Suns Academy)
Was one of the damaging three strong trio in the Queensland forward line and booted a couple of goals either end of the game. His first came in the goalsquare where he positioned himself well, took the mark and turned around to kick the goal from a metre out. The hands looked to be in the back of his opponent, but his body positioning was good and he had a number of other chances after that. He took a strong pack mark out 30m on an angle not long after his first goal but it drifted to the left for a behind, and then pushed up the ground at times to win some touches at half-forward. At one stage he applied a fend-off in midfield and got clear to kick forward, before then going deeper later on to mark the ball going back with the flight and put it through the middle of the big sticks midway through the last term.
Lockett was one of a few big bodies for Queensland in the forward half, but made plays of a smaller unit with some work in the first term. He kicked Queensland’s first goal of the game with a snap and missed another shortly after, with not much to do until he popped up again in the third term with his second goal to finish a nice passage of play from the Maroons. Finished as a danger up forward, and had 12 disposals, three marks and two goals across the day.
Article on Jye Lockett as a 13yo back in 2016:
No Cookies | Gold Coast Bulletin
He wanted to play for us back then after hanging around Goodes and Buddy!
The possibility of having a forward line one day consisting of Franklin, Daniher and Lockett!
Last edited by KSAS; 14th February 2020 at 06:21 PM.
Bookmarks