Second Rower and Lock

[Magpie1969]

WT seems to be short of Second Rowers and Locks.

What attributes make up a modern day Second Rower and Lock?

Who in the NRL is a prime example of a modern day Second Rower and Lock

I personally feel McIntyre could be our long term lock with LL Cool J and Blore our Second Row pair.

 

[Adam Doobie]

Lock is the most flexible position in rugby league. It can be anything. It all depends on what the coach believes the team needs.

General characteristics of a lock include:
- Some teams use their 13 as an extra prop (Taumalolo, Carrigan, Tapine, Asofa-Solomona, Brandon Smith)
- Some want a tackling machine with a high defensive work rate (Elijah Taylor, Twal, McInnes, Trbojevic, Yeo, Jackson)
- Some want a ball-playing lock to stand at first receiver, so the halves can have more depth/width (Radley, Trbojevic, Peachey, Nathan Brown, Murray, Sonny Bill)
- And some just want a smaller forward with speed (Brandon Smith, Murray, Bateman).

I think it is important that the lock provides at least two of these traits. I think ball-playing ability is the most important one. The last time I can remember our attack truly clicking was in 2016 when Taylor stood at first receiver to feed Mitchell Moses out the back.

It all depends on the make up of the team. If you have someone like Benji Marshall in your team, who likes to feed the second rowers from first receiver, you don't really need a ball-playing lock. If you have a player in your team like Cody Walker or James Maloney, who can use their speed to hit a hole, you need a ball-playing 13 to offer that option.

In terms of Wests Tigers, we probably need a ball-playing lock with Harry Grant and Benji leaving. Someone to stand at first receiver to give whoever is the 5/8 next year more space. They would be guaranteed perfect service from Liddle, so it would work in theory.

Grant offers threat around the ruck, so you don't really need that extra ball player when he's in the team. And Benji prefers standing at first receiver, so with him gone, I think our other halves options would benefit from another play maker to give them time and space.

In my opinion, McIntyre can fulfil this role. He seems to have decent ball skills. The only unknown is the amount of minutes he can play. If he can do 55 minutes, then someone like Eisenhuth (assuming he is here next year) can fill the space when he's off the field.

 

[JC99]

We’ve got Twal and McIntyre for lock but we desperately need some more second rowers. One injury to a second rower and we’ve got MCK on the bench which isn’t great.

 

[Magpie1969]

Lock is the most flexible position in rugby league. It can be anything. It all depends on what the coach believes the team needs.

General characteristics of a lock include:
- Some teams use their 13 as an extra prop (Taumalolo, Carrigan, Tapine, Asofa-Solomona, Brandon Smith)
- Some want a tackling machine with a high defensive work rate (Elijah Taylor, Twal, McInnes, Trbojevic, Yeo, Jackson)
- Some want a ball-playing lock to stand at first receiver, so the halves can have more depth/width (Radley, Trbojevic, Peachey, Nathan Brown, Murray, Sonny Bill)
- And some just want a smaller forward with speed (Brandon Smith, Murray, Bateman).

I think it is important that the lock provides at least two of these traits. I think ball-playing ability is the most important one. The last time I can remember our attack truly clicking was in 2016 when Taylor stood at first receiver to feed Mitchell Moses out the back.

It all depends on the make up of the team. If you have someone like Benji Marshall in your team, who likes to feed the second rowers from first receiver, you don't really need a ball-playing lock. If you have a player in your team like Cody Walker or James Maloney, who can use their speed to hit a hole, you need a ball-playing 13 to offer that option.

In terms of Wests Tigers, we probably need a ball-playing lock with Harry Grant and Benji leaving. Someone to stand at first receiver to give whoever is the 5/8 next year more space. They would be guaranteed perfect service from Liddle, so it would work in theory.

Grant offers threat around the ruck, so you don't really need that extra ball player when he's in the team. And Benji prefers standing at first receiver, so with him gone, I think our other halves options would benefit from another play maker to give them time and space.

In my opinion, McIntyre can fulfil this role. He seems to have decent ball skills. The only unknown is the amount of minutes he can play. If he can do 55 minutes, then someone like Eisenhuth (assuming he is here next year) can fill the space when he's off the field.

Love your detailed summary very well articulated. You are a student of the game no doubt.

Love to hear your take on a modern day Second Rower role.

 

[HowDugWT]

We are not short it is just our option are trash.

 

[Magpie1969]

We are not short it is just our option are trash.

Who would you pick as your ideal second rowers and lock from the 16 teams and reason why.

 

[JC99]

We are not short it is just our option are trash.

Who would you pick as your ideal second rowers and lock from the 16 teams and reason why.

Lock is an easy choice.... Taumalolo. Best forward in the world even in an average team. Pumps out 200+ metres easily every week , crazy good footwork and mobility for a man his size and has good passing and defending.

Second rowers would probably be Kikau, you give him the ball near the tryline and he scores, has a magnificent offload which often sets up his outside men and is a great target for kicks as well

For the other second rower it’s an underrated player but I’d go Elliot Whitehead to be honest. Hard working guy who can score a try set up his outside men and play long minutes. Does everything really well. Could say the same about Cordner but the bloke can’t stay on the field. Kenny Bromwich is also a really good choice

For me I like having one big impact second rower who threatens the defensive line every time he runs the ball while your other second rower is more of a work horse, still runs good lines and can score a try but plays bigger minutes and does his job really well.

 

[TigerSJ]

Good post KK.
I agree 100% that we need a lock and have written previously that, in my opinion, Twal is not that guy. I would much prefer him to move back to prop and see us develop Sam M, or try to pick up someone else if possible. I also agree that we need a lock that can add another dimension to our attack (especially for next season and beyond when we'll be without the creativity of Benji). Some of the more creative locks have a great passing and kicking game and pop up on both sides of the field, play down short sides etc. In order to keep the defense in two minds, your attack needs to come from numerous areas not just limited to one or two players and this is evident in the top teams - compared to us where the only impetus in attack comes from the halves and hooker (and maybe Noffa).

 

[supercoach]

We are not short it is just our option are trash.

Who would you pick as your ideal second rowers and lock from the 16 teams and reason why.

Lock is an easy choice.... Taumalolo. Best forward in the world even in an average team. Pumps out 200+ metres easily every week , crazy good footwork and mobility for a man his size and has good passing and defending.

Second rowers would probably be Kikau, you give him the ball near the tryline and he scores, has a magnificent offload which often sets up his outside men and is a great target for kicks as well

For the other second rower it’s an underrated player but I’d go Elliot Whitehead to be honest. Hard working guy who can score a try set up his outside men and play long minutes. Does everything really well. Could say the same about Cordner but the bloke can’t stay on the field. Kenny Bromwich is also a really good choice

For me I like having one big impact second rower who threatens the defensive line every time he runs the ball while your other second rower is more of a work horse, still runs good lines and can score a try but plays bigger minutes and does his job really well.

I am with you on Whitehead, unbelievably good footballer who fly’s under the radar with a lot of so called experts. As far as quality second rowers, Cordner to me is the best, his game in last years GF was unbelievable and I thought he was best on ground by a country mile. Sadly I think this career might be close to ending after countless concussions

 

[JC99]

We are not short it is just our option are trash.

Who would you pick as your ideal second rowers and lock from the 16 teams and reason why.

Lock is an easy choice.... Taumalolo. Best forward in the world even in an average team. Pumps out 200+ metres easily every week , crazy good footwork and mobility for a man his size and has good passing and defending.

Second rowers would probably be Kikau, you give him the ball near the tryline and he scores, has a magnificent offload which often sets up his outside men and is a great target for kicks as well

For the other second rower it’s an underrated player but I’d go Elliot Whitehead to be honest. Hard working guy who can score a try set up his outside men and play long minutes. Does everything really well. Could say the same about Cordner but the bloke can’t stay on the field. Kenny Bromwich is also a really good choice

For me I like having one big impact second rower who threatens the defensive line every time he runs the ball while your other second rower is more of a work horse, still runs good lines and can score a try but plays bigger minutes and does his job really well.

I am with you on Whitehead, unbelievably good footballer who fly’s under the radar with a lot of so called experts. As far as quality second rowers, Cordner to me is the best, his game in last years GF was unbelievable and I thought he was best on ground by a country mile. Sadly I think this career might be close to ending after countless concussions

Cordner is a coaches dream player, rarely misses tackles runs the right lines leads by example does all the tough stuff and the 1%. Might not be as flashy as other guys but he never lets you down. Had a horror run with head knocks

 

[Sart0ri]

To make it even less certain, Luke Brooks has played mostly in the middle of the field for the last two games. He played as a distributor and controller like Pierce, Cleary and Cronk, which narrows the role of the lock.

If we continue with this setup, I would go for a more mobile middle forward that can make a lot of meters and defend well, like Nathan Brown or Tyson Frizell.