#CowboyDavid
01-06-2006, 07:56 PM
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 6:18 PM
One-time Queensland enforcer Greg Dowling has put his Origin job on the line by calling on Darren Lockyer to return to fullback and relinquish the captaincy.
"That'll probably land me in trouble with Mal (Meninga)," the former Queensland and Australian prop told AAP.
"If I get the chop, so be it.
"But I'm hoping it will motivate them.
"I imagine Lockyer will not be too happy with me but I'm saying it for the right reasons."
Dowling believes Lockyer would best help Queensland save the series by playing fullback and handing over the captaincy to North Queensland's Johnathan Thurston.
He said Wests Tigers halfback Scott Prince should partner Thurston in the halves and feels the Maroons need another big, tough forward to add some missing aggression after being belted in Sydney last week.
"It's my call and I know it's a big one," Dowling wrote in his weekly Cairns Post newspaper column.
"Darren Lockyer is not leadership material at Origin level.
"He's a great player, no doubt and has an aura about him.
"But to me, he does not motivate his men, he leads more by example."
Dowling said Lockyer was a "cool, calm and collected" player but at times not boisterous enough with his players.
"I just think in the battle, with these new guys you need someone who keeps talking and talking to them," said Dowling.
"Thurston is going to be there for the next 10 years and he'll be a future captain."
Dowling was brought into Origin camp by Meninga along with several former Queensland players to help coach the young forwards making their debuts in Sydney.
He accepted responsibility for their lack of aggression in the first half but promised to address that before the return game on June 14.
He didn't stir the young players' emotions enough on game night because be believed players prepared differently to his day.
"I was wrong and I will personally be putting a bomb under these guys next time," he said.
Lockyer doesn't want to play fullback.
He played there in the final 30 minutes of the Test against New Zealand earlier this month and looked very dangerous.
"We saw what happened in the Test, he carved them up," said Dowling.
Lockyer is fed up with the endless calls for him to play fullback.
Former NSW Origin coaches Phil Gould and Tim Sheens are the latest calling for the move.
Gould even said Queensland should leave Lockyer out of its Origin side all together for the return game - a ludicrous suggestion given his stature as one of the game's best players.
"It's obviously something that doesn't go away, no matter what I do at five-eighth," said Lockyer.
"The Origin game was very disappointing and being a senior player within the team, I feel personally like I've let everyone down and it's an awful feeling.
"I'm better off just not commenting on it any more.
"I've said what I have to say and it's out of my hands, I'll just leave it at that."
Queensland coach Mal Meninga was not available for comment.
Source: AAP
One-time Queensland enforcer Greg Dowling has put his Origin job on the line by calling on Darren Lockyer to return to fullback and relinquish the captaincy.
"That'll probably land me in trouble with Mal (Meninga)," the former Queensland and Australian prop told AAP.
"If I get the chop, so be it.
"But I'm hoping it will motivate them.
"I imagine Lockyer will not be too happy with me but I'm saying it for the right reasons."
Dowling believes Lockyer would best help Queensland save the series by playing fullback and handing over the captaincy to North Queensland's Johnathan Thurston.
He said Wests Tigers halfback Scott Prince should partner Thurston in the halves and feels the Maroons need another big, tough forward to add some missing aggression after being belted in Sydney last week.
"It's my call and I know it's a big one," Dowling wrote in his weekly Cairns Post newspaper column.
"Darren Lockyer is not leadership material at Origin level.
"He's a great player, no doubt and has an aura about him.
"But to me, he does not motivate his men, he leads more by example."
Dowling said Lockyer was a "cool, calm and collected" player but at times not boisterous enough with his players.
"I just think in the battle, with these new guys you need someone who keeps talking and talking to them," said Dowling.
"Thurston is going to be there for the next 10 years and he'll be a future captain."
Dowling was brought into Origin camp by Meninga along with several former Queensland players to help coach the young forwards making their debuts in Sydney.
He accepted responsibility for their lack of aggression in the first half but promised to address that before the return game on June 14.
He didn't stir the young players' emotions enough on game night because be believed players prepared differently to his day.
"I was wrong and I will personally be putting a bomb under these guys next time," he said.
Lockyer doesn't want to play fullback.
He played there in the final 30 minutes of the Test against New Zealand earlier this month and looked very dangerous.
"We saw what happened in the Test, he carved them up," said Dowling.
Lockyer is fed up with the endless calls for him to play fullback.
Former NSW Origin coaches Phil Gould and Tim Sheens are the latest calling for the move.
Gould even said Queensland should leave Lockyer out of its Origin side all together for the return game - a ludicrous suggestion given his stature as one of the game's best players.
"It's obviously something that doesn't go away, no matter what I do at five-eighth," said Lockyer.
"The Origin game was very disappointing and being a senior player within the team, I feel personally like I've let everyone down and it's an awful feeling.
"I'm better off just not commenting on it any more.
"I've said what I have to say and it's out of my hands, I'll just leave it at that."
Queensland coach Mal Meninga was not available for comment.
Source: AAP