melissa wrote:BTW.. who would trade Lonie when we're lacking in footskills? Between him and Didak they are two of the most accurate left foot kicks in the team. Especially on the run. Poor bloke might be injured for the first time in three years but that's no reason to dump on him. I rate him above guys like Rowe who get shuffled around the ground and keep turning the Sherrin over to the enemy.
When Lonie first made the grade he looked like a possible future captain. His skills were impeccable. Then the opposition got wise to him and kept a closer check on him. What this did was expose his defensive weaknesses.
I hate putting the guy down, especially after such a great effort against Medhurst and his injury, but the fact remains that when it comes to winning the hard ball Lonie just disappears. He waits for his opponent to pick the ball up and then goes for the tackle, but invariably misses it anyway.
He has not come on as expected. His kicking skills are great but they are only one part of what a footballer in a premiership team needs. The other attributes Lonie is failing in.
We need to somehow remove 5 players from the list at the end of the year and Lonie, even before the injury, would have been on the shortlist for that.