Lockyer awards not a joke
November 27th 2008 07:46
Darren Lockyer’s controversial man of the match award in last week’s World Cup final is nothing such. Despite being met with outrage by critics and fans who are slamming the decision, this backlash would not have occurred if Australia beat the Kiwis.
It is common in many sports to select the player of the match well before the final whistle, often for media purposes.
And for 70 minutes, Lockyer was once again Australia’s messiah in a side that boosts young guns Israel Folau, Johnathon Thurston, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis.
With the Australian forwards being dominated and Thurston misfiring badly, a lot was resting on the Australian captain's shoulders when the game was in the balance.
And Lockyer delivered, as he has always done for the majority of his eleven year career in the NRL.
The 29-year-old led his team around the park well. He scored two tries, whilst also setting up Inglis for his 13th test four-pointer and kicked superbly throughout the match.
The only downer in the match for Lockyer was the try he bombed off a Cameron Smith grubber in the first half which would have established a 16 nil lead for Australia.
Although Lockyer’s efforts were rewarded in the end, the backlash surrounding his appointment as man of the match suggests he never really stood a chance of claiming the individual honour.
The majority of fans thought the Kiwis put in a fantastic team effort.
Indeed it was very difficult to single one player out, but at the end of 80 minutes there was a strong case for men such as Jeremy Smith, Nathan Fien or Lance Hohaia to have the honour rather than Lockyer.
Although Fien and Hohaia had outstanding cases for man of the match honours, the international panel of judges, Darrell Williams (New Zealand), Brian Noble (Great Britain), James Pickering (Fiji) and Bob MacCarthy (Australia) emerged with Lockyer as their best player in the final.
But what created the furore surrounding Lockyer’s award were the judges themselves, when they requested their final votes be changed after New Zealand stormed home in the last ten minutes to take the world cup.
One believes if they stuck by their decision, the unrest in the media would not have occurred and everyone would live with Lockyer’s man of the match award.
Indeed Lockyer now finds himself the winner of the Harry-Sunderland medal as Australian rugby league's international player of the year.
An honour well deserved for one of league's greatest ever players.
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