Losing: A Foreign Feeling
One man experienced a foreign feeling in England on Friday night. The feeling was losing and the man was Darren Lockyer.
After playing out one of rugby league's most successful individual seasons in 2006, captaining the Brisbane Broncos, Queensland Maroons and Australia to victory Lockyer failed to add the World Club Challenge to his trophy cabinet. Saint Helens ended that dream by recording an 18-14 victory over the Broncos in front of 23,203 lively fans in Bolton.
After the match Lockyer remained upbeat saying, "Obviously we came here to win, but we'll definitely take some positives out of it (the loss) as well. We looked good at times and showed positive signs. It was just our execution that needs to be better. At the end of the day we probably hadn't played enough football and were a little rough around the edges. But I don't want to sit here and make excuses, Saint Helens were the better team."
Looking ahead to the 2007 NRL season Lockyer is confident the Broncos can take their game to another level and improve as a team. "I think we can be a better team this year. We want to continue to improve as a team."
When pressed on his individual aspirations for the year ahead Lockyer provided little but did say, "Individually I want to improve, especially as a captain."Lockyer outlined the secret to the Broncos success. "You've got to start well to ease the pressure. You've also got to have a little luck with injuries. Each week is a challenge in itself. It's simple, work hard during the week to prepare for every game, 30 weeks a year."
Last year the Broncos began their season with a 58-10 loss to the Melbourne Storm in their final trial game. They followed that loss with an embarrassing 36-4 defeat at home to the North Queensland Cowboys. Fast forward a year and the defending premiers can feel optimistic about their title hopes following the narrow loss in England.
After playing out one of rugby league's most successful individual seasons in 2006, captaining the Brisbane Broncos, Queensland Maroons and Australia to victory Lockyer failed to add the World Club Challenge to his trophy cabinet. Saint Helens ended that dream by recording an 18-14 victory over the Broncos in front of 23,203 lively fans in Bolton.
After the match Lockyer remained upbeat saying, "Obviously we came here to win, but we'll definitely take some positives out of it (the loss) as well. We looked good at times and showed positive signs. It was just our execution that needs to be better. At the end of the day we probably hadn't played enough football and were a little rough around the edges. But I don't want to sit here and make excuses, Saint Helens were the better team."
Looking ahead to the 2007 NRL season Lockyer is confident the Broncos can take their game to another level and improve as a team. "I think we can be a better team this year. We want to continue to improve as a team."
When pressed on his individual aspirations for the year ahead Lockyer provided little but did say, "Individually I want to improve, especially as a captain."Lockyer outlined the secret to the Broncos success. "You've got to start well to ease the pressure. You've also got to have a little luck with injuries. Each week is a challenge in itself. It's simple, work hard during the week to prepare for every game, 30 weeks a year."
Last year the Broncos began their season with a 58-10 loss to the Melbourne Storm in their final trial game. They followed that loss with an embarrassing 36-4 defeat at home to the North Queensland Cowboys. Fast forward a year and the defending premiers can feel optimistic about their title hopes following the narrow loss in England.
posted by Chris Walker at 12:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home