NRL: Lockyer an ageless marvell, say players

Will Darren Lockyer play until he's 40? Photo / Getty Images

Darren Lockyer's teammates and adversaries have marvelled at his longevity, suggesting the champion five-eighth could continue playing until he's 40.

Lockyer kicks off his 17th season this weekend, linking with longtime coach Wayne Bennett as captain of the NRL All Stars side to play the Indigenous All Stars at Skilled Park.

It's a union which started when Lockyer was a teenager and which netted both premiership, Origin and Test successes before Bennett left the Broncos to coach St George Illawarra in 2009.

Wests Tigers and New Zealand international Benji Marshall, whom Lockyer refers to as his nemesis following World Cup and Four Nations finals losses to the Kiwis, regards playing alongside his childhood hero on Saturday night as a great honour.

"For a guy who's been targeted over his entire career with the big boys running at him and tackling him, to go 17 seasons - that's an unbelievable achievement," Marshall said.

"I feel privileged when I play against him and even more honoured in this type of showpiece game to play alongside him."

Marshall, who has shown his own special character to come back from three serious shoulder injuries to be one of the game's entertainers, found it hard to fathom how a player who endures as much punishment as Lockyer could still be going after so long.

"To tell you the truth, I'll be very happy if I can get through 10 (years) after the injuries I've been through," he told AAP.

"I wish I could emulate what Locky has done but it would be a very tough achievement.

"In my eyes he is one of the greatest of all time."

Lockyer's Origin and Test partner Johnathan Thurston, who'll lead the Indigenous side as Preston Campbell's stand-in, echoed Marshall's accolades about Lockyer's incredible endurance and toughness.

"It blows you away to think he's played that much, especially in this day and age when the contact and the physical part of the game is so tough that it grinds your body down," said Thurston who has shared Queensland's Origin domination with Lockyer.

"It just goes to show what type of person he is and just how tough he is.

"He looks after his body. Hopefully he's got a couple more (seasons) left in him."

Thurston said Lockyer, who'll play his 334th NRL game next month in the season-opener against his Cowboys, took a beating every time he stepped onto the field but never complained or lost his cool in battle.

"He doesn't play out on the wing, he plays in the front line and teams target him but he's never taken a backward step.

"It shows the character of the person he is.

"He's a very tough man."

On the Broncos front, Lockyer continues to set the pace for the crop of youngsters who are playing with a legend and don't want it to end.

"Mate, he's an iron man, you can't stop him, he'll still be throwing those passes when he's 40 or 50," said young hooker Andrew McCullough who was five when Lockyer made his debut for the Broncos off the bench against Parramatta in 1995.

That was a wispy teenager with long blonde locks who glided across the turf with a wing on each foot.

The current model is short-cropped on top, heavier build and not quite as quick across the ground.

But the one thing that hasn't changed is what's between his ears which is why, a month short of his 34th birthday, he is still a match-winner and a player gearing up for yet another Origin tilt which could take him past Allan Langer's all-time record of 34 games.

Lockyer's ability to play all those seasons while maintaining his place at the top for Queensland and Australia stands not only as testament to his longevity but also to his ability to retain his competitive juices and his desire to be a leader.

He has seen many great players come and go since the late Cyril Connell brought him to Broncos from Dalby and introduced him to Bennett.

It's those lasting memories as a nervous young kid at the club playing with the likes of Allan Langer, Gorden Tallis, Steve Renouf, Brad Thorn, Shane Webcke and the Walters twins, Kevin and Kerrod that makes him so keen to help the current crop of youngsters get their careers started the right way.

"I don't feel any older," Lockyer said when asked if he finds preparing each year harder than the previous one.

"The landscape around me has changed, that's probably the biggest difference in the last five years or so," he adds.

"I'm way out in front when it comes to the grandad status.

"There's just a good bunch of young kids here now which makes me very excited about the upcoming season."

Talking to Lockyer you sense he believes he can lead those youngsters to a premiership before he eventually hangs up his boots.

He already has four of them (1997 - Super League, 1998, 2000 and 2006) and it would be a brave man to bet against him adding one or two more before father time finally catches up with him.

Lockyer will no doubt have some critics again who'll question whether he should still be playing, but Marshall had some of advice for the knockers.

"Whatever people say or criticise him about, they've got nothing on his record," Marshall said.