NRL: Locke takes stock after dip in form

Kevin Locke has hit a roadblock on his path to superstardom. Photo / Greg Bowker

In January, Kevin Locke's cherubic face stared down at motorists from highway billboards, his image was prominent on the Warriors' website and in the club's promotional material.

After last year's breakthrough season, the 21-year-old was quickly anointed as a budding superstar.

The elevation in his profile was designed to drive interest in a club desperate to rebound from a horror 2009 season. Locke was exciting. Locke was the future.

So far this season, however, Locke's career has mirrored the plight of the Auckland motorists looking up at those billboards - not quite stalled, but definitely bogged down in traffic.

For a kid from Northcote who not all that long ago was working in Mt Smart's kitchens preparing meals for corporate guests, living up to the hype hasn't been easy.

The pressure has got to him, he admits. "People know you and say 'you are the man' and stuff. But it is hard because you have got to be the man, you've got to perform on the weekend. And there are weeks where you are just like, 'oh no'. If you are having a bad game, you certainly know it.

"It is a lot to live up to. It is a different lifestyle to what I used to have.

"It has affected me a little bit, the publicity and stuff. It is hard in a way, but it is also good. It puts me out there.

"The club see me as the future, but basically I have to show why I should be there. I am going to have to start picking my game up."

That is certainly the message he has received from coaches Ivan Cleary and Tony Iro.

Locke broke into first grade against the Tigers in round 12 last year, marking the occasion with two tries. A line-break specialist, he cut apart the NRL's best defences, running for an average 104 metres per game.

But the twinkling feet and blazing breakouts that were such a feature of his debut season have been seldom seen this year.

That 104-metre average has dropped to 81 metres per game, while his error rate is up - a team-high 11 fumbles in just seven matches.

Hardly superstar numbers.

After a particularly miserable outing against the Panthers in round six he was dropped, sent down to the feeder club Auckland Vulcans with a proverbial foot up his backside.

So what is wrong with the wonder kid? Have fame and money really gone to his head? Or have opposing sides figured him out?

Have the physical demands of first grade taken their toll? Has he put on too much weight too fast, bulking up to 85kg from around 60kg.

Is he injured, or has the rigid, mistake-free focus of first-grade footy shackled his natural ability?

The answer is most likely a little bit of all of those things.

"Mixed" is how Iro describe's Locke's efforts so far this year.

Iro doesn't mince his words. Locke was dropped because his effort levels weren't acceptable. Success had probably come just a little bit too easily.

"The game is that tough that if you just sort of mentally drop away 2, 3, 4 per cent then you get found out pretty quickly," Iro said.

"You have got to be working harder than everybody else. I'm hoping that's a good lesson for Nobby [Locke]."

Locke's second-season blues are hardly unique. Iro has seen it all before.

"He is so naturally talented and you see that from a lot of players at a lot of clubs. They go through junior grades where they dominate and they don't actually have to work hard to get results.

"Sometimes they get into first grade and things happen naturally for them, but if you are not working hard at your game every week you soon get caught out. I think that happened with Kevin. He wasn't the first player for that to happen to and he won't be the last, either.

"There are plenty of players sitting in reserve grade in Sydney who have gotten as many wraps as Kevin Locke. Some players come out of it and some players don't.

"We are confident he is good enough to come out of it and be a regular first grader."

To his credit, Locke took his demotion well, copping it on the chin and quickly working his way back to first grade. "It was something I was expecting, the way I had been playing leading up to the time I got the chop," he said. "It happens to everyone. It was a big wakening call for me."

Locke's struggles haven't all been down to attitude. Opponents have worked him out, and he is nursing a shoulder injury that will eventually require surgery.

"It hurts pretty bad. It aches on cold days and when I get a knock. It's a near-future thing. I'm probably looking towards the end of the season - if it doesn't bugger up before then. At the moment it is all right.

"You do get knocked around a bit and, myself being so little, if you walk into the wrong shoulder you certainly come out second-best."

The confidence that was so evident when he first broke into the team had taken a hit, he admitted.

"It has been a bit hard this season. Everyone knows your game. Coming in last year as a freshman, people don't really know you.

"It just comes down to preparation really. If I haven't prepared myself well for the game I lose a bit of confidence. I have certainly been focussing on that sort of stuff."

The inevitable theories about success having gone to his head have accompanied Locke's struggles. Locke, however, maintains he hasn't changed. He still lives near where he grew up and he still has the same group of friends.

"I would never move out of my roots. I have probably moved into a bit more of a safe area, but I still go back there. And I've been down to a couple of [Northcote] trainings and ran around with the boys on a Tuesday and Thursday night. I still do that sort of stuff. Nothing has really changed. I still hang around with the same mates I used to when I was a little kid.

"Just because I have a profile now, doesn't mean I have to change because of it."

Whether this is just a temporary setback or the first sign Locke might not live up to the hype remains to be seen. He scored a try in his comeback match last week but his shaky handling smacked of a player lacking confidence.

Once he looked to the manor born. Now it seems he questions whether he really belongs.

Iro doesn't share those doubts.

"I certainly thought his performance last week was the best he has had this season. We are just hoping he can grow on that because we know there is a lot more to come from him. Hopefully he realises that too."