I was never really a Lochead fan but I think he was still better than Hogg and quite a bit better than Rowe, but then he was probably on quite a bit more money. Whether this is a good decision from Merrick all depends on who we can bring in. Best of luck to Tony, hopefully he can get a stint somewhere he doesn't mind living.
Edit Sam Worthington on stuff makes it sound like Rowe has not been signed and will effectively be on trial. That makes sense, he doesn't have many obvious places to go and would have been silly for the coach to sign him based on 2 games when he can afford to take a proper look at him.