The flip side is that lock could be half a second slower to every breakdown, get gassed earlier, perform wise in link play due to potentially being slower etc.

I think the argument is pick players based on the main requirements of a position then look at the nice to haves rather than letting the nice to haves override weaknesses in skills central to the position. It's no coincidence that in our triple lock era, we were constantly slow to the breakdown with one lock flanker getting gassed early and then the other also getting gassed for having to compensate.

There is a reason the to me evolved as they did.