Shannon Gallant vs Ty Williams

[kruzin]

Gallant had a really good game in my opinion, 139 meters in 40 mins of football is very impressive, didn't get to watch the second half, was he just as good ?

 

[MacDougall]

Much quieter in the second half but far from poor. Ended up with 190 metres.

 

[Johns Magic]

Tupou will be dropped, Ty will go back to the wing and Gallant will be fullback. I'd bet on it.

And what when Bowen comes back?

Realistically.

 

[Big Pete]

That's an interesting thought.

It depends on how well the team is travelling. If the Cows are in good form, I'd expect Bowen to either make his way onto the bench or play for the Northern Pride in the QCup.

 

[elyod138]

There's no doubt Bowen will and should be in the team when he is fit.

If Gallant is still playing great when Bowen is due back he might get a game or 2 in QLD Cup to get his match fitness up and then either him or Gallant could work on the bench.

They can both run from dummy half and play like an extra half in attack. Ray Thompson could drop into hooker to give Payne a breather and Bowen or Gallant into 5/8 (with a lot of dummy half running) for 10-15 minutes each side of halftime.

Watts would probably have to be dropped to use the bench like that (it doesn't worry me though, IMO he is one of the few weak links left in the team).

 

[Talanexor]

Oh my god, how good is Gallant? The guy had a blinder last night. Isn't it amazing the difference a bit of speed at the back can make.

You also notice he's a natural fullback. He was always in good position in attack and defence - which is remarkable, because he adapted so quickly to Thurston's game.

His defence and his handling never really looked like being a problem. And he's got ball-playing skills as well!

This may be a big call, but if he keeps playing like that I think Bowen will have to spend a few weeks playing QLD Cup. Gallant's kick returns are amazing and thats the one major criticism I've always made of Bowen.

Honestly, 190m - that's about 3 sets worth of hitups the forwards didn't have to mak. Now wonder they looked so fresh and enthusiastic.

 

[The Pain Game]

Gallant was still a bit suspect in defence (with Minichiello on him) but we probably used to concede that when we had Bowen because he could make it back through his attack, and sometimes would come up with the big tackle. Loved Gallant's support play the most... Against the Dragons, despite JT's kicking game and our poor defence, I thought we missed support play the most, as every time there was an off-load we never had a speedster with ball-skills ready to cut up the Dragons, and JT knew we missed it. Hopefully Gallant can continue to be successful in this role.

 

[joel caine number 1 fan]

Gallant was still a bit suspect in defence (with Minichiello on him) but we probably used to concede that when we had Bowen because he could make it back through his attack, and sometimes would come up with the big tackle. Loved Gallant's support play the most... Against the Dragons, despite JT's kicking game and our poor defence, I thought we missed support play the most, as every time there was an off-load we never had a speedster with ball-skills ready to cut up the Dragons, and JT knew we missed it. Hopefully Gallant can continue to be successful in this role.

yeh hes a bit small but the guy can still pull of some try savers,he made a heap of great ones last year

 

[beave]

Gallant was still a bit suspect in defence (with Minichiello on him) but we probably used to concede that when we had Bowen because he could make it back through his attack, and sometimes would come up with the big tackle. Loved Gallant's support play the most... Against the Dragons, despite JT's kicking game and our poor defence, I thought we missed support play the most, as every time there was an off-load we never had a speedster with ball-skills ready to cut up the Dragons, and JT knew we missed it. Hopefully Gallant can continue to be successful in this role.

there was nothing wrong with Gallants defence mate, no one would stop Minichello in both those occasions, he had momentum and was close to the line, blame the players in front of Mouse for those trys.

 

[Big Pete]

Yep, the first Minichiello try was Scott's fault. That was a really bad miss by Scott and it's one reason why I don't consider him as one of the best props in the game.

The second I believe could've been prevented by O'Donnell and Tupou. Mind you, the play should've stopped before then.

 

[Talanexor]

How about we give some credit to Minichiello? He's a big unit and he runs great lines. Might even be a bolter for a NSW jersey if there weren't so many excellent NSW second rowers running around at the moment.

Gallant didn't stop him. Neither would Bowen, or Hayne or even Slater.

 

[Big Pete]

The second try you definitely could attribute to Minichiello.

The first though...that was just terrible from Scott.

 

[Talanexor]

The second try you definitely could attribute to Minichiello.

The first though...that was just terrible from Scott.

Agree. Straight out of the Ash Graham playbook that one. I hope its a one off.

 

[Big Pete]

Speaking of Ash he's been showing some good form lately.

 

[beave]

he was solid without being spectacular the other night. He didn't really do anything out of the ordinary, but he didn't do anything warranting dropping either. He still didn't look at that comfortable under the highball, his first bomb that he took he went close to spilling, but kudos to him that he didn't.

 

[Big Pete]

He shouldn't be played on the wing.

 

[beave]

agreed, but he can't play centre, so where does he get put?

 

[Talanexor]

I thought Graham would play centre in attack and wing in defence. Tupou seemed to play the whole game at centre however.

I don't really care, as long as we stop leaking points on the right.

 

[Fast Eddie]

How long is Gallant signed for? I reckon if he is given a good run at a club he could be right up there in terms of top fullbacks in the comp. I saw him play a few games for the Tigers last year and couldn't believe he didn't get a consistent gig there or the fact that you guys picked Ty Williams ahead of him.

 

[Shorty]

I think it may only be a year or two, don't quote me on that though.

Hmm, it's hard because I was thinking that when Bowen returned, we could develop him into the 5/8 role and Gallant could stay at fullback.
But with Thompson looking quite promising it's a bit of a headache!
I would like to see Gallant at least attain a bench spot, perhaps to give Payne an ease and have some fresh legs I do think that would work.
That would mean booting Watts though and I doubt Gallant would want to settle for the bench.

One thing is for sure, all those people that think it's doom and gloom for the Cowboys if Thurston leaves are pretty off the mark.