OFFICIAL Cowboys 2010 Thread

[The Pain Game]

I like that team, but I am not sure I would have that as my bench (for a combination as opposed to all the players individually). It could work perfectly if Webb fires as an impact player and Tamou and Rapira keep improving on last year, but we cannot rely on three kids and an inconsistent Webb. I hope Manukafoa steps up or signing Mason helps. Remember last year when we had Scott, LOD, Tronc (and even Webb at the end of the year) and Bolton (before burning out at the end of the year) all performing, yet we had little from the bench with the exception of Tamou and Rapira (but they both burnt out later in the season too).

Maybe even Isaak AuMau could help. He is a mature age player who is probably looking for that chance like Ray Cashmere was. I could be wrong, but I think one of the Lowe brothers might be returning to the Cowboys (in the feeder clubs).

 

[StinkyPete]

I like that team, but I am not sure I would have that as my bench (for a combination as opposed to all the players individually). It could work perfectly if Webb fires as an impact player and Tamou and Rapira keep improving on last year, but we cannot rely on three kids and an inconsistent Webb. I hope Manukafoa steps up or signing Mason helps. Remember last year when we had Scott, LOD, Tronc (and even Webb at the end of the year) and Bolton (before burning out at the end of the year) all performing, yet we had little from the bench with the exception of Tamou and Rapira (but they both burnt out later in the season too).

Maybe even Isaak AuMau could help. He is a mature age player who is probably looking for that chance like Ray Cashmere was. I could be wrong, but I think one of the Lowe brothers might be returning to the Cowboys (in the feeder clubs).

Isaak is a 2nd rower. thats why I didn't find a place for him in my lineup. and yeah I left Manese out of the squad because of his performance last year. and I think its Ben Lowe thats now playing for Northern Pride.

 

[Broncos fan!]

Isaak is a 2nd rower. thats why I didn't find a place for him in my lineup. and yeah I left Manese out of the squad because of his performance last year. and I think its Ben Lowe thats now playing for Northern Pride.

Isaak was playing prop every time I saw him play last year for Easts.

 

[Newcastle Cow]

Hi all, great to be able to put down some thoughts re the Cows in 2010, without boring my mates about it. I’m feeling pretty damn pessimistic about this season, hoping they will prove me wrong though. Here’s a few of my thoughts..

I think we can need to re-think how to use Bowen when he comes back…..

Mango is a vary much a ‘confidence player’. If the last few seasons have shown us anything it’s that Matty takes a long time to find his feet and get his confidence back when he is returning from a serious injury and if he’s not even going to be able to play until mid-season then, providing Gallant is fit & playing solidly I think we would be making a mistake in rushing Matty back to FB. Maybe he could come of the bench as a 5/8 or even a hooker, his defence would probably be up to it and he might give us some other options, it would force him to get involved a bit more anyway.

Hooker/Halves

I know many of you might disagree with this but I think we need more out of Payney. I remember in the good years he would constantly be running out of dummy half, creating chances and tearing opposition defences apart. I know much of that was due to having a fully confident/fit Bowen sniffing about the rucks, but it seems like he hardly ever runs from dummy-half anymore, count the times he runs from dummy half these days and it’s barely a handful a game, even though he spends less time on the field. That’s why I think we need to find someone else to consistently partner JT in the halves (maybe Rovelli, I’m in NSW so I don’t know much about the others) and keep Watts as our 2nd hooker. Its not that I don’t think Watts could make a go of 5/8, but I just think he provides a spark from hooker that Payne doesn’t seem to have anymore.

Outside backs

As you’ve all pointed out this is our real weak-spot and, with the exception of Tonga and John Williams, we could argue indefinitely about who the other two should be. All I will say is that I’m definitely in the anit-Bani camp. I dunno who had the idea of recruiting Bani, Heggarty and (going back a season or two) Minto or releasing Ben Farrar (who, as someone else pointed out, was a real bright spot in out spluttering backline) but I hope they are having a good hard look at themselves.

Go cows!

 

[StinkyPete]

releasing Ben Farrar (who, as someone else pointed out, was a real bright spot in out spluttering backline) but I hope they are having a good hard look at themselves.

Go cows!

Hey Newcastle Cow welcome to LU.

Agree with most of what you said. Ben Farrar was released because his mum had/has cancer I'm unsure hows shes doing. the move to Manly got him closer to his family and I spose getting Bani was better than not getting another backline player.

 

[StinkyPete]

Isaak was playing prop every time I saw him play last year for Easts.

my mistake got him mixed up with his brother already!](*,)

 

[Talanexor]

I've been pretty happy with the way Payne was playing right up until he got injured. I have a feeling he was told to tone down his dummy-half running and leave that to Watts. It's probably the best aspect of Watts' game, so it doesn't make sense to do it so often the other team expects us to run the ball on every tackle.

Bowen has been playing five-eighth (with the 1 on his back) ever since that first knee op. He made a name for himself as a great broken line runner, looking for offloads and running through lazy forwards. Now he's being used as a ball-player more and more.

Gallant, on the other hand, modeled his game around how Bowen used to play. Which hopefully means that midway through this season we'll have two talented ball players AND a speedy fullback who can pop up anywhere. Gallant should do wonders for our attack.

Also agree with you about Bani. It wouldn't be fair to stop Farrar leaving when his mum had cancer, and getting Bani is better than getting no one in return, but I still don't think he belongs in first grade. We've done fairly well recently in recruiting young fringe first graders (Rapira, Tamou, Watts and hopefully Gallant, Stig and Tupou), but surely we could sign a decent outside back? There are tons of them around, all much much better players than Bani, and they would cost under 100K.

I'm actually fairly optimistic about this season for a couple of reasons:

1 - Shannon Gallant. Highly rated by Tigers fans, played really well in the games I saw, speed to burn and more importantly, FREES UP BOWEN TO PLAY IN THE HALVES. Hopefully he turns out to be a real weapon.

2 - Neil Henry and BJ. Defence and fitness improved DRASTICALLY from 2008-2009. We're starting from a much better level of strength, fitness and conditioning in 2010, so this should mean fewer injuries and an even better performance as a team. Also, we saw How Neil Henry operates at the Raiders - focus on defence and fitness the first year, focus on attack in the second year.

3 - More game-time for injured/inexperienced players. Last year Bowen, Kaufusi, Tonga, Graham, Southern and Watts were recovering from major operations or were carrying injuries the whole season which affected their performance. An injury-free offseason for nearly the whole squad should ensure we're at peak performance. Also, a lot of our younger players now have a lot more experience at NRL level and should be better for the run. Rapira, Tamou, Bolton in particular.

4 - Depth. We have plenty of decent forwards and plenty of halves/hookers. The only place we have a problem is the outside backs - and its not that we don't have any depth there, its just that most of them aren't good enough for first grade. If we don't recruit an outside back and Malone/Tupou/Geia don't stand up, I expect to see a lot of LOD in the centres. Which is a good thing.

 

[Newcastle Cow]

some great points Talanexor. I guess if the JT issue doesn't drag out and Gallant plays like we all hope there is some cause for optimism. And we obviously have plenty of useful forwards, lets hope most of them can play to their ability consistently.

Its good to know there was a reason for the Farrar thing, and obviously thats a fair enough reason for letting him go. Still don't think we needed Bani though, as you said that was money we could have better spent elsewhere.

I'm in two minds about LOD at centre. Everyone knows what he is capable of but his lack of pace & the time it will take him to learn to play there worry me a bit. But I suppose he's probably the best option, we did fine with Bowman at centre, and he was hardly a speedster

 

[Talanexor]

some great points Talanexor. I guess if the JT issue doesn't drag out and Gallant plays like we all hope there is some cause for optimism. And we obviously have plenty of useful forwards, lets hope most of them can play to their ability consistently.

Its good to know there was a reason for the Farrar thing, and obviously thats a fair enough reason for letting him go. Still don't think we needed Bani though, as you said that was money we could have better spent elsewhere.

I'm in two minds about LOD at centre. Everyone knows what he is capable of but his lack of pace & the time it will take him to learn to play there worry me a bit. But I suppose he's probably the best option, we did fine with Bowman at centre, and he was hardly a speedster

Luke O'Donnell brings more to the centre position that any of the other options do.

NOTHING will get through on the right edge with him and John Williams defending together - and this was where we leaked the majority of our points in 2009.

Also, he's pretty quick for a big man and great at sucking in defenders and offloading. He's also very good at breaking through the line - all good qualities for a centre to possess. I don't think he'll get found out for lack of pace - and he's quicker than Luke Covell, for instance, a first grade winger - because his positioning is so damn good and because he rarely if ever misses tackles.

I also don't think that his absence will significantly weaken our forward pack, as we have plenty of talented backrowers already, certainly more than we do decent centres.

11. Bolton
12. Rapira
13. Southern

2nd Row Reserves:

Webb
Tamou
Manuokafoa
Ah Mau (forget which is the second rower)
Harris
Hogan

Although I do have to say, it would be pretty ironic if LOD played in the centres and Ben Harris played at lock forward.

It's the left wing spot that has me more concerned. Bani is too crap, Ty is too slow, Geia is too raw, Tupou and Malone aren't wingers and I don't even want to know about Ash Graham

Maybe Brenton Bowen? I've been watching a couple of older games recently and he was better than I thought.

 

[The Pain Game]

Talanexor, a couple of good points, but something I have missed before (and a lot of other people have too) is that the Cowboys conceded more penalties than anybody in 2009. Whether discipline or bias, we need to work on it because too many teams got an easy run against us when our defence was holding strong. I almost think refs would assess things at half-time (in all games) and just try even it out in the second because when we played the Storm (as one of many examples) we got heaps of penalties in the first and did not get one in the second, which was when they took it away from us.

As for the rest, I have stated my opinions about what the team needs, so I am only going to talk about players mentioned:

LOD to centre and Rapira to 11/12: Gambles like this could be worth it, but I cannot see it happening. LOD is a strong representative player and I am sure he would not want to make a full switch (if it harmed his progression). Although it would be best for the club, and Luke might be saving tries, I think playing there will irritate him and he will miss having an impact in the middle (or leading from the front). Hopefully this is where Mason (if we sign him) pushes for the front-row and a slimmer Carl Webb fires alongside Southern and Bolton (in the back-row).

Rapira played above expectation in 2009, as he does not seem very large, which gives me optimism that he can step up again in 2010 (plus he has probably filled out in the off-season), but he would have to fill out a fair bit more to pull this off. When he does, he will be close to a representative player. Well, unless injuries ruin him...

Brenton Bowen? Not so sure on that. For mine, he was a real gun in reserve grade (try scoring record - phenomenal) and stepped up well in the NRL when injuries or Origin. Left the Cowboys (alongside Sweeney) when there were real chances of promotion the following year and did not get much chances at the Gold Coast. I know being home and playing alongside Matty would be a boost, but I believe his reserve grade form of recent times does not match his previous (and I put this down to his bad/unlucky run with injuries and homesickness). He will be good for depth, and whilst I love being proved wrong by players, I don't think he is the player he used to be.

Obe Geia? This kid can play. Struggled when the Toyota Cup first started but probably lacked some confidence and was distracted by some factors off the field (that I am aware of because I know him personally). Since he went back to the Townsville league, sorted his off-field dramas and then won a recall to the TC team, he started to score tries and find his confidence again. So in other words, the expectation to be a star in the Toyota Cup did not help him and he played well fighting for his spot (and not being distracted by off-field stuff). Not to mention, I have seen him play and he is an extremely agressive defender (needs to calm down a bit LOL) and can run 100 metres in 10.5 (I think) seconds (or at least when he was grade 12). Most importantly, he has added size to his previous skinny frame and can handle a few hit. Set for big things this year if given a chance!

 

[GRAHAM REMINGTON]

whats happen to shannon galant full back? can any one tell me graham