I don't get the hate with Gallen playing prop, if anything he is better there, that way he doesn't interfere with the ball playing which he is terrible at imo. As long as they play him reasonable minutes (40-50) it'll be perfect
he defends in the middle. not a big difference between the way a middle forward and prop plays there.
but in attack, he has to be adept at bending the line and getting the defence going backwards. that's what a prop does. Gallen is undersized to consistently do this as well as shoulder the load in the middle of defence..........and in origin.
Gallen plays as a small forward. he runs to the line, looks for holes in the line, looks to offload before or at the line, that's his normal game. But so 'he doesn't interfere with the ball playing' or to fit other players in (and that is to fit Merrin into this squad), we're going into one of the most important positions in a football team with an undersized, bit part option when NSW have real prop forwards to take on this role.
and if you believe Gallen will only play 40-50 mins, then your're in la la land. Pandering to individual players egos is yet another mistake NSW make and will end up ruining NSW chances.
If Merrin is considered to be the better option as a small forward, then go with him without weakening another part of the team. If it means leaving Gal out or on the bench, so be it. But all of Watmough, Merrin & Gal should not be in this squad. To do so, Daley has to weaken other areas, like Stuart did. If you go small, it's imperative to win the completed set count. It's the only way that you have a chance of to win the trench battle, otherwise the smaller pack will end up being dominated by bigger bodies from too much defending. Stuart went with this gameplan, NSW did not win enough of the ball and QLD forwards eventually wore down the NSW mobile pack in the crucial 50-70 min period of games.
