Look Graham is far from a superstar but he's obviously worked pretty hard on his game after an ordinary 2009 and to say he doesn't deserve a start in front of Bani and J Williams, even somewhat out of position, well you must of have been watching different Cowboys games to us Pete.
I know he has improved, I was one of only a few on here who commented on it in the early part of the season when everybody else wanted him dropped.
The problem is he's terrible on the wing. That drop he had early in the second half was embarrassing and he was caught out on a few occasions that night.
Mind you, I'd rather see somebody else on the wing before all three. Quite possibly Malone, although, I do need to find more footage of him before I make a judgement call there. The media reports have been kind though.
His defence and handling has improved, but his positional play is still very ordinary. Someone brought up a while ago that he was not providing any cover for Williams under bombs - I don't think Williams would have caught it anyway, but this certainly didn't help.
Good point.
It was fairly obvious in the Warriors game for mine.
A lot of people will disagree with me on this point, but I feel we already have enough attacking backrowers. Bolton, Mason, O'Donnell and maybe Webb are all better than Leeson at this. I'd prefer another defensive player in there to do some of the tackling and keep those guys fresher for the attack.
O'Donnell and Webb better attacking players? Maybe in 2009 but this season Leeson has been a handful and has attracted plenty of attention. To me, he's an ideal front row benchy.
Besides, you have Rapira there for defence, and if you really want somebody there in d, why not Kaufusi? Dude has only missed 4 tackles all season (and has made more than a few you've listed to boot).
Out of curiosity Big Pete, what would your ideal lineup look like?
For this weekend?
Actually not too different from the one I named.
1. Shannon Gallant
2. Donald Malone
3. Ash Graham
4. Willie Tonga
5. Will Tupou
6. Matt Bowen
7. Jonathan Thurston
8. Mat Scott
9. Aaron Payne
10. James Tamou
11. Scott Bolton
12. Willie Mason
13. Luke O'Donnell
14. Anthony Watts
15. Steve Rapira
16. Antonio Kaufusi
17. Leeson Ah Mau
18. Ben Harris
19. Dane Hogan
Gallant doesn't deserve to be dropped for that performance. He put in, and deserves to be retained.
Malone on the wing may some quizzical but I keep hearing a lot of good things about him and I believe he deserves to be rewarded. Cowboys also need some more speed down the edges and given he has more confidence than Bani right now, I believe he would be the ideal winger.
Graham has been solid all-season. He doesn't deserve to be dropped.
The rest basically writes itself. Bowen can remain at five eigth, I feel as if he and Thurston would strike up a good combination in the mean time, and he did a wonderful job of organising on Saturday.
Rapira and Kaufusi are strong defenders off the bench while Ah Mau brings forward the impact.
Harris and Hogan can tour too, let them feel involved.
Webb needs more time on the field, I'd have him play for the Pride and getting them to play him for 60 minutes and just have him increase his workload. Dude needs to work on the basics.
At full strength though, Thompson would be there and Bowen would be at fullback.
Wingers maybe different too, either Malone or Geia, whoever is more confident, can catch and can run like the wind.
