I believe Bowen having one of his off nights is our only chance of a win but that's still highly unlikely still

I'd bomb the hell out of him. He's great with ball and does things others wouldn't draw but he's a accident waiting to happen.

Why did Bowen take the final conversion of the match instead of Smith?

Bowen makes the odd mistake but that is because he often gambles to put us into good position.

He is often looking to run the ball out before he catches it so sometimes he makes an error.

However the amount of better field position that has resulted from him taking these risks far outweighs the errors imo.

The O'Brien try was more a case of ''well done O'Brien" in my opinion. Matty was never getting to the kick and was hoping for a favourable bounce that, in the end, went O'Brien's way. Just reward for a good kick and backing himself to get there. On the other side of the coin the move and pass that put Burgess in the clear was out of the top draw. I think it's fair to say that's what you get with Matty. He's a high risk player and, when it comes off, he's on a different level to most of SL. When it doesn't he can look shaky. Worth the admission money on his own when it goes for him though!

Does any other full-back in SL run the ball back as hard as Bowen?

Its one of the simple things that sets him apart from a lot of make-shift full-backs in SL.

If the weather is dry he could have a ball on the Old Trafford pitch.

When we lost Sam I thought that we would struggle at FB but Bowen to me has been a pleasure to watch he has his brainfarts as did Sam .

Agreed. The speed he returns the ball at is unbelievable and he never seems to slow to lessen the impact as he hits the line. A proper fullback (minus the odd brainfart).

One thing I noticed straight away is the fact he is always catching the ball coming forward, he's not often turning and chasing the ball. This is why he makes more yards than most, obviously his enthusiasm taking the ball forward contributes, he just make the job much easier with his positioning.

This facet of the game is always evident at international level, we don't kick well enough and the Aussies are always on the front foot from the kick. It's just something they do much better down under.

We will have Matty Bowen at full back on Saturday, Saints will have Wellens!

One has a heap of International caps. One doesn't.

There aren't many players in the Sport whether it be NRL or SL that aren't prone to the occasional balls up, its just when a Full Back does it then its usually very costly, rather like a goalkeeper in football.
Bowen is a revelation... his directness (is that a word?) is outstanding and his power superb, i can only hope its dry on Saturday and we will have a great night watching him bash them aswell as the chance he'l score a 90 harder

Wonderful player

Its lashing down on Saturday, I'd fancy Wellens before Bowen. So we had better make Saints knock on before they get to the last tackle

It is meant to be wet so it could be a real factor. One thing I would say about Bowen is it's not really been an issue of him dropping balls rather that he can be a bit dozy in his positional play and makes the odd bad call.

I think we'll see a really switched on performance on Saturday though. He's due a really big game in a big game.

I think the one on Friday was a fluke. O'Brien shaped to kick to his left but the ball came off the side of his boot. If it had been planned there would have been a chase from the Wire right edge, there wasn't.
Fair play to O'Brien though for his chase and taking the ball as it came up very quickly.

If both were Australian one would have a single cap to his name, one wouldn't have any.