Cowboys coach backs Ty Williams as No.1
Cowboys coach Neil Henry has backed former Origin winger Ty Williams to come up trumps against the Dragons quality kicking game which has elevated them into early NRL premiership favouritism.
Williams, who has left his comfort zone on the wing to play fullback for injured No.1 Matt Bowen, copped some criticism for making a few errors at the back in last weekend's 28-20 win over the Panthers at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Henry rejected the criticism expressing full confidence in the 29 year-old's ability and experience to handle Jamie Soward's dangerous kicking game at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
"Ty had to field 20 kicks ... he got whacked fielding a ball in goal; he attacked the ball and one went over his shoulder, a wicked bounce ... But he got good metres (135m) at the back and he's been pretty safe.
"I thought his support play was very good (against Penrith). He got us some good metres around the ruck and was very aggressive with his carries."
Henry has done his home work on the Dragons who've built their two victories around discipline and a strong kicking game.
"They are going extremely well early in the year, with a very high completion rate," said Henry, expecting his own halves Johnathan Thurston and Grant Rovelli to pick up their kicking games to secure better field position.
"I think they (Dragons) have only made two errors in their own 40 metres in 160 minutes of football and they've got a very good kicking game.
"We need to work on our kicking game.
"The ends of our sets weren't very good. He (Rovelli) played a role in that and JT did as well.
"They've addressed that this week.
Henry has also gone to school on video of rangy Dragons winger Brett Morris who bagged a hat-trick of tries against the Bulldogs last weekend.
Morris scored five tries in two games against the Cowboys last season.
"He's been dangerous, they've really got those cut-out passes going on that side of the field and he plays with great width.
"We've already looked at some vision of that this morning and we'll need to be a fair bit better defensively to keep them out."
The new down town rule seems to suit the Dragons at both ends, with Soward having such good vision and placement, and Morris, Jason Nightingale and Darius Boyd such good kick returners.
Henry believes the new rule is discouraging the blockers protecting the kicker who is under more pressure to find open space.
"The Bulldogs struggled last week against the Dragons getting their kicks away and getting quality kicks away," he said.
"The Dragons have got a very potent back three with Morris and Nightingale both strong carriers of the ball and Darius Boyd who is regularly making 150 metres on his carries - they've really got good metres in their back trio.
"We need to find grass between them or test them out in different ways."
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