Brisbane utility Matt Gillett's amazing NRL rookie season takes another twist on Friday following his shock selection on the wing against the Cowboys in Townsville.

Gillett, who started in the second-row for the injured Ben T'eo against St George Illawarra last Sunday, will complete a remarkable positional switch, replacing injured flyer Antonio Winterstein (knee).

Winterstein's injury prevents him playing against the NRL team he will join in 2011.

After training almost pain free, T'eo (fractured foot) comes into the pack with Gillett shifting to the wing where he played as a junior.

Coach Ivan Henjak was coy about Winterstein's replacement after training.

However Gillett bobbed up enough on the wing at training before the team flew to Townsville to suggest he'll get the job.

"There's three options there we can rotate," said Henjak when asked about a left wing replacement.

"It's no secret, we're going to rotate some players," he added, again sidestepping the question.

The Cowboys have made no secret they plan to stop giant young Brisbane centre Israel Folau from getting air-borne despite Henjak's calls earlier this week to penalise any repeat of tactics employed against him by the Dragons last week.

Word from up north is Folau's Queensland Origin teammate Willie Tonga and Will Tupou have been commissioned to do some "off the ball" work to dull Folau's air raids.

Dragons halfback Ben Hornby managed to run Folau off the ball a number of times last weekend and Cowboys coach Neil Henry has signalled his intention to adopt similar tactics to reduce Folau's hang time.

"Most sides put a lot of people around Izzy," Henry said this week.

"He's very good in the air and he's a real target for them.

"We'll be looking to do more of the same (and) put plenty of our jumpers around the ball."

Henjak repeated his call for match officials to make sure the 195cm Folau is not taken out illegally chasing down bombs.

"I hope the referees protect him," said Henjak, clearly still annoyed by the tactic.

"There's not much we can do if they play outside the rules.

"There was an opportunity for three or four penalties last week and they weren't forthcoming.

Justin Hodges (Achilles) took part in some of Thursday's session but Henjak said he was still a few weeks away.

"I'm happy to see him out there, he's getting closer," he said.

"We're not counting our chickens yet, but it looking a lot more positive than it was a month ago."

Henjak felt the Cowboys were close to jagging a win that would give them some confidence and self-belief.

"Their season might be gone but there's always a lot riding on the derby between us two."

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