Dan Bowden

[kpj tiger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4BDbmA7r9Y
Found this on Youtube last night, he seems like a top quality player and could really transform the back line, cant wait to see him in action

[thebearisstilldeano]

At least he will be playing next to Manu, not opposite him...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mREICko5 ... re=related

[sam16111986]

To be fair to Bowden that is quite a bit of skill there as he is mullered by Manu. The awareness and the speed of hands to move the ball out of the contact situation to the supporting runner is classy, not to mention brave as it means he has to take the Manu tackle full bore.

He is a very good footballer who clearly likes to break the line. A good bit of competition for Allen and someone else Ford can learn off. A good signing in my book. Then again I think Cockers, the board and the scouts have done a great job this summer getting in some really talented players.

[Will S]

I think I read somewhere that one of the reasons he came to Tigers is because he has an eye on the England 12 shirt. I don't think it is long till he qualifies on residency.

I think he will push Allen very hard for the 12 shirt and with Bowden potentially having a bit more of an attacking game (still solid in defence) he may well win that battle.

[sam16111986]

Be interesting to see what Bowden's defence will be like early doors as he used to jump out the line quite a bit at LI to try and negate the effect of the oppositions big ball carriers. He won't be able to do that in the Tigers drift defence (probably a good thing as I've seen him give away a few offside penalties). He'll have to step up his defence whilst Allen will have to step up the use of his creative skills. Good old bit of competition!

[Arvski]

Haven't seen much of him play to be honest but he looks like a very skillfull player who isn't afraid to have a go.

Interesting that those clips were of him playing in NZ or for LI who both like to play attacking gaames. Think I read somewhere that Cockers brought him in to continue our attacking game from last season I wonder if he'll be told to tone things down.. To the detriment of the team and himself..

Agreed, think Allen could loose out to him in the long term. But isn't it great to have someone in the team who can kick drop goals!?

Can't wait to see him and Manu in action!

[TigerAlex]

Interesting that those clips were of him playing in NZ or for LI who both like to play attacking gaames. Think I read somewhere that Cockers brought him in to continue our attacking game from last season I wonder if he'll be told to tone things down.. To the detriment of the team and himself..

It depends on what you mean by 'tone things down.' For example, in the first video, there were a couple of lovely long loopy passes which ended up working very well in the attack, but they were also only inches away from being intercepted. I can see him being told to cut those out and that would be fair enough (in my opinion). Ditto with rushing out of the line in defence.

[bendalloway]

Looks awesome. Great step, good turn of pace, mean hand off. Solid tackles. Hope we can make the most of him next season.

[Old Hob]

That was the highlights video. Over a season, we will see the "lowlights" as well. Regression to the mean, is a key phrase.

Success = talent + luck

[Dr H Flashman MBE]

Youtube could make me look world class...(ok, maybe not ), but some of the line breaks in those clips looked really good. Eye for a gap, Manu on his shoulder, we could be even more of an attacking force than last season. Good signing for us. Hopefully he will improve like Skivington did. Looking forward to next season.

[Mo Leicester]

Reminds me of Pat Howard - but with pace!

Top signing I think.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

There will be plenty of truely dreadfull clips from his time at Otago (Super Rugby & ANZC).

Could be good signing, but I'm not sure he'll get in the team & I don't rate Allen.

[youngtiger]

Why don't you rate Allen? He, along with Flood, tore Quins to shreds Quins at the Stoop.

[The Boy Dave]

It has taken me a while to warm to Allen but the more I see him the more I have begun to appreciate his all round attributes and the more mistakes I see from other players the more I realise just how consistent Allen is.
I know he gets stick for not being as quick or exciting as some centres but there isn't alot of point in scoring one try and allowing the opposition to score two.
I think he get's it about right and he has alot of bottle in the tackle, respect!

[mike]

I too share the doubts about Allen. Whilst he has shown himself to be steady and reliable , with a good deal of skill , I doubt that he has the quality to consistently produce top notch performances in matches that really matter . I am not qualified to pass judgement on Bowden only having seen him a few times ,but cannot see any skill area in which Allen is a better player than 12trees .The inate conservatism of our Coaching staff has really missed a great opportunity by developing a pairing of Billy and Manu.