IT’S TIME FOR THE NEXT GEN: TATE

FORMER Cowboy Brent Tate believes the debut of Tom Gilbert is the first of many to come this season.

Tate has demanded Cowboys coach Paul Green give the next generation a crack after the Cowboys’ young brigade bashed down the door in the off-season.

Teenage hopefuls Hamiso TabuaiFidow and Gilbert have shown an intense commitment to their work on the training paddock while Daejarn Asi, Ben Condon and Wiremu Greig have all shown their skill in the pre-season.

Tate, who will call tonight’s game for Fox League, said Green had shown an unabashed loyalty to some of the Cowboys greats, and while he applauded it, it was time to blood the next generation.

“There is a whole new crop of Cowboys coming through and the great thing is they are all good kids,” Tate said. “They are committed and the club comes first. They all train hard and they all have good attitudes, I wouldn’t have said that about the guys coming through over the last couple of years.

“I hope we see a lot of these young kids because it is definitely time. Greeny has been really loyal to a lot of those guys for a long time but I think it is time.

“If they don’t get their opportunity here then they will go somewhere else.”

Tate picked out speedy teenager Tabuai-fidow after the Cairns product became a household name during the NRL Nines tournament in February.

Cowboys v Sharks will be broadcast live and exclusive on Fox League and streamed on Kayo from 7.45pm tonight.