Force's Dog ready to get his bone

Force's Dog ready to get his bone

NICK TAYLOR, The West Australian April 9, 2010, 10:10 am





The "Brown Dog" is straining at the leash. Wallaby back-rower Richard Brown was prowling the ME Bank Stadium sideline last Friday with a pent-up aggression, living up to his Western Force nickname.
The previous six weeks, since dislocating his shoulder in the season opener against the Brumbies, were nothing but frustration for a player whose enthusiasm is infectious.
A laid back larrikin off field, Brown has an almost kamikaze recklessness to the way he goes about his work - even at training where he has been known to cause severe damage to his own teammates.
He may only have got 20 minutes game time against the Stormers in his side's drought-breaking win but it was enough to see that the No.8 was as fearless as ever - banged up shoulder or not.
"I'm ready to go," he said on the eve of tomorrow's clash against the Highlanders in Queenstown. "I just want to get out there and play, especially with the boys doing it tough for so many weeks.
"It's just good to be back there and contributing. I was so keen to get on against the Stormers. Every week I had been going into the sheds after the game, the boys have lost and it's a bad feeling not having contributed.
"That's one of the worst things when the guys are doing it tough, you feel you've got a respons- ibility."
The Highlanders game will be the first time coach John Mitchell has been able to start with his first choice back row of Brown, Matt Hodgson and David Pocock since the Brumbies match in February.
Not only did Brown damage his shoulder but Pocock ripped the tendon from a finger that sidelined him until last Friday.
"It will be good to get out there and play with our little group for the first time since we broke ourselves," Brown said.
"I was happy last week just to be back on the paddock earning my keep. I hope to last the 80 minutes this weekend."
He heaped praise on Sam Wykes, Ben McCalman and Richard Stanford, who stepped up to fill the gaps left by himself and Pocock, and the workload Hodgson shouldered.
"Benny and Richard and Wykesy … you can't speak highly enough of those guys," he said.
"They've done a great job and Hodgo has been playing out of his skin."
When Brown first damaged his shoulder it was thought he may have needed an operation that would effectively end his season.
The other course of action was to see if it healed well enough on its own.
"I've got through. It showed enough signs that I didn't need the operation," he said.
"I've given it a fair work-out and done a lot of fitness work, put in a few hard yards."
But he is not looking further than finishing off the season with improved results for the Force at the moment, shelving any Wallaby ambitions.
"I'm not banking on any Wallabies duties at all. I just want to see out the season and get in some good performances," he said.


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