No more hard-luck stories for Hodgson
DALE MILLER, The West Australian October 6, 2009, 7:22 am
http://l.yimg.com/fv/xp/wan/20091006/12/2401297770.jpg WA News / Mal Fairclough ©
So close yet so far is an adage uncapped Western Force flanker Matt Hodgson wants to put behind him.
The 28-year-old, who is yet to earn an official international cap, will have his fingers crossed on Friday when the 35-man Wallabies squad to tour Japan, Great Britain and Ireland is revealed.
Hodgson injured a shoulder in his only appearance for the Wallabies in the non-cap 55-7 thrashing of the Barbarians in June. He was subsequently ruled out of action for eight weeks.
The West Australian Rosendorff/ Rolex Force Player of the Year has failed to earn a starting berth for Australia since, despite working his way back into the Tri-Nations squad.
"It's been hard," Hodgson said. "That day (against the Barbarians) there was a bit of excitement running on for the first time and there was disappointment once I got injured.
"It's definitely been frustrating since then, not getting back into the 22 but I've just been trying my hardest at training and just trying to keep myself in the best position I can."
The 100kg loose forward was one of 43 players put through their paces as a four-day Wallabies training camp in Sydney kicked off yesterday.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans will use the camp to decide who makes the grade for the end-of-season tour as Australia attempt to turn around a Tri-Nations campaign, which delivered one win from six Tests.
Hodgson said the message from Deans on day one was that every squad member had a chance to be part of the tour.
"You never know, especially with the depth of the back row in Australia at the moment," Hodgson said. "There's some great players that have come back into the squad, so I'm just going to go all guns blazing."
Hodgson, one of 10 Force players at the camp, was elevated to the national squad in May. His competition is likely to come from Force teammates Richard Brown and David Pocock, as well as Brumbies back rower Stephen Hoiles and NSW Waratahs flanker Wycliff Palu.
Veteran forwards Nathan Sharpe, Phil Waugh and Al Baxter are in selection calculations after sitting on the sidelines for the second half of the Tri-Nations. The tour opens with the final Bledisloe Cup Test of the season between Australia and New Zealand in Tokyo on October 31.
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