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Mitchell may follow Giteau
BY JIM MORTON AND JUSTIN CHADWICK
24/02/2009 1:00:00 AM
Wallabies flyer Drew Mitchell is poised to follow Matt Giteau out the Western Force's door into the ACT Brumbies ranks.
As the ARU considers how to help prevent the fledgling WA team falling apart, Mitchell and fellow hot property James O'Connor admitted Giteau's departure significantly affected their future plans.
Queensland-product Mitchell was understood to have been seriously considering a move back east before Giteau at the weekend announced his return to the Brumbies next season.
Like Giteau, the 29-Test speedster had lost money owing to him through a third-party deal from former Force backer Firepower and has not been remunerated.
All three Australian Super 14 rivals are keen to snap up Mitchell with the Brumbies the early favourites due to his friendship and the lure of continuing to play with Giteau.
But the Reds, who are playing a far more attractive and attacking game to when Mitchell left in 2006, are also in the running, and can offer him his preferred fullback position.
NSW is also interested in Mitchell, and have a possible opening at No15 despite Sam Norton-Knight's solid form, but the Waratahs are believed to be the strongest contender for young gun O'Connor.
Mitchell yesterday praised Giteau for the way he handled his lengthy contract negotiations and indicated he would follow his lead.
''Obviously I'm pretty close to Matt and I've been speaking to him for a while,'' he said.
''Knowing his situation I completely understand it and I wouldn't have done anything different to what he did.
''It was an unfortunate situation Matt got in and I certainly commend the way he handled himself.''
Mitchell admitted joining Giteau in Canberra in 2010 was ''an option worth looking at''.
''A big part of my reasoning in coming over here was to play with Matt Giteau,'' he said. ''It's going to weigh quite heavily on my considerations as to what team I'll play with next year.
''For me, my next contract will take me to another World Cup campaign [in 2011] and I want to make sure that I give myself every opportunity to be in the reckoning for selection''
Mitchell said he aimed to make a quick decision after weighing up the direction and program of prospective suitors but denied playing fullback over wing would be a major factor.
Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan said yesterday Mitchell's manager had approached the club a few months ago about a possible switch.
He said Mitchell would recognise that with Giteau at flyhalf, the Brumbies would boast an almost peerless backline next season.
''The fact his good mate is coming back, and that he'll be surrounded by other key Wallabies in Stirling Mortlock and Adam Ashley-Cooper in our team, with him here it would be a pretty damaging back line, probably the best in the country and one of the best in the world.''
The Reds, who are also circling Queensland-bred Wallabies No8 Richard Brown, see a place for Mitchell at No15, a jersey that the Brumbies would be less likely to offer due to the continued good form of Mark Gerrard.
Contract concessions have also been mooted as a way to aid the Force keeping a competitive Super 14 team in the AFL-mad state, but the ARU is in no hurry to make any changes. AAP
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