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Tahs launch a boot camp
By Bret Harris
November 19, 2007
NEW South Wales will enter the Super 14 series next year without an established goal kicker, but Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie is confident he will find a suitable replacement for record-breaking Peter Hewat.
In recent years, the Waratahs have been fortunate to have some of the best goal kickers in the game in Matt Burke, Mat Rogers and most recently Hewat, who broke points-scoring records in his three years with the team.
The release of Hewat from his contract to play for London Irish has left the Waratahs without an obvious choice to fill the crucial role.
McKenzie will experiment with eight contenders for the job - Daniel Halangahu, Kurtley Beale, Josh Valentine, Brett Sheehan, Matt Carraro, Ben Batger, Lachlan Turner and Tatafu Polota-Nau - in the Super 14 trial games against Queensland, the Brumbies and the Crusaders.
"We are working through that," McKenzie said. "We've got eight guys who can kick.
"Shannon Fraser (Waratahs' kicking coach), who worked with Fiji at the World Cup, has the job to find someone who can kick at 80 per cent.
"Peter Hewat did a fantastic job for us. We didn't sign him as a goalkicker because we had Mat Rogers.
"He developed a skill, which guaranteed he was selected in the team each week. He set points-scoring records in all three years.
"I'm confident we've got the resources. We'll extend the umbrella as wide as we have to. We have to get them out there. It's a bit of an unknown for us. We've got some good candidates.
"Carraro led the points scoring in the (Australian Rugby Championship) before he got injured.
"Beale kicked in his school days and for Northern Suburbs. Polota-Nau kicked during his school days.
"I'm not stressed about that. We've got the off-season to get it right."
McKenzie said the prospective goal kickers were undergoing a practice regime forcing them to kick under pressure.
"We have a comprehensive program in place to work through kicking under pressure," McKenzie said.
"There's no point kicking well at training if you can't reproduce it in the game."
The Waratahs' decision about a goal kicker could also have a bearing on selections.
Beale and Halangahu are competing for the five-eighth position; Sheehan and Valentine are battling for the halfback spot; Polota-Nau is tussling with Adam Freier to be the starting hooker; while Batger and Carraro would enhance their chances of starting in the outside backs if they were the first-choice goal kicker.
The Australian