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Is he still flogging snake oil pills by the way?
Brumby Pocock palms off Force
by: Bret Harris, Rugby Union
Western Force captain David Pocock will play for the Brumbies in 2013. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
DAVID Pocock's decision to leave Perth to move to Canberra next year was as much a rejection of the Western Force as it was an endorsement of the Brumbies.
And it is understood the embattled Force has attempted to re-open negotiations with Michael Cheika to coach the team next year.
Pocock announced yesterday he had signed a three-year deal with the Brumbies after spending his Super Rugby career to date with the Force, making his debut as a teenager in 2006.
Arguably the best openside flanker in the world, Pocock had given everything he could to the Force but had to think about his career.
"It was a really tough decision," Pocock said. "In the end it probably didn't come down to one thing. It was probably a number of factors.
"One of them was the opportunity to have a fresh start and challenge myself under a different program with a good coaching staff.
..."Being on the east coast was also a pretty big positive to the move. With all the added travel and I guess the year-long schedule now, that's a big part of it."
Pocock admired what South African coach Jake White did with the no-name Brumbies this year, taking them from near the bottom of the table to the cusp of the playoffs.
Having never reached the playoffs with the Force, Pocock wanted to play on a successful team that could challenge for a place in the top six and the title.
"Jake is working with a young group. Hopefully, the future is a bright one. It's always hard to tell, but from the outside you see a young, pretty committed team. They would be excited about the next few years and hopefully building something," Pocock said.
"Every player wants to be involved in the latter end of the competition.
"Benny Mowen (Brumbies captain) came out and said how much hard work there was to do. That's a good sign."
While Pocock captained the Force this year and did a wonderful job leading the Wallabies against Scotland and Wales in the absence of injured Test skipper James Horwill, he does not presume he will captain the Brumbies.
In fact, it is most likely White will stick with Mowen.
"I haven't spoken to them about it," Pocock said. "From my point of view as someone coming into the team, it's probably not something you want to do in your first year. Benny's done a great job and I expect he'll be the captain."
While the Brumbies beat the Melbourne Rebels for Pocock's signature, he was really the Force's player to lose.
There is no doubt Pocock would have stayed in Perth if Wallabies and Queensland halfback Will Genia had not reneged on a verbal agreement to join the Force last April. That was followed by the Force's inability to find a replacement for Richard Graham, who resigned in April to coach the Reds next year.
Pocock supported former Force assistant coach John Mulvihill, but he was overlooked.
Cheika, the Force's preferred choice, rejected an offer a few weeks ago and then NSW Waratahs coach Michael Foley also turned them down.
"It's definitely played a part," Pocock said. "There has been a fair bit of uncertainty."
Meanwhile, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has added seven players - Genia, Anthony Faingaa, Mike Harris, Scott Higginbotham, Digby Ioane, Dom Shipperley and Nathan Sharpe - to a 36-man national training squad for a three-day camp in Sydney, starting on Wednesday.
Six players who trained at the first camp - Mitch Inman, Lachie Turner, Bernard Foley, Mowen, Hugh Pyle and Paddy Ryan - were not invited back.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...-1226438077521
There you go, fixed. This pretty much says it all.
Not sure about the Mulvihill reference, could be true, or could be a sly did by that @r$ewipe Harris trying some further derailment, as the gist of the article is not about Pocock, or the Brumbies per se. Its actually about how lame the Force are.
The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor
Some Positive news out of the FORCE for once.. Cummins is still in the Wallabies Camp someone please break the ankle of Cooper Vuna or Tomane as in my eyes they are Super rugby players and NOTHING ELSE.
I'm going sailing with him on Saturday, not that I think he'll want to be talking about the move.
Rugby's now a game where you have to look after number 1 first, it's a massive loss for us as a team but he's been a great servant for our club and I wish him all the best with the next chapter in his life.
I wonder whether Emma has her eye on a political career, or as a lobbyist maybe, and that was part of the consideration when weighing up whether to go to Canberra.
She is a bright woman and has firm political views and a strong social conscience, just like her husband.
Pocock love to talk about his admiration for Desomond Tutu and all the work he has done in Africa so much maybe he should have a listen to what Desomond believes it is to be a true leader!
a modified quote from non other than Marilyn Monroe
“If you can't handle it at our worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve us at our best.”
“Everyone knows whether it’s rugby, politics or whatever, front-rowers should rule the world, so to have a hooker at the helm makes sense,” Nathan Charles Western Force & Wallabies Hooker.
Is it just me or does Tutu pass wind at 2:33?
The lady doesn't seem to notice... Or she's got a hell of a poker face!
Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.
Originally Posted by the article
And there isn't a sh*tload of hard work to do here?
"12 Years a Supporter" starring the #SeaOfBlue