0
Western Force v Bulls, Saturday 25/03/06
Some interesting selections coming through this week.
With injuries last week to Fava and Daruda and a dose of gastro for Cannon, we see the return of Hardy to the Loosehead and McIsaac moves to Hooker.
Welborn has maintained his starting role and quite interestingly, one of our best so far this season, David Pusey replaces on the bench Doherty coming back from an ankle to the Blindside.
O'Connor's impressive debut last week has seen him retain his position in the 22 with the return of Captain Sharpe to the starting 15.
A major move is the testing of Hilgendorf at 5/8 which had been discussed during the week as a possibility. This will certainly involve him far more but hopefully it doesn't stifle the spark he has been bringing to the team from Fullback.
This move sees Cameron Shepherd slide back to his favoured position following his return from Commonwealth Games duties.
Sare also continues to retain his position in a dream season for an Apprentice.
David Te Moana is set to miss his first match for the season after showing fantastic future potential on either side of the front row.
Angus Scott will make his Force bench debut, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge from the Eastern States and some considerable bulk to fill the divot left by Te Moana!
A great effort by Richard Brown over the last few games sees him as the preferred Number 8 again this week.
There is still some doubt as to the reserve 5/8 which may not be known until Saturday afternoon as Daruda recovers from last week.
Depending on Cannon's cannon, we may see yet another debut by the promising Luke Holmes who paid his dues for Warringah in the Sydney comp.
And a welcome inclusion to the bench of Gavin De Bartolo will see yet another of our outside back young bucks blooded at the Super Rugby level.
By my reckoning, after this weekend, there will be only nine players from the extended squad that hasn't worn the jersey in an official Super 14 fixture which is a fantastic development for the future.
In all this is still a reasonable squad which should continue with the heart of the first five matches.
Best wishes fellas, keep up the good fight, the results will come.
GO FORCE!!!
The squad (to be finalised) is:
1. Gareth Hardy
2. Tai McIsaac
3. David Fitter
4. John Welborn
5. Nathan Sharpe
6. Luke Doherty
7. Matt Hodgson
8. Richard Brown
9. Matt Henjak
10. James Hilgendorf
11. Digby Ioane
12. Scott Staniforth
13. Josh Graham
14. Haig Sare
15. Cameron Shepherd
16. Brendan Cannon (Luke Holmes)
17. Angus Scott
18. Pat O’Connor
19. David Pusey
20. Chris O’Young
21. Scott Daruda (Brock James)
22. Gavin DeBartolo