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Deans may look further afield for fullback
Bret Harris | July 07, 2008
THE loss of Cameron Shepherd with a season-ending leg injury has robbed the Wallabies of their third fullback from last year's World Cup squad.
Chris Latham, who is injured, is leaving Australia at the end of the season to play overseas, while Julian Huxley had surgery for a brain tumour.
The depletion of Australia's fullback stocks has left Adam Ashley-Cooper, Mark Gerrard, Drew Mitchell, Lachlan Turner and Peter Hynes as candidates for the No15 jersey.
There is no doubt that all four are capable of playing fullback as Ashley-Cooper demonstrated against France on Saturday night in Brisbane.
But there is a question mark over whether any of them is the type of fullback preferred by coach Robbie Deans.
At the Crusaders, Deans always played three ball distributors in the backline, at five-eighth, inside centre and fullback.
With the possible exception of Gerrard, none of the other fullback options is what you would classify a ball-player.
If Deans were to try to manufacture a ball-playing fullback from another position, it would make sense for him to look at the five-eighth ranks.
It is important to remember that one of Australia's greatest five-eighths, Stephen Larkham, was converted from fullback by former coach Rod Macqueen.
There is no reason why the conversion cannot work the other way.
Deans himself played Test rugby for the All Blacks at fullback, but he started out as a five-eighth, playing outside his younger brother and future All Blacks halfback Bruce at Christ's College, Christchurch. And the Crusaders' long-time fullback Leon MacDonald also began his career as a five-eighth.
If Deans scoured Australia's five-eighth reserves, would he find a fullback in playmaker's garb?
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones always said Matt Giteau would make a great fullback, although he never chose him there.
And the way Giteau is playing at five-eighth, there is no way Deans would consider playing him anywhere else.
Waratahs five-eighth Kurtley Beale has played fullback for NSW in Super rugby.
Australia A five-eighths Daniel Halangahu and Sam Norton-Knight can also play fullback.
It would be difficult to see either Halangahu or Norton-Knight drafted into the Wallabies' Test squad at fullback, although Beale could be a long-term option.
Beale is unlikely to displace either Giteau or Berrick Barnes from the inside backs, but he is an exciting player and he would fit Deans' criterion as a ball-playing fullback.
Hynes is expected to start for Queensland Reds at fullback in next year's Super 14 series, which could be a step towards playing there for the Wallabies.
He has had limited experience at five-eighth and in the midfield, so he would have some ball-handling skills.
Another mid to long-term prospect for the Wallabies' fullback position is James O'Connor.
O'Connor, 17, is a natural five-eighth, although he plays inside centre at the Western Force outside Giteau.
O'Connor has also played fullback for the Australian Schoolboys so he has already had some familiarity with the position.
And O'Connor fits the Deans mould of a ball-playing fullback.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html