Destiny on the Force's minds: Darwin

[KenyaQuin]

Destiny on the Force's minds: Darwin
April 09, 2008 Destiny on the Force's minds: Darwin - Super 14 - Fox Sports

FORMER Western Force assistant Ben Darwin believes the Perth side will be treating Saturday's Super 14 blockbuster against New South Wales as the match which fulfils their quest to become Australia's No.1 side.

Darwin, the former Australia prop who left the Force in acrimonious circumstances at the end of the franchise's inaugural season in 2006, said the clash between Australia's two current Super powers would be taking on historical significance for the Force.

"Their goal this year as far as I know is to make top four and to be the number one side in Australian rugby by the end of this year," Darwin said.

"I think if they get this done (beat NSW) they'll probably be regarded as that.

"So this will be, as far as they're concerned, the definitive game in terms of their history because it actually then says, okay, we are now the big dogs so to speak and I think they want to be the big dogs."

Darwin, who was tragically forced to retire with a neck injury during the 2003 World Cup, said the Force's biggest hurdle in such a pressure-charged preparation would be the new freedom the Waratahs have found since ending the controversy surrounding coach Ewen McKenzie.

"You certainly can (put too much pressure on yourself) but they want it, someone's got to take it," he said.

"It's one thing to say you're the best in Australia, it's another thing to say you can beat the Crusaders and I think that performance they put down on the Crusaders earlier in the year (a 29-24 loss in round four) probably gave them a huge amount of confidence.

"The biggest problem for the Force at the moment is the Tahs are playing with a huge amount of freedom because they've just made that decision coach-wise."

The Force have not beaten NSW in two attempts, although they did edge closer with a 16-16 draw in their second meeting in Sydney last year.

Darwin said the talk inside the underrated Force tight five would "absolutely" be about proving a point to their big name opponents and selectors at Subiaco Oval.

"Any chip you can get on your shoulder you've got to use," he said.

And he said the West Australians deserved more faces in the Wallabies pack.

"They've been achieving parity this year which is great," said Darwin, whose hard luck sporting career continued at the weekend when he finished his first ironman triathlon on a drip with hypothermia.

"In terms of the breakdown they've been outstanding and they work incredibly hard.

"I think you've got to look at it position by position ... It all depends on individual skill.

"They certainly deserve it. If you finish as high as they do you can't not have that many faces in the squad, surely."

Darwin singled out 23-year-old Force No.8 Richard Brown for special praise.

"Richard Brown's been putting a lot of heat on this year, particularly under the ELVs because he's so combative," he said.

"He's physically almost a Richie McCaw style player now."



AAP

[laura]

Ben Darwin is a champ too. He completed an ironman challenge on the weekend to raise money for chairty.

"I have decided to do an iron man triathlon in aid of spinal injuries and youth mental health.
I will be doing the Port Macquarie Iron Man on April the 6th 2008.
It is a 3.8 km swim
A 180km Bike ride
42.2 km Run. "

[AlcoholicStalker]

Hi guys ,

I finished the iron man in 14 hours 17min yesterday.

i can barely walk.

The swim was quite difficult with heavy currents.

The ride had some very heavy rain early but i came through ok.

I had made a promise to myself that i would run every step of the marathon but at about 20km in my body alerted me to the fact that it was bo longer interested.

But we got through it as i bribed it with food.

Running up the chute was the best feeling of my life. The support was unbelievable from family and many i didnt know.

i can only highly recommed the experience.

thanks to all those involved.

you can still sponsor at http://www.inpire.org.au

[James]

Acrimonious circumstances? I didn't think there was anything dodgy going on with his departure I thought he wanted to go and we wanted to keep him. Does anyone else know whats up with that?

[JediKnight]

Why's he in the news making comment on this game? Short of a $$ or two?

Well done though on the ironman participation though.

[GIGS20]

He didn't say anything dodgy, and he has some history with both teams.....he knows his rugby, and he's had a media presence before......He's probably more qulified to comment on the game than lots of other people who have made comment!

I personally liked his analysis, it didn't seem to overstate anything, it was pretty balanced and generally sensible. I too think this game will be about which team wins more of the individual matchups, so I hope the have their game faces on, or I'll need a beanie! (don't panic, I already own a beanie, so I'm covered in that regard!

[laura]

Acrimonious circumstances? I didn't think there was anything dodgy going on with his departure I thought he wanted to go and we wanted to keep him. Does anyone else know whats up with that?

I don't know what Acrimonious means...but he left the Force, then commentated during the World Cup. Pretty sure his decision to take part in the iron man was long after his decision to leave the Force.

[James]

I don't know what Acrimonious means...but he left the Force, then commentated during the World Cup. Pretty sure his decision to take part in the iron man was long after his decision to leave the Force.

It means that he left in bitter circumstances. I just wondered if he was bitter about his treatment by the Force or if the Force was bitter because he didn't want to stay on.

[Flamethrower]

Darwin singled out 23-year-old Force No.8 Richard Brown for special praise.

"Richard Brown's been putting a lot of heat on this year, particularly under the ELVs because he's so combative," he said.

"He's physically almost a Richie McCaw style player now."

Without the dirty cheating part though

[AlcoholicStalker]

I forgot to mention that he did the ironman to raise money for spinal injuries sustained in sport.

[frontrow]

You both rock, well done AS, did baby Ben (it is ben isn't it)cheer for his mum???

[Jehna]

I'm pleased he mentioned Brownie. He's been underrated so far this season. I think his consistency has been on par with Crossie so far but perhaps less in your face given his position

[BLR]

I'm pleased he mentioned Brownie. He's been underrated so far this season. I think his consistency has been on par with Crossie so far but perhaps less in your face given his position

Personally I think he has played better consistently with Cross. Cross has had some quiet games and the defence seem to be getting the wood over him, while Brown has been running riot game after game...if Deans continues with the need for a large hit em up number 8 like Palu I can see Brown getting a good run this year for sure, seeing as Deans is fairly objective as he will hopefully not be influenced by the 'old boys' I can't see any reason Brown could be overlooked....

[AndyS]

I just wondered if he was bitter about his treatment by the Force or if the Force was bitter because he didn't want to stay on.

He left citing personal reasons, with the statement being:

"I just need some time off. Everyone has been so supportive, but it has been very hard. I always wanted to be someone who tried things.

"It is not that coaching is not for me, I just think it is not for me right now.''

I don't remember any particular comments on an acrimonious break but if it was, this (Sports Factor - a conversation with Ben Darwin) suggests it may have been effect rather than cause. Key comments I thought were:

Mick O'Regan: So do you think you'll go into coaching?
Ben Darwin: I have gone into coaching to a certain extent. I coached in Sydney, I coached in the Western Force in Perth for a year. I was a sports coach there, and there are certain elements I didn't enjoy. I love the interaction with the young guys, and I came back to Sydney. To be honest with you, I had a bit of a battle with depression when I was in Perth and I thought the best thing would be to come back and spend time with my family and decide what to do next but I've worked with Northern Suburbs, their club in Sydney, and just working with young guys is enormously satisfying. And I probably enjoy more that one-on-one relationship. I think the politics of rugby can often be pretty difficult, pretty Machiavellian if you will, it just can be pretty hard, and I sometimes think that that may take away from the enjoyment I have of the game. So I think if I do coaching now it'll be more one-on-one and just doing individual skill with guys and enjoying that friendship.

Mick O'Regan: Do you think that the depression you suffered was a result of your injury?
Ben Darwin: Oh, I think that when you go into professional sport, you can often put aside anything else that's a pressure in your life, because you're getting paid an insultingly good amount of money, and you have an easy existence. So any kind of difficulties you may have had kind of get pushed away. And when I had my injury, I then tried to just dive back into work, and then when I got under pressure again in my work environment when I was coaching, I think that the difficulties I've had before in my life tended to come back. And I'm fairly public about it, I had a pretty tough childhood, and my parents got divorced, and I had a pretty hard time with it, and that just tended to fold back on top of me once that pressure came on. And so I kind of had to do my growing up, I feel like, in the last couple of years.

And depression for me is not being sad, I hear a lot about this, suicide, and I work a little bit in the area, and one thing is that you have difficulty stopping the noise, if that makes sense, and difficulty stopping your mind being at ease. And I think that it was put aside during my rugby career but at some stage of the game, you know this all had to be dealt with and it was dealt with - it was almost forced upon me, and I unfortunately ended up getting divorced at the time after I had my injury, and I think there was obviously cause and effect with a lot of these different things, but it all seemed to pile up back at the same time. That's a long answer to that question, isn't it?

[AlcoholicStalker]

You both rock, well done AS, did baby Ben (it is ben isn't it)cheer for his mum???

I didnt do the iron man that was what Ben did it in.