Western winger met with force, put out of touch
Western winger met with force, put out of touch - Local News - Sport - Rugby Union - The Canberra Times

16/05/2008 9:05:00 AM

It was supposed to be a harmless game of touch football at the last training session of the season. But a freak accident to Western Force winger Drew Mitchell is likely to sideline him from tonight's final-round Super 14 game against the ACT Brumbies in Perth.

Mitchell had the ball when he was heavily ''touched'' by teammate David Pocock in a traditional touch footy game during the captain's run at Subiaco Oval yesterday afternoon.

Thecontact sent both players to the ground. After two minutes Pocock got up
looking groggy but Mitchell wasn't so lucky, grasping at his right ankle and rolling round in considerable pain.

The Western Force medical team was last night trying to organise scans for the 24-year-old to determine the extent of the injury. Mitchell was on crutches last night to take pressure off the ankle and try to minimise the swelling.

He has been given until this morning to prove his fitness.

Unsure whether there was a broken bone or cartilage damage, Force coach John Mitchell put reserve back Haig Sare on standby to join the starting team. Junior Pelesasa will come on to the bench should Mitchell, as expected, be withdrawn. Pelesasa hasn't played Super 14 all season.

Depending on the seriousness of the injury, it could also jeopardise Mitchell's likely selection in the Wallabies team for their first Test against Ireland on June 14.

''He's in pretty large amounts of doubt [for tonight's game] but we're still waiting to hear back,'' a Force representative said late yesterday afternoon.

''But it's definitely not looking good for him.''

It's the second time in a fortnight Mitchell has suffered an injury at a captain's run. The Wallabies back hurt his hip in another mishap at Subiaco but was cleared to play the Waikato Chiefs next day. His fate seems less favourable this time round.

Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher was surprised when The Canberra Times informed him of the news. He described Mitchell as a ''key element'' to the Force's prospects and admitted his absence would benefit the Brumbies' chances of ending the season with a win.

''Drew's got the most tackle breaks in the competition this year,'' Fisher said. ''He's had a pretty good season all round: he's made some really good yards for them and scored some nice tries.

''We've obviously prepared for him to be in there and have been trying to snuff out the opportunities he creates, but definitely when you take out a class player like him it has to have an impact on your team's preparation and performance.''

The Force trained in heavy rain in Perth yesterday, two hours after the Brumbies completed their preparations under blue skies.


The Brumbies are the only side in the Super 14 the Force hasn't either beaten or drawn with, but ACT captain Stirling Mortlock dismissed that as a factor in either team's pre-match motivation.

''Past results don't really mean anything in these types of matches,'' he said.

''The fact the Force haven't beaten any of the Australian teams this year is probably inspiring them a bit more and we just want to end our season on a high after making a
lot of progress with the pretty young side we've had.''

Mortlock believed the biggest challenge facing the Brumbies was preparing for a dead rubber at the end of a three-week tour.

''It's always hard when you're travelling,'' he said.

''It's been spoken about that some of the guys may have been tempted to drop into holiday mode, and it's easy to say we'll be fine but it's all about how we take to the
field.''

The Brumbies return to Canberra tomorrow night.


Meanwhile, the NSW Waratahs yesterday refused to publicise their team ahead of Saturday's must-win match against the Queensland Reds.

NSW coach Ewen McKenzie was forced to explain his decision to release only a 23-man squad to travel to Brisbane rather than name a starting XV and seven reserves.

With the third-placed Waratahs needing to beat the Reds in the final-round fixture at Suncorp Stadium to ensure a semi-final berth, McKenzie said he had no choice but to delay announcing his line-up because he simply hadn't finalised it, with the Waratahs fresh back from South Africa.