THE versatility of Stirling Mortlock will again be tested during tomorrow night's Tri Nations decider. Judging from yesterday's Wallabies training session, and several others earlier in the season, if Matt Giteau falls over, Mortlock will be the back-up five-eighth. Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has been coy in revealing who his back-up pivot is, but, according to R&M's bloodshot eyes, Mortlock appears to be the man. The All Blacks are still surprised the Wallabies will go into such a crucial match with just one specialist five-eighth. New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith yesterday said he was "not sure I would" go into a game without a back-up No.10. Red mist descends
Finals time brings out the fire in the beast, on and off the field. On Saturday, there were amazing scenes during the fourth-grade elimination final between Northern Suburbs and Manly, with a brawl spilling over the sideline. One of the Manly reserves was about to take the field but got fired up and threw a couple - and was red-carded. So he experienced the strange situation of being sent off before being sent on. Norths were down to 14 men when one of their players was yellow-carded, but Manly, with one player already sent to the showers early, continued on with 15. And then on Sunday, several hasbeens got a bit flighty during the Randwick-Warringah match, when Sekope Kepu and Ross Duncan were sent to the sin bin. Two spectators standing nearby began arguing the point. It got a bit fruity when one said to the other: "Don't you #$%^& well speak like that in front of my mother, you ###$$& #$%^&." Thankfully, a security guard was able to calm down these two clowns. Another serve of Corny
It's 30 years this week since Wallabies flanker Greg Cornelsen crossed for a record-breaking four tries against the All Blacks in Auckland. "Corny" today hosts his annual lunch on the Gold Coast with 1500 guests. And the Bledisloe Cup match will not be the only trans-Tasman rugby clash tomorrow. At the same time as the Suncorp Stadium stoush, the Australian wheelchair team - The Steelers - will take on New Zealand's Wheel Blacks at the Paralympics in Beijing. And as part of the Brisbane Test rev-up, former Wallaby centre Tim Horan spruiked to a lunchtime crowd in the city mall, where he revealed it takes 38¨ö cans of XXXX to fill the Bledisloe Cup. He would know. Hynes's sweet incentive
There's a good reason Wallabies winger Peter Hynes keeps scoring tries. As Hynes reveals in the Test program, when he was a kid, his father enticed him with gifts. "Dad put me on try incentives - an ice-block for one, a softdrink for two and so on," he said. "It obviously worked. He put up a remote-controlled car for eight. I scored eight tries one day. I don't think Dad ever expected me to but he delivered on the car." And although injured Luke Burgess is a big omission from the Wallabies team, he is still flying the colours. While the rest of the Tri Nations squad is preparing in Brisbane this morning, Burgess will appear at Lane Cove Primary School as part of National Walla Rugby Day. Rumours of the week * Western Force flanker David Pocock a bolter for the Wallabies' end-of-season tour. An up-and-coming Super 14 player in trouble because of his party-boy tour antics. And despite Western Force denials, there are divisions within the organisation.
* Waratahs players are so embarrassed by the behaviour of one high-ranking NSWRU official, they have nicknamed him "Brokeback" and there is a push for him to be banned from after-match functions, especially overseas.
* As the storm clouds gather over Tah Land, speculation mounts that several former Waratahs heavies, including some who left the organisation in controversial circumstances, have joined with at least three current NSWRU board members in a bid for control. And the list of those chasing the NSWRU chairman's position is alarming the heartland. One person is deeply loathed in certain areas. Also a NSWRU official continues to amaze with his embarrassing "out to lunch" behaviour, including at a club function last week.
* Many in the know are agog that a lightweight candidate, who not that long ago was about to be "pushed aside" in the ARU ranks, is now desperate to be the next president of the body. The credentials of his campaign manager are as unimpressive.
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