CAPTAIN’S DIARY – EDITION 7
Monday, 1 September 2008 4:25pm
with Emirates Western Force UK Tour Captain David Pocock
Well, that’s it. The tour has come to end.
Unfortunately it didn’t end the way we would have liked and it was a pretty disappointing last game against Leicester. The Tigers dominated for long periods of the game and out-muscled us around the field to score an easy win in front of the biggest crowd we’d experienced on the tour.
While it was a very disappointing result, I believe we all learned a lot from the defeat and the group will benefit from the experience of the whole tour moving forward.
Despite the negative scoreline, the last week of the tour provided one of the major highlights off the field.
Team management held their traditional 100m 'gift' sprint where they are ceded and start from different points depending on their judged speed. This takes place at the last Captains Run of every tour… usually making for plenty of laughs and sometimes an exciting finish.
This year proved no different, with ‘Doc’ Mark De Cruz storming home in Usain Bolt fashion to claim the title. He had been terrible in his warm up and laps around the field - but this was all a ploy to put himself in a position to win the race.
The result gave Kieran Longbottom, James O'Connor and I a nice little bonus as we'd backed him in the betting… nice work Doc!
As my last entry in the Captain’s Diary I thought I’d do something a little different this week and get a few of the boys to share their highlights from the trip.
Pat O'Connor - Just playing rugby again and being part of the team (‘Beef’ has been out of action for two years after two knee reconstructions). Editor’s note: Pat really improved over the 5 matches as he gained confidence and match fitness. It’s great to see the big man back in the blue jumper.
Junior Pelesasa – Doc De Cruz winning the staff ‘gift’ was the highlight for mine. He had a pretty handy start, but just blitzed the field to victory - yellow grasscats, headband, wristbands and all!
Pek Cowan – Our visit to ‘Stonehenge’ was the highlight - One of the boys (i will spare them the embarrassment) believing that there was an underground tunnel linking Stonehenge and the pyramids in Egypt!
Brent Murphy – My highlight was getting my first game in a Force jersey against the Saracens Academy and being part of a big win.
A few of the boys head back to Perth tonight, while the majority of the squad will take advantage of our UK base and a few weeks off before 2009 pre-season training to do a bit of travel around Europe.
While the on-field experiences of the tour will serve their purpose down the track, the off-field component has been extremely valuable too.
The team has really come together and some great friendships have been made. I have been impressed by how a few of the younger squad members have taken their opportunities and really contributed towards the team.
The coaching and support staff has done a fantastic job keeping us going throughout a long campaign.
I’d like to thank our Coaches, John Mitchell and Tom Fearn for their efforts; Greg Mullings and Rob Naish for their tireless hours of physio and all the strapping they do before training and games and Dr. Mark De Cruz for his great job at getting crook players back into action as well as his positive influence around the place.
‘Doc’ has also helped out with massages when we've been down a masseuse, and while he'll admit he was pretty hopeless to start off with, he has improved a lot.
To the management, Mitch Hardy and Richard Trend, who have done a great job in organising the trip and liaising with all the various clubs and hotels; and last but not least Warren Andrews, our strength and conditioner for all your work in the gym, well-beings, recovery and massage.
To all the players, thanks for an enjoyable tour, you have really done Western Australia and the Emirates Western Force proud.
Finally to my readers, I hope you have enjoyed the peak behind the scenes on tour in the UK and thanks for your support. We’ll see you in all February when the 2009 Super 14 season kicks off!
