Meteroric Rise by Rebel Red- Hockings

Looks like it's time for Tom Hockings to get a profile of his own (unless I've gone blind and it's there and I can't find it)

13-Mar-08- The West Australian
Meteroric Rise by Rebel Red
Dave Hughes

Super-grade steel or Super 14 rugby?
Tom Hockings took about a nano seond to decide. The steel will still be there in 10 years time. His youth won't.
It was a smart decision, even for an engineering student who actually knows what Boolean algebra is.
Hockings has jumped from weekens warriors with the Soaks first-graders to Super 14 starter with the Western Force in less than a year and, is he accepts the contract which the club has tabled, his salary will make a similarly spectacular rise.
The 22 year-old lock is the only forward to have started all four of the Force's matches this season, something he admits he didn't dream would be possible when he left his mechanical engineering studies at the University of Queensland to accept an offer at the end of 2006 to join the RugbyWA academy at Perry Lakes.
I figured I'm come to Perth to be Nathan Sharpe's understudy for a couple of years and then see how it went" said the product of Proserpine, gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.
"I was with the Reds academy but they had so many second-rowers I felt I'd never get a chance in Brisbane."
After turning out for Soaks in club rugby last winter, Hockings was given the chance to display his ability for the Perth Spirit in the Australian Rugby Championship.
What subsequently happened emphasised what a ludicrous decision it was to kill offr the ARC.
Hockings didn't emerge as much as explode into rugby's elite.
When family issues forced Sharpe's regtular second-row partner Rudi Vedelago to return to Queensland, Force coach John Mitchell knew he had a ready-made replacement in rookie Hockings who could be moulded to suit requirements.
A pizza Sharpe ordered a week before the opening round turned out to be a salmonella special, sidelining him with food poisoning.
Hockings suddenly found himself in charge of the Force line-out against the Sharks in Durban.
"I found out the night before the game I'd have to call the line-out throws, so it was a nervous debut for me", he admitted.
"I went into my first Super 14 game calling against Johan Ackermann, who used to be a Test lock.
It was tough. It seemed like he knew everything and he stole a fair bit of our ball."
By round 4 against the Crusaders, the Force line-out was working immaculately, with Hockings doing alot of the catching.
He feels his scrummaging is also improving and wants to get more involved as a ball carrier.
"Super 14 is still new to me but I feel I'm keeping up" he said.
"The one sacrifice I've had ot make is my degree. I've transferred to UWA but I'm only doing one unit at a time."
Hockings was yesterday picked for his fifth start, against the Blues at Albany, on Auckland's North Shore.