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Late yesterday Coach called to se if I was able to get to Spirit training to do an interview with Matt Henjak for TWF, never wanting to miss an opportunity like this I jumped at the chance, loaded the dictaphone and headed down to Perry Lakes to have a chat with the man they call Henners.
On arrival at training "Our John" was just heading into the office and I had a chance to ask his thoughts on the RWC so far and what "his" All Blacks chances were. John said he had been enjoying the cup so far (Fiji beating Wales to the finals a highlight) and clearly stated that if the All Blacks did not bring their "A game" to the field on against France they will struggle. His tip was The Wallabies to bring Billy home.
Leaving John to get on with his business I headed across to the field where the team was going through several drills. At the end of the drill big Ratu was standing in the middle of the 22 and kicked a ball off to the half mark on the sideline where the resting players where gathered and it landed on the full into a sulo bin with the lid open to cheers and applause of all that witnessed the freak act. Then AJ and Henners started having pot shots from closer range to no avail.
EWF Media Manager Tom Baddeley invited me across to have a chat with Henners. On introduction Tom told Henners a bit about TWF which Matty claims he had never heard of but said he would check out straight after training and I gave him a few cards to hand out. So with my questions ready to go the interview commenced.
TIF - What are your feelings on the ELV's in the ARC Competition?
MH - I'm all for the ELV's. It speeds up the game and makes it a lot better spectacle for the fans, you've got to be a lot fitter than what you do if you don't have the ELV's just because of the speed of the game and the high tempo, I suppose way of play so every short arm you get, every team is looking to tap and go instead of getting a penalty and kicking it out and waiting for the lineout. So yeah I think it is a good thing if they re-modify just a few of the rules.
TIF - Do you think you will have trouble going back to the current laws?
MH - No I don't think you'll have trouble going back to them. I think it will help our game - especially the way the Force play the game. We try and play the game where we keep the ball in field as much as we can and try to play that up tempo pace and I think every team in the ARC is trying to, or getting that way at the moment. They're trying to keep the tempo up and I think whoever is keeping the ball in play the most is winning most of the games. We've got the most wins in the comp and we're definitley playing that way.
TIF - Do you think the ELV's should be applied to the Super 14 in 2008?
MH - Yeah - I don't think all of them should be applied next year in the Super 14, I think there is still a grey area over the tackle contest. I think that should fix up the laws there. It's still a bit of a scrap heap for the halfbacks, especially the way we to play. We want to try and clear the ball from the ruck and it still seems that players are allowed to knock the ball out of the halfbacks hands, which I don't agree with. If they can get rid of that rule and clean that up I'm sure the other rules that are bought in or the other ELV's will definitely be beneficial for the Super 14 Competition next year.
TIF - If they are used in Super 14 2008, how do you feel about going back to current laws for test matches against the Northern Hemisphere teams and do you believe this will put Australia at a disadvantage?
MH - That's a hard one, I think you'll get positives and negatives out it. You'll definitely get SH teams playing attacking rugby and rugby I think the fans like seeing and then you go back and play against the NH teams that like to play a forwards oriented game and keep it tight and slow the game down, so the positives will be that we'll be definitely up tempo and throwing the ball around, but the negatives might be that our forward pack might go down a little bit.
TIF - Just with the ELV's, do you think it's going to change the type of player that rugby attracts?
MH - Yeah definitely, I think you've seen in the ARC Competition that there's a lot of tries being scored and a lot of open football being played, so yeah - there's high tempo rugby and it's the way I think fans like to watch rugby being played. It's definitely the way I've been taught to play rugby, the way that I played it at The Brumbies and the way the Force are playing it now. Throwing the ball around and trying to score as many tries as we can.
TIF - How did it feel to play at MES compared to Subiaco Oval?
MH - Subiaco is definitely a good ground to get all the fans in, but MES is fantastic. The fans all being so close; and playing on a rectangular stadium is definitely better than playing at an AFL based field.
TIF - Have you noticed a lot of Spirit fans at the ARC away games?
MH - Yeah we do get a few supporters at our away games which is really good. I think a lot of the parents from the east coast get up there and take their friends along which is good, so we seem to have fans all over the country which is definitely uplifiting for the boys who travel away from Perth.
TIF - Now Matt, is it true that the beer is colder, the summers are milder and the women are better looking in WA?
MH - Oh definitely I found my girlfriend over in Western Australia so I have to say the women are better looking, the beer definitely tastes good as well and the summers are definitely rather enjoyable.
TIF - A tip for the RWC?
MH - I think Australia are looking really good, we're priming nicely and if we can get over New Zealand in the semi final that'll go a long way to beating South Africa in the final.
TIF - Thanks Matt for your time and all the best for ARC Grand Final victory.
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Originally Posted by The InnFORCEr
He's not wrong about his gf being hot either...damn her...haha
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Giteau." 
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!! 
