Pre-season training kicked into top gear today, as the Emirates Western Force players involved in the Wallabies’ 2009 Spring Tour re-joined their teammates in a demanding session at UWA Sports Park this morning.

James O’Connor, David Pocock, Matt Hodgson, Pek Cowan, Richard Brown, Ryan Cross and Matt Dunning will filter back into the main training group this week after a well deserved break following the European tour.

A veteran of 45 Tests and 90 Super Rugby games, Dunning said he was keen to immerse himself in training in the lead-up to the trial phase which begins with the Emirates Western Force playing the Stormers and Sharks in Cape Town in late January before returning home for a clash against the Reds at ME Bank Stadium on Friday 5 February.

“I just want to play. I missed the whole of the Super 14 last year through injury so I’m keen to get into the competition,” Dunning said.

“It’s new and refreshing here, and they are a great bunch of guys. I was very keen to get over here as soon as the New Year started, and I just felt that I needed a solid pre-season before we go to Africa.”
Dunning, who arrived in Perth on Sunday, joins a strong forward pack at the club, which includes fellow capped Wallabies Nic Henderson, Nathan Sharpe, Cowan, Brown and Pocock.

“I’m really excited about the forwards. Obviously I have played with Nathan Sharpe since we were kids, and he was a big factor in getting me over here because we get on really well.

“The backrow are second to none in the Super 14, and also the signing of Tim Fairbrother, another tighthead (prop). I think that is really important, you can’t go into competition with just one, so that was a factor too.”

Emirates Western Force Head Coach John Mitchell said the New Year brought new tests for the squad.

“The next 15 days (before the team departs for their two trials in South Africa) is a different challenge for us all, there is a lot of knowledge that has to get put in.

"If there's one thing that's been extremely pleasing during the pre-season before Christmas, which can be laborious and enduring and at times unstimulating, they turned up every day with a good attitude.”

Mitchell said the return of the international representatives was crucial as the team builds towards the 2010 Investec Bank Super 14 season.

"Having experienced footballers around brings maturity to the group. It is important for us, with a lot of new players coming in, to get cohesion as a group as quickly as we can.”