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Mitchell's abundance of riches
Phil Wilkins
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Losing his gold-plated Test rugby halfback pairing of Matt Giteau and Matt Henjak was the easy part for coach John Mitchell before the Western Force's Super 14 game against the Queensland Reds.
Now comes the hard part - dropping their replacements, Chris O'Young and Jimmy Hilgendorf, the duo he promoted to form an all-Eastwood club scrumbase combination with international No.8 Scott Fava and which performed with such distinction in the 38-3 win over the Reds last Friday.
In 41 Tests, Giteau, 24, has proved gifted at halfback or five-eighth and sheer world class as a midfielder at inside-centre.
Despite four Test appearances, reservations persist about Henjak as a first-class halfback because of his wayward passing. Living in George Gregan's shadow did him no favours, just as it ruined Travis Hall's representative career. Whatever development Giteau and Henjak accrued by training and playing with the Brumbies, O'Young and Hilgendorf had as many benefits from being Eastwood teammates in Sydney before the great exodus west with Fava.
Coach John Mitchell must have purred to select the Woods trio at the scrumbase before their demolition of the Reds. Now the Force (21 points) are preening their ocean blue and black swan feathers in third position behind the Sharks (25) and Blues (23).
Several Force players drew eulogies after the win, less so their creative playmaker, Hilgendorf, who cruised about like a white pointer off Cottesloe, choosing his moments superbly to strike. In Sydney, Woods coach Chris Hickey said of Hilgendorf: "The temptation for him was to go out and show what he could do, but he under-played his role perfectly. The longer the game went on, the less obtrusive he became and the more dangerous he became.
"O'Young supported well for the ball back from Fava for his try. Obviously, I've coached these players and I'm a big supporter, but I believe I can still be objective. Chris played so well for the Force last year I thought they would pick him for the next game, and they didn't.
"Chris's service from the base is better than Henjak's, cleaner and quicker. His support game is really good. He has a strong running game and his defence is right up there, but it's his speed in delivering the ball which is critical to the backs, and accuracy is just as important as speed. Henjak still has this thing where he picks the ball up and runs with it for three steps - perhaps from playing under Gregan so long - cocks the pass and throws it.
"Every 10th of a second taken is metres lost for the backs. When Henjak is halfback, Giteau will always get a couple above his head and a couple around his ankles. He's good enough to deal with them, but he should not be getting them there."
Hilgendorf, who turns 25 this month, came out of the King's School, Parramatta, as a golden boy. Hickey did not massage his GPS ego. He did not rush him into first grade, using him as a fullback or winger. Hilgendorf went to New Zealand to further his rugby education with Taranaki, always a tough school. He also tried his luck in Italy. O'Young, 26, came from St Pat's College, Strathfield, playing briefly for NSW as Chris Whitaker's understudy.
Hickey's suspicion is that Henjak will again be preferred as half for the Force's next game against the Sharks on March 30 with Hilgendorf as five-eighth and Giteau replacing the tough, dependable Junior Pelesasa at inside-centre.
The problems keep mounting for the Force. Scott Staniforth, the incumbent Test inside-centre, is returning from injury and his wing replacement, Digby Ioane, scored a dazzling try against the Reds and is crying out for a position in the run-on side.
What a predicament. What a dilemma. Coaches dream of it. Don't cry for me, croons John Mitchell.
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