Matt Dunning chases Wallabies berth
By Jon Geddes
Opportunity...Matt Dunning. Source: The Daily Telegraph
BIG Matt Dunning has made it clear he won't be there just to make up the numbers when he joins the 43-man Wallabies training squad in Sydney next week.
The 30-year-old prop is one of the fringe players with the chance to impress coach Robbie Deans and grab a spot on the Grand Slam tour.
"He would obviously have a fair idea of who he would want to take. But there will definitely be spots that are open depending on how you go in the camp," Dunning said. "I would be one of those people, I imagine."
This is the first time Dunning has been involved in a training camp where there is so much at stake.
"I think he wants people there who are going to put in and train well and then he will pick the best side," Dunning said.
"That suits me. If I go into those four days and do perform, hopefully I'm a chance of making the tour.
"I don't think anyone who has been called into the train-on squad should, or would, be going in with the mindset that they are just making up the numbers."
Dunning missed the entire Super 14 season after tearing his achilles tendon last December during the Wallabies' spring tour. After five-and-a-half months on the sidelines he made a comeback, playing 14 games for Eastwood.
"Missing football for that long was really hard," he said. "I guess it makes you appreciate you can't do this forever. You have to take the opportunities because it is all very fleeting and you don't know how much longer you've got in the game."
Dunning, who will join the Force next season, has been happy with his performances but knows he can get better.
"I think the improvement will only come now in the professional environment and the days training with the next level of players," he said. "Packing scrums in camp will help me find out where I am and where I need to get to."
Dunning, who can play both sides of the scrum, is one of seven props in the squad along with Al Baxter, Pek Cowan, Salesi Ma'afu, Sekope Kepu, Ben Alexander and Benn Robinson.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225780925791
