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It's family first this week for Force centre Ryan Cross
An impending arrival will prevent Western Force centre Ryan Cross from departing for the team's final trial game against Queensland this week, meaning the Wallaby will go into the Super 14 season with no competitive practice minutes under his belt.
- Tim Clarke
- February 2, 2009 - 1:00PM
Cross and wife Danielle are due to welcome their second child into the world on Wednesday, with the star rugby league convert given the week off to attend the birth rather than travel to Queensland for Thursday's clash with the Reds.
Having sat out the Force's first practice game against the Crusaders, a rest decreed in his ARU contract, the Force's player of the year hasn’t played a single minute of practice rugby before the Blues arrive at Subiaco on February 13.
Naming a strong 24-man squad to travel to Queensland, John Mitchell said he was confident Cross' general conditioning would set him up for the season - and a new baby would not phase him either.
"Crossy's very fortunate in that he is going to become a father for the second time, and family comes before games," Mitchell said.
"We are very fortunate that it is outside the competition, so we actually have to prepare Crossy very differently going into the competition.
"A lot of our preparation is designed around game-specific situations. In contact it is probably pretty close to match conditions so there is enough within the training for him to prepare.
"We wish him and Danielle well, and knowing Crossy he won't lose too much sleep and too much sweat over it."
Wallaby stars Nathan Sharpe and Matt Giteau will both be included in this week's practice game.
"There are a lot of blokes who have not had a lot of minutes … there are 24 players, it is going to be pretty humid there," Mitchell said
"All the international players have prepared well, come up well … and they have integrated in really well.
"But no matter how good you are as a footballer you have just got to get out there and get used the nuances of the game and the physicality of the game.
"You don’t get that just by turning up … so it is essential they get those game minutes."
And there is also a surprise place for lock Pat O'Connor who has recovered quickly from a hamstring injury.
"He is a big man Beef, and a very strong lock forward. If he can endure the game minutes and become a strong carrying forward across the game line then we will seriously look at him," Mitchell said.
http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/its-...0202-7vfw.html
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Best of luck to Crossy and his wife for the coming weeks.
Some good news in there for Pat O'Conner too- Beef has been named to play in Qld this week.
she sure did look like she was going to pop on saturday
good luck to them both![]()
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White
Best of luck to Ryan and his family.
He certainly deserves the timeout and lets not forget to mention that his wife has moved across with him from NSW and made a huge sacrafice as well, giving up her circle of friends and family, and she deserves to have all the familar faces around her that she can get.
Good luck and best wishes to the Cross family for a safe and joyful delivery.
It was great to see the players families at the Meet the Players on Saturday, (they may have been there the other years too but I didn't notice!) - made for a really good atmosphere. Fantastic spot to hold the event too.
Best of luck to the Crossy family - good to see the next generation of Force players being born in Perth!
Laugh and the world laughs with you.......
......cry and you'll weaken your beer
Best of luck Cross family.
"12 Years aSupporter" starring the #SeaOfBlue
shaping up to be a fantastic week for the
A new Cross - this one is a sand groper too
Beef back in action
A decisive victory against the Reds
61 years between Grand SlamsWas the wait worth it - Ya betta baby
Goood luck to the Cross family. The 2 seconds I spoke to Mrs Crossy she was lovely, wish them both the best of luck!
Haha Laura's moment of fameIt's nice that she came over and said thankyou to you. Having all the baby rugby players was so cute
But my gosh she's having quadruplets, her tummy is huge!! I hope this one (or 4) has beautiful curly hair as well, Marley is simply adorable!
At least he's timed this one better than the Blues players!
A kick in this game is like a rather nasty alcoholic shooter, only as good as it's chaser...
Courtesy of quality South African commentry
Do ya know it was the timing that impressed me most too - but I thought that sounded so crude - that hair would be adorable - saw Sharpie carrying his tacker around shoulder high too - little lad was babbling away in his ear - seriously cute![]()
61 years between Grand SlamsWas the wait worth it - Ya betta baby
Can we move this sort of talk to the Ladies Lounge please?
![]()
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!!
Fair point
61 years between Grand SlamsWas the wait worth it - Ya betta baby
Anyone heard any news about Mini-Crossy? I just saw the article and it said the baby was due Wednesday.. Any unnamed sources knowing anything yet?
A kick in this game is like a rather nasty alcoholic shooter, only as good as it's chaser...
Courtesy of quality South African commentry
nothing yet
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White