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http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23217,00.html
Henjak gutted by Wallabies snub
By James Dampney
May 07, 2007
A BITTERLY disappointed Matt Henjak conceded his World Cup dream was all but over after being overlooked for the Australia train-on squad announced today.
Wallabies coach John Connolly named a squad of no fewer than 59 players, but Henjak's name was not among them, despite the halfback's Super 14 coach declaring last week selectors would be "stupid'' not to include him.
Once rated the likely successor to George Gregan, Henjak wasn't ranked in the top six halfbacks in the country, with the Brumbies' Gregan, Force teammate Matt Giteau, Queensland's Sam Cordingley and Waratahs trio Josh Valentine, Brett Sheehan and Josh Holmes all rated ahead of him by Connolly and selectors Scott Johnson and Michael O'Connor.
"It's definitely disappointing not being in the mix in a World Cup year,'' Henjak said.
"I think there's going to have to be a drastic change if I'm going to get selected in a World Cup squad.
"That's obviously disappointing, but you never say never.''
Western Force and former All Blacks mentor John Mitchell said last week his halfback had enjoyed an "outstanding season''.
Queensland Reds stalwart David Croft, Force's Tai McIsaac and Scott Fava, plus Brumbies centre Gene Fairbanks were also notable omissions from a squad which will be trimmed to 40 for a training camp in Sydney from May 15-17.
A final squad of 30 for the two Tests against Wales, a one-off Test against Fiji and the Tri Nations series will be announced on May 20.
Connolly was reluctant to discuss the reasons behind Henjak's absence, saying only he had put in a "solid performance'' with Force this season, the coach preferring to focus on the players who were picked ahead of him.
"I suppose we're looking at Giteau in two positions,'' Connolly said.
"We're looking at Gregan still, we have Cordingley in so we can assess where he's at, we rank Holmes very highly as a young player on the way up, so there are quite a few in there at the moment.''
McIsaac played eight Tests at hooker last year but was rated below Adam Freier, Jeremy Paul, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Stephen Moore.
Croft also missed out, with Connolly opting for Julian Salvi from the Brumbies and Western Force young gun David Pocock.
"I suppose Tai did a good job last year but you can only have so many,'' Connolly said.
"We deemed Freier, Moore, Paul and Tatafu were the four hookers for this squad. In terms of Croft, we've got (George) Smith and (Phil) Waugh and thought Pocock's form was outstanding this year, as was Salvi.''
Both Connolly and Henjak said there was a slim prospect players outside the squad could still make it to the World Cup, but it is highly unlikely.
Henjak hasn't heard from selectors or received any feedback on the reasons behind his omission.
"I was definitely hopeful I would've made the squad,'' he said.
"But obviously selectors have seen something in my game or haven't seen enough in my game to warrant selection.
"I've just got to work on the things I suppose I've got to work on and hopefully be in the mix later down the track.''