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Bret Harris | June 23, 2009
Article from: The Australian
TEST number eight Wycliff Palu will make his comeback for Sydney club Manly against Penrith at St Marys on Saturday in a bid for inclusion in the Wallabies' 30-man Tri Nations squad.
Palu has not played since the end of the Super 14 series because of a broken hand, which he sustained on NSW Waratahs' tour of South Africa.
If Palu can prove his fitness playing for Manly, he is likely to be recalled to the Wallabies squad.
The Wallabies squad will be named next Thursday, but the Australians have a two-week break after Saturday's Test against France in Sydney before they play their first Tri Nations game against the All Blacks in Wellington.
This would give Palu another two games of club rugby with Manly to regain his match fitness.
Western Force backrower Richard Brown is the Wallabies' only specialist number eight in the current 30-man squad for the forthcoming Test series against Italy and France.
Brown started at number eight in the Wallabies wins against the Barbarians in Sydney and Italy in Canberra, but he was rested from the second Italian Test in Melbourne last Saturday.
George Smith moved from openside flanker to the back of the scrum for the second Italian Test, highlighting the need for another number eight in the squad.
Once he has fully recovered his fitness, Palu would challenge Brown for the starting number eight position, which would be an intriguing contest.
While Brown is industrious and aggressive, he does not have the same ball-running skills as Palu and he is certainly not as big as the 120kg Waratahs forward.
If blindside flankers Rocky Elsom and Matt Hodgson are still unavailable at the start of the Tri Nations through injury, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans could even consider playing both Brown and Palu in the backrow together.
The versatile Brown can play all three positions in the backrow, while Palu can also play blindside flanker.
Wallabies prop Matt Dunning will also be hoping to be added to the Tri Nations squad, having recently made a comeback with Sydney club Eastwood after missing the Super 14 series with a knee injury.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html