Gerrard's return hinges on scan

By David Beniuk

March 31, 2008 BRUMBIES fullback Mark Gerrard's chances of playing in his side's must-win Super 14 clash with the Chiefs on Friday will hinge on an MRI scan on his injured hamstring on Tuesday.

But coach Laurie Fisher still rates his Australia star a better than 50-50 chance of playing at Canberra Stadium despite the scan being Gerrard's first since injuring his thigh against the Cheetahs two rounds ago.

“He ran (Sunday and Monday), not with the team, but he ran pretty well so we're going to get an MRI tomorrow just to check on his hamstring,” Fisher said.

“He may well be considered either in the starting XV or on the bench, whereas initially we weren't that certain about him.

“Two days ago he was 50-50, (now) he might be fractionally better but we just need to see what the MRI says.

“We just didn't get it done initially because of his recovery within 48 hours but if we are going to play him we want to be certain in our minds that there's nothing there.”

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Gerrard, the Brumbies are otherwise experiencing a return of the cavalry following their bye round with skipper Stirling Mortlock (shoulder) and Wallaby back Adam Ashley-Cooper (ankle) certain to make returns from long-term lay-offs.

Mortlock will slot straight back into outside centre while Ashley-Cooper will shift from a wing to deputise for Gerrard if the fullback is ruled out.

“(Mortlock's) been running for six weeks and Adam's been running for the last three weeks so they've done a reasonable volume and (went) into some contact work in the last couple of weeks so they're reasonably prepared,” Fisher said.

“I'm confident they'll both play, I'm hoping they'll make a major contribution. They're enthusiastic, they've done enough work to be able to get out there and execute.”

Hooker Saia Faingaa is still awaiting the results of an MRI scan on the hamstring he injured in the round five match against the Hurricanes and is unlikely to be ready for Friday.

But, with backs Julian Huxley, Clyde Rathbone, Gene Fairbanks and Anthony Faingaa all ruled out for virtually the entire season, the ninth-placed Canberra-based franchise will field as strong a side as they will be able to this season if Gerrard plays.

Meanwhile, Fisher was downplaying the significance of Friday's round-eight clash with the seventh-placed Chiefs as the season turns for home.

“They all are (must-win games) and for all teams,” he said.

“I don't know that anybody's not in that position. Our focus is trying to improve the components in our game. We know that we've got to take our set piece forward, we know that we've got to defend better.

“We've got to work harder on our kick-chase, all those sorts of things. That's all we're focusing on and the result will be a function of that. It's halfway through the comp, the pressure's on everybody.”

AAP