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WALLABIES centre Ryan Cross insists that after being coached by Gus Gould and Ricky Stuart, nothing Western Force coach John Mitchell might say is likely to offend him.
During his nine-year career with the Sydney Roosters in the NRL, Cross was coached by two of the most volatile characters in the game, Gould and Stuart.
Neither spared a player's feelings if they felt he was underperforming and indeed, as then Kangaroo coach Stuart's post-World Cup final outburst demonstrated last year, it wasn't only players who might find themselves on the receiving end of a tirade.
All of which has given Cross a perspective denied his Perth team-mates during the ongoing saga surrounding Mitchell's behaviour as Western Force coach.
So stung were some players and officials by Mitchell's words that the club went down the bizarre path of inviting a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate their complaints. Details of Robert Anderson QC's report to Rugby WA have been kept confidential but sources close to the club have suggested that, while Mitchell might have warranted the reprimand he has been given, many of the complaints bordered on the trivial.
Certainly Cross insists he was not offended by anything Mitchell might have said to him. Nor, for that matter, Gould or Stuart.
"Ten years ago you needed a pretty thick skin to survive," Cross said yesterday.
"You copped a lot of harsh words but you also learned a lot from them.
"Mitch is a bit like that at times. He goes pretty hard and gets pretty passionate.
But I've never has a problem with him. My relationship with Mitch is pretty good.
"He has responded (to the criticism) over the off-season and now we're just looking for the season to get under way."
That happens tomorrow night when the Force hosts the Auckland Blues at Subiaco Oval, but just when the Perth club was looking to regain its equilibrium after the Anderson inquiry, it has been knocked off balance again by a late flurry of injuries.
Junior Pelesasa yesterday was forced out with a hamstring injury which means Cross will have as his centre partner a 22-year-old he has never played alongside before, former Melbourne Storm battering ram Josh Tatapu.
It was always expected that injury would force former Wallabies number nine Josh Valentine to miss what would have been his debut with the Force but, disconcertingly, the Force also has lost its third-string halfback Justin Turner to a back complaint.
That leaves the Force relying on Chris O'Young to make it through the full 80 minutes, no sure thing given that his own pre-season has been dogged by a hamstring complaint.
Should he be forced off, Matt Giteau would swing into the halfback position he last occupied on the 2006 Wallabies spring tour, with 18-year-old sensation James O'Connor coming off the bench to deputise at five-eighth.
Mitchell has no doubt five-eighth can become O'Connor's long-term position, with many believing the talented youngster will one day succeed Giteau as Australia's playmaker, but for the moment the last thing the Force needs is for Giteau to see action at halfback.
Given how confidently O'Connor acquitted himself on his first Wallabies tour last November, it is surprising he was not given the starting role at inside centre, especially following Pelesasa's injury but Mitchell is determined not to throw the teenager to the wolves.
"We're managing him rather than sheltering him," Mitchell said. "He's had a slow start to his preparation because of illness and given the strength of the Blues in the midfield and the fact that he's an 18-year-old, we wanted to manage his progress.
"I don't know that he can go 15 rounds in the front lines."
Australian coach Robbie Deans used O'Connor, the second youngest Wallaby ever, exclusively as a fullback against Italy and the Barbarians but Mitchell doesn't see 15 as a present option for him. Should fullback Cameron Shepherd be injured, Drew Mitchell will switch back from the wing to cover for him.
The Blues will go into the match without four of their All Blacks stars, with winger Rudi Wulf and lock Ali Williams out injured, and Jerome Kaino and Joe Rokocoko staying home for the births of their babies.
"They'll probably make that work to their advantage," Mitchell said. "Any team prepared by Pat Lam is going to be given free rein to express itself and this team won't be any different."
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