Cummins wants to stay at Force

[PeterM]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...stay-at-force/

Winger Nick Cummins is keen to stay at the Western Force, the place he now calls home, but at the moment his focus is on producing a better performance for the Wallabies against Argentina at Patersons Stadium on Saturday.

The self-styled flying "honey badger" has put the distraction of contract talks behind him but admitted there was a lure of playing in a Force back line that could include James O'Connor and others like newly signed Luke Morahan and rising star Kyle Godwin.

"Next year … could be any- where but I do like it at home here. It feels like home. I'll be interested to see what happens," Cummins said.

"Hopefully … few more blokes turning up and I think it will be very exciting.

"They are still talking about James O'Connor, Mozza (Morahan), all these boys are pretty fast and exciting players so good to run off the back of."

Cummins is off contract with the Super Rugby club in December and has had preliminary talks with the Force and the Australian Rugby Union who have both have tabled offers.

He hopes to finalise a deal in about a month when the Rugby Championship finishes and before the Wallabies' spring tour to Europe in November.

"It would be good so you get your head around what your future is," he said.

"Hopefully that is the case and I think it will be. I think it will be done and dusted by then and I'll be able to move on, set some new goals and get in the mix.

"I've been focused on the Wallabies at the moment, really getting as many games, as much experience and learning as much as I can. I'm enjoying it and I'll enjoy it a lot more once I put some better performances together."

Cummins had a mixed game in the 38-12 loss to South Africa. He dropped two balls, put a massive hit on Boks full-back Zane Kirchner and lost his footing after racing into space off a Quade Cooper short ball.

"I think I was too excited when I got out there. I was a little bit keen to get in there and do as much as I could before I actually caught the ball," he said.

"If I focus that energy I'll get better results.

"I'll learn from that and come in with a more focused mind."

He is confident the Wallabies will put on a better show against Argentina than they did in Brisbane.

"Our game plan does provide space but we went away from that plan. Once we stick to that and polish it off we'll get a lot more results," he said.

"Execution is what let us down, myself included. If we do execute our game plan properly we'll come away with results."

Flanker Michael Hooper said the Wallabies were expecting another brutal onslaught, especially at the breakdown.

"We were lucky that we played the Boks who were physical so I think that will translate well," Hooper said.

"It (the breakdown) was a bit of an area where we were beaten up convincingly. It's a bit of a wake-up call for us as a forward pack."

It feels like home. I'll be interested to see what happens."Nick Cummins

[theforceguy]

badger not having a contract yet might just make him play a bit harder so we might see a special performance from him this weekend

[PeterM]

I hope all the Wallabies players play harder this weekend they 'owe' the rugby public of this country a performance and a result

[The InnFORCEr]

Not even a quotable quote in that, are you sure it was Nick they interviewed???

[UnionThug]

Not one reference to roosters, gypsies, meat or even bags full o cats... nup definitely not the ol' Honey Badger!

[GIGS20]

I'm pretty sure they left out any quotable quotes because to reference a treeful of Galahs would have made it too obvious that this is simply a jigsaw of any media references in the last month with no actual news.

[Marty_Mcfly]

So this makes it sound like he has all offers on the table (Force & ARU) and is waiting on... something? A counter offer or increased offer following his RC performances?

I had thought that the ARU had not made an offer, or had delayed it.

Interested to see how people feel this is different to the elongated negotiation process of O'Connor, which was obviously viewed with much more disdain from some quarters on here?

I suppose the biggest difference is that there haven't been constant speculation from the media that he will join another franchise/NRL/etc, though overseas competitions have been mentioned a few times.

[GIGS20]

Re the JOC saga, it doesn't sound like there's a whole lot of back and forth with Cummins.

I was reasonably OK with JOC until it became obvious that he was playing the petulant schoolboy and trying to nail the force to a wall with it.

If that happens with Cummo I'd be just as pissed (but more surprised)

[brokendown gunfighter]

Cummins has made it quite clear he is waiting to see if he gets a top up from the ARU--so far nothing on that count

[Marty_Mcfly]

I agree that there certainly has been much less back and forth with Cummins, for which I am certainly grateful. And there have been no reports of KPI's or "Brand" either, which absolutely makes a difference.

But could that possibly be because he has less of a media profile to JOC? perhaps every negotiating tool that he/his management are using to screw down a better offer doesn't get bandied about in the same way?

BDGF - I was under that impression too; however this article has said that he does have his ARU top-up offer on the table. (It's the only one I have seen that does - so make of that what you will)

I am just playing devil's advocate here, I certainly have nothing against the bloke.

I just don't see too much difference in two professionals trying to get the best (i.e. most lucrative) contract for their services, and dragging out the contracting process while doing so.

Is there a perceived air of arrogance with JOC that rubs people the wrong way perhaps? because I sometimes feel that Cummins' post match interviews and manner, as entertaining as they are, are as much about his "brand" management as anything JOC has ever done...

[GAFFA]

Every Player in Aus gets and must sign a contract with the ARU so when it says he has a contract on the table from the ARU doesnt mean he has been offered a Top up. He may well have but it is short of what he wants hence the hold up or he might not have any top up just the playing contract.

[GIGS20]

But could that possibly be because he has less of a media profile to JOC? perhaps every negotiating tool that he/his management are using to screw down a better offer doesn't get bandied about in the same way?

Certainly could be the case, that's where benefit of the doubt comes into play. JOC had plenty of benefit coming from doubt until the brand comment proved beyond all reasonable doubt that he was being a douche.

I just don't see too much difference in two professionals trying to get the best (i.e. most lucrative) contract for their services, and dragging out the contracting process while doing so.

Certainly have no problems with that Marty, I continue to despair about the dirty tricks and the more of them I hear about, the less I respect the player.

Is there a perceived air of arrogance with JOC that rubs people the wrong way perhaps? because I sometimes feel that Cummins' post match interviews and manner, as entertaining as they are, are as much about his "brand" management as anything JOC has ever done...

Most certainly, Nick is undoubtedly building himself a brand (whether knowingly or unknowingly) the difference is that when you tell the world that you are being careful to protect your brand you come across as being petulant and shallow. I'm sure there are plenty of media personnel in the background stage managing Nick's post match interviews, but there's no indication that he's having them professionally scripted, it looks to me like he sits around over a couple of beers and comes up with something funny to insert into his next interview. They'd be a lot more slick if he was being coached!

[Marty_Mcfly]

cheers for the thoughts chaps. interesting comments.

I do agree with both of you. but then I I can't help but compare it with other players (Pek is a good example) who have gone and signed for the next couple of years for our club without much fanfare or top-up issues.

there is a dedication there that I really admire.