Rocky is DEFINITELY coming home

[Spook]

You beauty ;D. Don't care where he goes at S14 level. Just great to have him back for the Wallabies.

Elsom opts to return to Australia

O'Driscoll said Leinster would not have won the Heineken Cup without Elsom
Rocky Elsom, Leinster's back-row forward Heineken Cup winning hero, has decided to return to Australia to resume his career with the Wallabies.

Leinster were desperate to keep Elsom but the lure of adding to his 58 Wallaby caps persuaded him to conclude his one-year stay in Europe.

"I already liked Dublin before playing for Leinster and obviously I enjoyed the rugby," said the 26-year-old.

"But ultimately I'm Australian and want to play for Australia," he added.

"You don't always have the opportunity to do that but I do now so I want to take advantage of it.

"My contract with Leinster is over so I'm going to try and head back to Australia.

"I want to play for a Super 14 team because my first priority has always been the Wallabies. That's what I want to do."

Elsom's bulldozing runs and ferocious tackling proved instrumental in the Irish province's Heineken Cup success but he has remained in regular contact with the Australian Rugby Union.

"I've really enjoyed this season and I didn't expect to like it as much.

"I've spoken at length with the Australian management about moving back, it's not something I've only just decided to do.

"It's just about finalising things now."

Leinster skipper Brian O'Driscoll went as far as to state that the province would not have won the competition without Elsom.

Such a formidable presence will be impossible to replace and his decision to decline taking a one-year option on his contract is a huge blow to the European champions.

Elsom is being tipped to join the ACT Brumbies although Queensland and his former club New South Wales also want his services.

 

[Gagger]

No wonder you were so happy Spook

Peter Hynes injury raises queries over Wallabies' back three


Bret Harris | June 02, 2009
Article from: The Australian

WINGER Peter Hynes is in doubt for the Wallabies team to play the Barbarians in Sydney on Saturday night because of a knee injury.

Hynes, who underwent surgery on his injured knee while playing for the Queensland Reds during the Super 14 series, sat out the Wallabies' first training session at Coogee Oval in Sydney yesterday. He did speedwork on his own with the team trainer to rebuild the strength in his knee.

Given that Hynes has not played since the Reds' big loss to he Brumbies in Brisbane a month ago, it is unlikely Wallabies coach Robbie Deans would rush him back and risk further injury. If fully fit, Hynes would almost certainly start on the right wing for the Wallabies, having worn the gold No14 jersey in 13 Tests last year. But if he is unable to play as expected, it will add further intrigue to the make up of the Wallabies' back three.

Teenage sensation James O'Connor is poised to start at fullback, which means regular No15 Adam Ashley-Cooper would become a candidate for a start on the wing.

If Ashley-Cooper started on one wing, Lote Tuqiri, Drew Mitchell and Lachie Turner would compete for the other spot.

Western Force outside centre Ryan Cross also missed yesterday afternoon's session. Cross was dogged by a shoulder injury in the Super 14 series and is also considered doubtful.

He would have been expected to compete for a place on the Wallabies' reserve bench.

The other main contentious position is blindside flanker. With Australia's premier blindside flanker Rocky Elsom playing for the Barbarians, Deans will choose between Matt Hodgson and Dean Mumm for the No6 jersey.

Mumm would be the safer option, but Deans has indicated he was prepared to start Hodgson, who was one of the bolters in the Wallabies' 22-man squad.

If Hodgson starts at blindside flanker, Mumm will compete with specialist locks James Horwill and Nathan Sharpe for a start in the second row. But it is more likely Mumm will sit on the bench, covering second row and blindside flanker.

The rest of the starting line-up should be fairly predictable, with Luke Burgess and Matt Giteau in the halves and Berrick Barnes and captain Stirling Mortlock in the centres.

The front row is likely to be props Al Baxter and Benn Robinson and hooker Stephen Moore. Openside flanker George Smith and number eight Richard Brown will round out the backrow.

Meanwhile, Barbarians assistant-coach Mike Catt believes Elsom and Australian openside flanker Phil Waugh will be fired up for the Barbarians against the Wallabies.

Elsom, who inspired Leinster to victory over Leicester in the Heineken Cup final, will announce his signing with the ARU and the Brumbies tomorrow, making him eligible for the Wallabies' Tests against Italy and France. Waugh was included in the Wallabies' squad, but released to play for the Barbarians against England and Australia.

"I know Phil is very interested in getting back into the squad and being part of the Wallabies again; same with Rocky Elsom, obviously coming back from a fantastic season in the northern hemisphere," Catt said.

Former Wallabies halfback Chris Whitaker and uncapped Waratahs winger Ratu Nasiganiyavi are the other Australians in the New Zealand-dominated 23-man squad. Barbarians head coach Dai Young said the team intended to play their traditional free-flowing rugby, but he warned it also wanted to win.

"We want to throw the ball about. We want to be entertaining, but make no bones about it as well, we want to win."

Possible Wallabies team: James O'Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Stirling Mortlock (c), Berrick Barnes, Lote Tuqiri, Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess, Richard Brown, George Smith, Matt Hodgson, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Al Baxter, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson. Reserves: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ben Alexander, Dean Mumm, David Pocock, Josh Valentine, Timana Tahu, Drew Mitchell.

 

[Spook]

Gags, still won't believe it until pen and paper combine. I thought Elsom would be a Tah man for eternity. Someone really pissed him off up in Syderney.

 

[Gagger]

Sounds like the Queenslanders did a better job

I wouldn't have fitted in with Queensland Reds: Rocky Elsom

By Wayne Smith
June 02, 2009

Rocky Elsom said the realisation that he and Queensland Reds would not be a good fit prompted him to break off negotiations with the side, opening the way for him to sign with the Brumbies and the Australian Rugby Union.

From the outset the Reds had been favourites to recruit Elsom on his return from his eight-month stint with Heineken Cup champions Leinster, so much so that the 40-Test blindside flanker had insisted he would talk to no other province as long as the Queensland deal proceeded smoothly.

But almost from that point, negotiations became strained and while Elsom refused to divulge precisely where his planned move to Ballymore went off the rails, he admitted he had not seen eye-to-eye with Queensland officials.

"We had a difference of opinion over the direction of the club and ultimately had I gone there that would have been divisive," said Elsom, who has returned to Australia as a member of the Barbarians side to play the Wallabies at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night.

"I wouldn't have been able to go to the club without trying to make it the way I wanted it and in the end I just knew it wouldn't be a good fit."

Clearly the in-form blindside flanker had reservations about the quality of the team Queensland was assembling for 2010, although he insisted he had made his decision to break off talks before learning Hugh McMeniman had quit the Reds to take up a lucrative contract in Japan.

So late did Elsom leave it to walk away from the Queensland deal - and the $100,000 in third-party payments that Reds sponsors were prepared to give him - that he left himself no time to negotiate with his former province, NSW.

"I had a few time pressures when I was doing the deal. In hindsight, I probably gave too much time to Queensland. But I was very happy with the way the Brumbies handled the deal and I like the direction they're heading in."

Indeed, now that his name will be entered on the team sheet along with Matt Giteau, George Smith, Stirling Mortlock, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Josh Valentine and quite possibly teenage prodigy James O'Connor, the Brumbies have at their disposal the nucleus of a team quite capable of challenging the new Super 14 champion, the Bulls.

"That's the plan, to give the Bulls a shake," Elsom said.

Indeed, Elsom regrets he will have to wait until next season to take on the Bulls, wishing that the much-discussed global grand final between the Super 14 champion and the northern hemisphere's Heineken Cup winner had not been turned into a reality.

"Leinster versus the Bulls ...yeah, if ever there was a chance to do it, it would have been now, except for the fact that the British and Irish Lions are now touring South Africa," said Elsom, the man of the match in Leinster's European Cup final victory over Leicester nine days ago.

"But a grand final is definitely something they should organise."

Elsom, who scored a try in the Barbarians' 33-26 victory over England at Twickenham, warned the Wallabies the Baa-Baas would be a difficult team to handle.

"It's a good side we've got," Elsom said.

"Obviously our preparations for this match aren't necessarily ideal but we gave England a good shake and it will be interesting to see how we go against the Wallabies. That will be a unique experience from my perspective."

Still, after lining up against the gold jerseys, he hopes to be wearing one the following weekend when Australia begins its 2009 Test campaign in Canberra against an Italian side that very much has an Australian flavour.

Former Brisbane Norths premier rugby five-eighth Kris Burton, now with Italy's Prato club, was named yesterday as replacement for the injured Andrea Marcato, joining fellow north Queenslander Luke McLean and former rugby league international Craig Gower in the Azzuri squad.

 

[Scarfman]

Wow. Just wow.

The QRU couldn't get a root in a brothel.

 

[formeropenside]

Well, hopefully we'll pick up Mitchell Chapman anyway.

I wonder what went wrong? Its pretty iffy - and "difference of opinion over the direction of the club" - what does that mean? Did the QRU tell him the plan is to bring up the bottom of the ladder for the foreseeable future? Did he not want a leadership role in the team and forward pack? Maybe he just did not get on with Mooney or Bell.

 

[Ash]

Wow. Just wow.

The QRU couldn't get a root in a brothel.

Yeah. Just...like...wow. Speechless.

FO; Chapman? Chapman is a good player and no disrespect to him but gees, losing 3M, not signing Rocky but signing Chapman instead of the other two is like getting dumped by Claudia Schiffer and ending up with Amanda Vanstone.

That being said, I doubt the QRU will sign Chapman anyway. That's like...well, what's worse than Amanda Vanstone?

 

[Sully]

Fuck it's getting harder and harder to support this cluster fuck!

 

[cyclopath]

Wow. Just wow.

The QRU couldn't get a root in a brothel.

Yeah. Just...like...wow. Speechless.

FO; Chapman? Chapman is a good player and no disrespect to him but gees, losing 3M, not signing Rocky but signing Chapman instead of the other two is like getting dumped by Claudia Schiffer and ending up with Amanda Vanstone.

That being said, I doubt the QRU will sign Chapman anyway. That's like...well, what's worse than Amanda Vanstone?

Is species an important factor?

 

[RugbyReg]

Its times like this that I like to quote the openning dialogue from the Hugh Grant hit, "Four Weddings and a Funeral"

Fuck
Fuck
Fuck
Fuckity fuckity fuckity
Fuck
Bugger
Fuck
Fuck
Fuck
Bollox

I really just cannot understand what happened. The QRU NEEDS to come out pretty dam quick to explain this. It just sounds so amateur hour

 

[Biffo]

Its times like this that I like to quote the openning dialogue from the Hugh Grant hit, "Four Weddings and a Funeral"

Fuck
Fuck
Fuck
Fuckity fuckity fuckity
Fuck
Bugger
Fuck
Fuck
Fuck
Bollox

I really just cannot understand what happened. The QRU NEEDS to come out pretty dam quick to explain this. It just sounds so amateur hour

"Watch your language, there are childen watching". Referee N.Owens to player R. Elsom, Heineken Cup Final, 23 may 2009.

 

[Cutter]

Noddy you are right. What does the QRU have to say for itself about this? More or less a done deal and then a "difference of opinion" causes him to sign with the Brumbies...someone has done something somewhere.

 

[RugbyReg]

Well I BELIEVE Chairman Peter Lewis was handling the negotiations.

What's the old saying about a fish rotting from the head first?

 

[Lee Grant]

Rocky was on the radio this morning and said, more or less, that it was the only option that made sense, without giving any details. He's a different character to most players - if he said he didn't see eye to eye with the QRU officials, I would tend to believe him and not look for anything else.

There was no mention of why he didn't go to the Tahs and if it was time pressure as mentioned in the article I would take that and not look for too much else either - though the move of Giteau to the Brumbies probably had a bit to do with his decision methinks.

As a Tahs fan I'm disappointed that he didn't return to Sydney, but our forwards have gone well this year. No doubt I will be moaning in 2010 when a couple of injuries occur, but right now I'm not second guessing Rocky - personal decisions are just that.

That may sway the Rabbit to go to go there too but I hear that he wants to play club rugby in Sydney, which is a bit bizarre. If he goes to Randwick, the Brumbies feeder team over the years, it's odds on that he's Canberra bound.

Unlike many Tahs fans I was always pround of the Brumbies in years past and how they waved the flag for Aussies in the Super finals. I think I will be following them more closely next year and cheering them on - except when they play the Tahs of course.

 

[RugbyReg]

JOC (James O'Connor) is an interesting one. From what I have heard, his main driving force is money. Well that may be a bit harsh.

Its more that his dad's main driving force is money and JOC (James O'Connor) loves to please his dad. I think we can expect to see more 'Lote-like' prolonged contract negotiations ( and threats of going to league and OS) for years to come.

 

[Biffo]

Unlike many Tahs fans I was always pround of the Brumbies in years past and how they waved the flag for Aussies in the Super finals. I think I will be following them more closely next year and cheering them on - except when they play the Tahs of course.

The same goes for me. I have the added interest in the Brumbies from being a genuine man from Snowy River and have always had them as my number 2 team.

 

[Pfitzy]

The QRU couldn't get a root in a brothel.

Sounds like that's where they're spending all their money if THAT player roster means they need to go looking for top-ups with third party sponsors.

Yeah sure they own their own ground, but what the fuck are they doing with the cash they should have left over?

Move the games back to Ballymore QLDers, because the crowds aren't going to stretch it next year. And fire your board.

 

[Spook]

 

[Biffo]

???

 

[Ash]

I think Spook posted the happy dance to celebrate the signing of Elsom at the Brumbies?