Wigan's slippery Hock appears to be the Eel deal with talks over Aussie move
By NEIL BARRACLOUGH
PUBLISHED: 19:23 GMT, 4 November 2012 | UPDATED: 10:26 GMT, 5 November 2012
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Talks: Gareth Hock
Gareth Hock fuelled rumours that his future lies in Sydney by evading the waiting media after England's second romp of the autumn international series.
Wigan's Hock, believed to be in talks over a move to Parramatta Eels, had been forced to mumble his way through a TV interview after winning the man-of-the-match award in the 44-6 win over France.
But after emerging to be greeted by the waiting press, Hock insisted he had a phone call to answer, making an escape to the team bus via the Craven Park touchline with team-mate Lee Mossop. His phone was nowhere to be seen.
Should Hock leave - the agreement of a fee is believed to be the final part of the deal - England coach Steve McNamara would be likely to welcome the move.
Hock's infuriating indiscipline would benefit from the intense demands of Australia's NRL. It would also mean McNamara has up to 10 potential England players in the sport's elite competition ahead of next year's World Cup.
Leeds centre Kallum Watkins claimed a hat-trick against France as he put forward an irresistible case for being one of McNamara's first-choice threequarters.
'There are big expectations playing for England and you have to match them,' said Watkins. But having seen Zak Hardaker and Josh Charnley dropped for Saturday's match, despite the pair contributing six tries between them in England's win against Wales, Watkins is still unsure whether he will play in Sunday's final against France.
'The hat-trick might keep me in the side, but I still need to keep working hard, especially defensively,' he admitted.
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