Looking at the speed and swerve of Nathan Hindmarsh's departure, it seemed there was nothing wrong with his knee. But looks are deceptive. Hindmarsh hot-footed it to his four-wheel drive, beating cameramen and photographers, and sped off, furious at being ruled out of the Tri-Nations tour by the team doctor, who reckoned he would be sidelined for at least a further three to four weeks.
St George Illawarra's barnstorming 20-year-old Ben Creagh was the surprise replacement, receiving the news while he lay on a couch watching a movie and recuperating from his team's week-long, season-ending celebrations. He will now miss the club's trip to Cairns, but noted "none of my mates, and certainly not me, is worried about that".
But in a feisty first official training session at Erskineville yesterday there were other concerns.
Mark Gasnier was worried about the speculation by his manager, who had been pumping up his Dragons' contract price by suggesting interest from the Australian Rugby Union and possible 2007 World Cup intentions.
Coach Wayne Bennett was worried at the audacity of a television journalist who dared to suggest the value of the Australian jersey was being undermined by giving it to Willie Mason - who admitted minutes earlier that he was not 100 per cent fit and his ankle wouldn't be totally healed until he had completed a full off-season of training.
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And then there was St George Illawarra captain Trent Barrett, seemingly pretending he wasn't worried that there were pivots galore in the team and his best shot at playing for Australia might be out in the centres.
Gasnier said he had not received a formal offer from rugby union, "but if they have got something to say, I'll listen". He said his possible switch of codes was speculation but if he had to he would make a quick decision "because I don't want my teammates distracted because of me".
Bennett said he would talk to Gasnier to ensure the fleet-footed centre was focused entirely on the upcoming Tri-Nations series and not on his contract deals.
But Bennett was tetchy at the former Easts player and television reporter Russell Fairfax and rebuked him for asking a question about Mason's selection devaluing the Australian jersey. Mason had got the nod while other forwards, including grand finalists John Skandalis and Steve Southern were left out.
"I was very lucky to have made the side," Mason admitted. "I was picked because the last couple of years I played well [for Australia] and they showed me a little bit of loyalty."
Bennett defended the selection of Mason, who played just nine games at the tail end of the season in the Bulldogs team that failed to make the finals.
He said Mason might have lost some mobility after tearing his ankle ligaments "but that just means he is back to the level everyone else is at". "If we thought it would be a gamble, we would not take him," Bennett said.
Mason said his ankle, injured last November while playing for Australia against the US in Philadelphia, was "not 100 per cent".
He said he had been treating the injury carefully since his return in the July 10 match against the Warriors and had not been able to complete a full training session and was restricted to doing low-impact work. Barrett said he was prepared to play any position to get in the starting line-up, as there was a logjam of players within the 23-man squad pushing for the halfback and five-eighth positions, including captain Darren Lockyer and Andrew Johns.
"Everyone is very competitive, we all want to make the team
if I train well and the form of the last three or four months is good enough to be in there
things might fall into place," he said. "I am not here to make up the numbers at five-eighth, I don't really mind where I play."
Bennett said he had already pencilled in several players in his starting side for the Tri-Nations opener against New Zealand at Telstra Stadium on October 15. While he would not reveal who they were, it seems Lockyer will be selected at five-eighth.
