THE public announcement that Stirling Mortlock had been dumped as Wallabies captain went ahead without the man himself having been told. Not that he needed to be informed. He could read the signs.
Although Mortlock had a number of meetings with head coach Robbie Deans about a range of issues relating to the Wallabies spring tour, including the captaincy, no firm decision was ever reached on whether he would continue in the job he has held, almost permanently, since 2006.
"I was pretty much aware (what the decision would be)," Mortlock said yesterday. "But on the actual day, no, I wasn't told. It wasn't flagged here or there, but on the day the squad was announced, I was with my family at the movies. So I wasn't contactable. Maybe it was a bit of blurred dialogue ... we'd spoken about it (the captaincy) at length and Robbie had indicated which way he was leaning. I guess I was waiting for the phone call which said 'OK we've made a decision you're not the captain'."
Of course, there was no way Mortlock would have been allowed to go off to the movies while a Wallabies squad announcement was under way if he had in fact been chosen to lead the side. In his place at the press conference alongside Deans and ARU boss John O'Neill sat a for once clean-shaven and spruce Rocky Elsom. Clearly the incoming skipper had been alerted to the momentous changes afoot.
There was no bitterness in Mortlock's voice as he reflected on the graceless changing of the guard. "I would have loved to have captained this tour and I said that. But at the same time I fully understand the logic of putting in a new leader now to take us through to the 2011 World Cup," he said. "I did have aspirations to lead the tour but I've put them aside. I'm totally behind the decision and totally behind Rocky. I think he'll do a great job." Still, it was a curious and somewhat callous denouement to his 28-Test reign as Wallabies captain. One would have thought he deserved better if for no other reason than he was the man who landed the injury-time angled penalty goal in Durban in 2000 that clinched Australia's first Tri-Nations title; the same man whose 80m intercept try against the All Blacks put the Wallabies into the 2003 World Cup final.
Losing the captaincy has tilted Mortlock slightly more in favour of retiring from Test rugby and accepting a contract in Japan, but really nothing has changed. He is waiting for his body to tell him what to do and he intends to confer with it at length at the end of the Grand Slam tour. "That's where my mindset is," he said.
Happily, his body is telling him nothing but good things at the moment. Under normal circumstances, he would have pushed it hard to be back playing by now, after undergoing knee surgery following the Cape Town Test against the Springboks in August. "But we're still three weeks away from the Tokyo Test (against the All Blacks) so there wasn't too much reason to accelerate my progress," he said.
He might have surrendered the captaincy graciously but there is no way he intends parting with the gold 13 jersey that was his to command before he was injured. He is the first to admit he was "playing poorly" at Newlands, turning over two balls in successive hit-ups before he was replaced, but he puts that down to a wobbly knee.
"It was one of those injuries where you think it was just a hard knock and that it's going to get better. But it got worse. I had no power in my leg and the way I play the game, trying to bust through tackles, I wasn't able to make a positive contribution. If anything, it was the other way around," Mortlock said.
The Wallabies played out the remaining four Tests of the Tri-Nations series with a lightweight backline and were found out. But with Mortlock and dynamic winger Digby Ioane back, the Australians have some real hitting power out wide. Perhaps more importantly, they now have two players who will run straight and hard and attack the tryline, not the sideline.
All season long, the Wallabies have been one thing or the other, either too direct or too lateral. Hopefully the return of the 80-Test veteran will allow them to mix up their game a little more.
Off the field, the Wallabies appear a mixed-up team at the moment, with dissension and discontent dogging the pre-tour build-up, a state Mortlock attributes more than anything to the fact the side has won just one of its last six Tests. "We've had continually poor results and when that occurs, a lot of things bubble to the surface. Over the next couple of weeks we've got a good opportunity to all get on the same page and address whatever needs to be addressed and then move forward," he said.
Five-eighth Matt Giteau's unhappiness has been well documented but Mortlock, a good friend, insists his Brumbies teammate will be right by the time the tour gets under way. "He's a world-class player and he has proven that over many years. I have full confidence in Gits. He'll be sweet," he said.
The same applies to Mortlock. He didn't ask to have the captaincy taken off away but now that it has, he has no intention of second-guessing Elsom or lending him unwelcome advice.
