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Dominic Brock | rugbyleaguelive.com | 14/05/08 | 0
AUDIO - Under the pump: Peter Wallace gets given a media workout
AUDIO - Peter Wallace was the best man for the job: Craig Bellamy
Everything was going smoothly for NSW selectors, right up until the moment Knights fullback Kurt Gidley clashed heads with Melbourne’s Dallas Johnson on Monday night and fractured his cheekbone.
Gidley had been set to start at halfback for the Blues in Origin I, with his adaptability meaning he would also play stints at hooker and five-eighth during the match.
But his knock to the head immediately put him in doubt for the match, and threw the Blues’ plans into disarray.
Bizarrely, Wallace had been told on Monday that he would had been picked for the team initially, only to be told that night that he was out.
When Gidley was ruled out of action just after 9.30am yesterday morning, Wallace was training with the Broncos in Brisbane.
Broncos football manager Peter Nolan then had to tell the halfback the good news – again – on Monday morning, and the 22-year-old was quickly rushed to the airport and flew out to Sydney at 12.15pm – after missing the 11.15am flight.
“I got the call last night that you’re in, get ready to come to Sydney,” Wallace told News Limited yesterday. “Then I got another call saying I wouldn't be going, then this morning it was all on again.
“I was all right (after the second call), but obviously pretty disappointed. I’m just rapt to be in again. It’s a dream come true for any young bloke, I'm so happy.
“It will be a spin-out, it’ll be unbelievable to be around those other players. I grew up watching some of these players, now I’ll get to play with them.”
But while Wallace was a ready-made replacement at halfback, Craig Bellamy and the selectors still wanted the versatility that had helped make Gidley the first choice for the positition.
So in came Ben Hornby. The Dragons fullback – who has also started games at five-eighth and halfback this season and is comfortable at dummy half – was called up to start on the bench.
Hornby had been deemed the third-choice fullback for Country against City – coming onto the bench behind Cronulla’s Brett Kearney after Manly’s NSW fullback Brett Stewart was ruled out through injured. He played just 25 minutes in that match, all at dummy half.
But he fits Bellamy's gameplan, and the Blues coach will now be under pressure for the plan to work against a star-studded Queensland side in Sydney on May 21.
It will be a spin-out, it’ll be unbelievable to be around those other players.
NSW halfback Peter Wallace
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