Brumbies wary of Watson
May 22, 2002

The ACT Brumbies are preparing for a stop-start affair in the Super 12 final against Canterbury with the appointment of whistle-happy referee Andre Watson.

Brumbies centre Pat Howard said the team is conscious of South African Watson's habit of awarding a lot of penalties, particularly with Canterbury fly-half Andrew Mehrtens kicking goals for the Crusaders. .

"With Andre Watson being the ref there will be a lot of penalties and with Mehrtens being such a great goalkicker we have to try to limit his chances as much as possible," said Howard before the team flew to Christchurch on Wednesday.

The Brumbies are expected to employ a kicking game in their half designed to play in the Crusaders' territory as much as possible, keeping Mehrtens out of range while creating opportunities for their own kickers.
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Andrew Walker is the first-choice kicker, with Stirling Mortlock backing him up and sharp-shooter Julian Huxley on the bench.

Huxley has impressed with his exceptional accuracy and distance when played off the bench since being called up a month ago and has landed 14 of 16 attempts, including seven from seven, with one from halfway, in the semi against the Waratahs.

"Andrew Walker will take the first kick - he's done really well in the last couple of games and there's no reason he shouldn't keep on doing it," Mortlock said.

The Brumbies are yet to name a team for the clash, with injured fullback Mark Bartholomeusz in doubt with an ankle injury.

One of the spots in dispute for the Brumbies is No.8, where the in-form Scott Fava and league convert Peter Ryan are contending following Ryan's recovery from injury.

Fava is stronger on attack while Ryan adds defensive grunt and both were confident of playing a role, with Fava saying "hopefully the way I've been playing I've done enough to get in".

Brumbies' blindside breakaway Owen Finegan missed the 2000 home final loss to the Crusaders because of suspension for stomping and was out injured when the Brumbies beat the Sharks last year at Canberra.

"Being on the sideline the last two seasons has been very disappointing," Finegan said.

"It was very frustrating but now I've only got to get through two more training sessions to make it onto the field."

Finegan said the acid would be on the favoured Crusaders, who are going into the final with 12 straight wins and a parochial crowd behind them.

"The best thing is that all the pressure is on them because the Crusaders are expected to win."

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