Ben tunes up for international comeback
Former Wallabies winger Ben Tune starts a campaign he hopes will culminate in Test selection when he plays for a Northern Territory selection team against Samoa in Darwin.
The injury-plagued Tune, who played the last of his 46 Tests back in 2002, has been selected in his "new" position of outside centre for the fixture which features nine Australian squad members.
The 28-year-old had played most of his junior rugby at centre but with the likes of Tim Horan, Jason Little and Daniel Herbert ahead of him at Queensland he quickly found himself playing his senior rugby on the wing.
Now that Tune is convinced centre is where his international future lays he just has to sway national coach Eddie Jones.
"From Eddie's point of view he has only seen me in four (Super 12) games in the centres so I understand where he's coming from," Tune said.
"He's seen me more at my best on the wing in Test match rugby.
"But the plan is to play the whole Super 14 competition next year in the centres and that will hopefully give me a crack at playing for Australia in that position.
"I've got a realistic view as to where I stand in the pecking order so I'll take the rest of the year as a means to developing and just training very hard."
With plenty of Australian talent in the midfield Tune does not expect to be part of a Test team this year but wants to work towards selection next year and the 2007 World Cup.
Jones was equally keen to have a look at him first hand.
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