As a Queenslander who has just joined the Waratahs, Ben Mowen expects to get a bit of ribbing in two weeks when he captains NSW against the Reds in their first Super 14 trial match at Campbelltown.
Maybe that is why the back-rower didn't bother keeping secret - as he could have - his nickname of "Blade" when asked for it yesterday at the announcement of his captaincy on debut for the Waratahs.
"For me?," answered Mowen with a broad grin before coughing it up: "Oh … they've been calling me 'Blade' … 'Mowen blade', but that's it."
Blade, the former Australian Under 21, Queensland A and East Coast Aces captain was one of 28 players named for the Waratahs' night-time trial against the Reds at Campbelltown Stadium on Australia Day. So, too, was league recruit Timana Tahu, for whom the game will be his first in the NSW strip since switching codes last year, when he played in the NRL for the Parramatta Eels.
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