Kyle Godwin has been on the Test fringes before, but 2016 looms as the season where everything might just fall into place for his Wallabies debut.
Godwin is one of five additions to Australia’s squad for the next two Rugby Championship Tests, but it’s by no means his first time in the Wallabies fold.
The inside back was part of the Australian squad on the 2014 Spring Tour and also trained alongside the Wallabies in this year’s June Series, despite not being an official member of the squad
With an injury crisis in the Wallabies’ 12 stocks, Godwin’s own odds of a Test debut have risen, though it may not come until this year’s Spring Tour.
The timing doesn’t worry him, though, with the dynamic back just been keen to continue improving.
“It's definitely great to be back in camp,” he said.
“It's been a while since I've last been here and I'll be pushing my case to see how it goes and just enjoying being back in the camp and really striving to hopefully, potentially, get that debut.”
Injuries have been Godwin’s biggest hurdle in trying to crack a Test squad and he played just nine games in this year’s Super Rugby season after a delayed start but he said he hadn’t lost confidence in his body.
“I've been very unfortunate but [like] a lot of other players, that's the nature of the beast, playing rugby, you get those injuries but I've had great physios sorting me out and I've tried to manage my body as well as I possibly could and at the moment [I’m] feeling really fresh and fit,” he said.
“So, hopefully I can push my case in the next couple of weeks and really train well.”
While the casualty list means most of Australia’s usual 12s are out of the picture, Godwin said he had been able to learn off staff and teammates this season as much as possible.
“Obviously all the inside backs have been great help for me,” he said.
“Unfortunately a few of those guys are injured currently but there’s some great players also [still] in those areas and also Stephen Larkham's been a great help for me as well.”
Larkham’s influence may grow even stronger over Godwin in the coming seasons, with the former Force back sorting out the intricacies in a new Super Rugby contract, which is set to be with the ACT Brumbies.
“Potentially [he’ll be my Super Rugby coach],” he said.
“We're trying to sort that out with my manager, finalising the last final details.
“When I spent that week on the Sunshine Coast he was really great with helping me, with just small specifics in my game that I can really improve on.
“I tried to implement those for the rest of the Super Rugby season and then into the NRC season.”
