Youngster is blue, through and through
Western Force inside back Kyle Godwin is one of Australian rugby's brightest young talents, a Wallaby-in-waiting and already drawing comparisons with Matt Giteau.
After just one full Super Rugby season he was heavily tipped for the Wallabies' northern hemisphere tour but his hopes were dashed by a shoulder injury.
He dominated the 2013 Force awards, winning the Nathan Sharpe Medal, the Rising Star and Members' Most Valuable Player awards, has already been earmarked as a future Force leader and is a member of the players' standards group.
But amid all the hype the locally-bred talent is a modest young man with his feet firmly on the ground.
"Obviously the Wallabies is a dream for everyone at the end of the day but the main focus is on working hard at training and developing what we have got here," Godwin said.
If he does make the Wallabies, Godwin, 21, will be the first home-grown player to come through the Force academy system to reach the peak of Australian rugby.
A former Aquinas College student who represented WA at under-15 and under-16 levels and captained the WA schoolboys side, Godwin went on to the Australian schoolboys and under-20 sides and played in all of Australia's Junior World Cup matches last year.
Last season's shoulder injury was the second in his brief career.
In 2011, while a member of the Force academy, he was sidelined for the season after damaging the shoulder in a pre-season match against the Australian Barbarians.
But he is confident of coming back stronger after the post-season operation.
"It's feeling good. It's been a long couple of months but it has healed well. I'll be back to full contact after Christmas. The reins will be loose and I'm free to go," Godwin said.
Godwin made his Super Rugby debut in 2012, playing three games, and last season made 11 appearances.
He played his early rugby, including with the junior Wallabies, at fly-half but Force coach Michael Foley moved him into inside centre last season.
Godwin has repaid the faith shown by Foley by extending his contract until the end of the 2016 season despite still being contracted until the end of next season.
