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ONE MORE WITH FEELING

From his room on the top floor of the Coogee Bay Hotel, Wallaby coach Robbie Deans usually has a pretty handy outlook, with views south over Coogee Beach out to Wedding Cake Island, east up to Clovelley, and north to Coogee Oval, the team's nearest and most convenient training venue.

On this particular day, early in June 2008, Deans couldn't see much at all. The Sydney weather had closed in, the driving rain heavily restricting visibility and transforming the normal sparkling blue waters of Coogee to a drab, murky grey, splotched with white foam.

But as he stood peering out the window, the Wallaby coach’s attention was drawn to the distant sight of a lonely, sodden figure dressed in dark blue. And then, over behind the posts, another, similiarly if not identically attired.

It was not so much the appearance as the circumstance which led Deans to the conclusion that he was watching his young halves combination, Barnes and Burgess, put in "just a few" extra yards.

Deans hadn’t been in the job long but he was prepared to wager the few remaining Kiwi dollars left in his wallet that they’d be the ones most likely to still out there, an hour and a half after training had officially finished, working on this, fine-tuning that.

The pair had quickly developed a reputation for their work ethic, particularly 23-year-old Barnes, who is referred to by Queensland skipper James Horwill to as "One More".

"Come on Berrick, time to wrap it up, mate. Bus is about to go."

"Yeah coming – just one more," Berrick would reply, running off to fetch the three footballs he'd just bounced across the touchline, or on another afternoon, steered between the posts.

So hard worker, driven to succeed? Absolutely. Consummate professional, prepared to do whatever it takes? No question.

For the complete story behind NSW Waratahs new recruit Berrick Barnes buy this month's
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