Duo commit to Force

Western Force forwards Tom Hockings and Richard Stanford have agreed new two-year deals with the Super 14 franchise.

Hockings and Stanford pen two-year deals

Western Force forwards Tom Hockings and Richard Stanford have agreed new two-year deals with the Super 14 franchise. Hockings, 23, has played every match during the current 2009 campaign after featuring in just 10 games last year. The powerful lock from north Queensland represented Australia at junior level before bursting onto the Super 14 scene last season. Stanford, a 22-year-old flanker who can also play lock, joined the Force at the start of the season after two years with the Brumbies, where he earned six caps off the bench. "It's tremendous to see guys like that who have got huge futures in the game ... signing with the Force," skipper Nathan Sharpe said. But the future of number eight Richard Brown and backs James O'Connor and Drew Mitchell remain up in the air.