Two of Western Force's Wallabies have distanced themselves from a reputed player revolt against coach John Mitchell brewing at Perry Lakes, with Richard Brown claiming it was a journalist getting excited at the "sniff" of a story.
Force officials were again left perplexed after more reports of a potentially damaging schism between senior players and senior coach emerged over the weekend, with a supposed dossier of grievances having been seen by former Force star and player's representative John Welborn.
With Mitchell only just back in the country after a trip to the Kokoda trail, his senior stars were gathering on the other side of the country to prepare for the Wallabies upcoming trip to Hong Kong and Europe.
And Brown and rising star James O'Connor both said they were taking little notice of the reports.
"It has not got much to do with me, I am pretty sure someone has got a sniff of something and then exaggerated the facts," Brown said.
"So what is going around in the media I don't pay much thought to it."
O'Connor, whose rapid rise under Mitchell in Perth could lead him to become the second youngest Wallaby in history, was also keen to distance himself from any acrimony at the club.
"It has got nothing to do with me," O'Connor said.
A Force official told WAtoday.com.au the apparent drive to unseat or unsettle Mitchell was unlikely to work, given he signed a new contract last season.
And in a statement released over the weekend, his manager John Fordham said the report was distorted and disappointing.
"John Welborn took the time to call me to say today's report of a recent player meeting was distorted and very disappointing," Fordham said.
"He categorically denied that a dossier existed. Because of this, there is obviously no substance to the newspaper article's claim that a so-called dossier will be tabled at the next Rugby WA board meeting.
"John's assurances are in line with the advice John Mitchell received overnight from two of the Force's senior players, vice-captain Matt Giteau and captain Nathan Sharpe."
Brown and O'Connor represent two remarkable ascensions to rugby prominence, given one started the last Super 14 season in disgrace and the other in obscurity.
Brown was the second Force player fined, censured and publicly humiliated by his behaviour during the "quokka shocker" in pre-season on Rottnest Island, while teenager O'Connor was known to few outside the Australian sevens circuit and his Queensland homeland.
Now both look set to play big roles on Robbie Deans' first tour in charge - and Brown said there were similarities in approach between Deans and Mitchell, close friends who worked together in charge of New Zealand.
"There are a lot of similarities in message and in styles of playing the game, and that certainly makes that transition a little easier from Super 14s to Wallabies," Brown said.
"It has made a little easier knowing and having an insight into the Wallabies structure."
And O'Connor, already slightly taken aback at the level of intensity of Australian training, said he was slowly coming to terms with being involved with the Wallabies.
"It is all starting to feel like it is actually the real deal now," O'Connor said.