Schmidt had the chance to hose down the speculation on Tuesday. Instead, he gave it oxygen. “Yeah, I’ve talked to James,” Schmidt told reporters in Melbourne after meeting with Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge. “We’ve had a really good chat. “With James, he’s still playing in our local comp [Super Rugby] and he’s not based currently in Australia. I don’t think that precludes him. I don’t think we’ve precluded anyone. We want to be as strong as we can be for a pinnacle event. “James would bring experience back to the group [and] a little bit of versatility in that he’s played [number] 12 in his career as well.”