Time for Force to move into new era

Cameron Shepherd From: The Sunday Times June 18, 2011 8:02PM



JAMES O'Connor's departure may well be a blessing in disguise for the Emirates Western Force.

James is a wonderful player who will undoubtedly go on to play a lot of good footy with the Wallabies, as well as at Super 15 level.

But the bottom line is the club is always bigger than the individual.

The Force has seen great players come and go before and survived and this won't be any different.

I'm passionate about WA and the Force and where we are heading.

The team has shown this year it can win without him. We did it on the road in New Zealand and again on Friday against the Melbourne Rebels.

While it's sad to lose a player of his calibre, it will create an opening for someone else and it will be wonderful if Paddy Dellit or Rory Sidey, for example, take giant strides, fill the void and become the next big things in Super Rugby.


Don't get me wrong, I'm very fond of James and hope he'll continue to be a friend for many years to come and I wish him nothing but the best.

Our season ended on Friday night with a great win over the Rebels in Melbourne. I can sum up our year in one word: Inconsistent.

From an overall perspective though, it's been a terrific year for the code. The conferences have been a big hit with players and fans.

Playing teams in our home conferences twice has really enhanced the rivalries: the Blues and Crusaders in New Zealand, the Sharks and Bulls in South Africa and in Australia, the Reds and Tahs and, now, the Force and Rebels.

The Force-Rebels games are going to be big fixtures.

I tend to get engrossed in my rugby, so it will be good to take a week off away from everything and hopefully I'll make the first Wallabies squad for the World Cup later this year.

The squad members will be encouraged to play club rugby after the Super 15 finals and I'll be heading back to my original club, Northern Suburbs in North Sydney.

I have been with the club since I was 18, as a colts player and my dad is still heavily involved, so it will be good to get back to my roots.


http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/rug...-1226077729521

You know, we keep winging about growing & developing players, but, sidey, dellit, mcalman, pocock, brown, hodgson, cullet, badger, cummins, wykes, K-bomb, cheese and whittaker... these guys have all stood up and are /are becoming super class players.

now we have stannard who can play ten, swanny at 9 (if he comes back), turner at 9...

that's a fair list of players we developed, and in a huge range of positions. Future is looking pretty bright.

Now we just need to keep it up, and the future should be pretty bright.

Onya Cam.

Great article Cam, and the best part "I'm passionate about WA and the Force and where we are heading."

Good to see a positive article from a player. It suggests to me that the players are comfortable with the decision taken by the Force and that they trust the Force did what it could to try to keep O'Connor.

As I said before, where is my renewal package?

Ditto re membership Kenya, funny, I've never decided to renew based upon a sacking......more commonly a signing has tipped the balance!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by palitu

You know, we keep winging about growing & developing players, but, sidey, dellit, mcalman, pocock, brown, hodgson, cullet, badger, cummins, wykes, K-bomb, cheese and whittaker... these guys have all stood up and are /are becoming super class players.

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I thought Cullet, Badger and Cummins were the same player.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sheikh

I thought Cullet, Badger and Cummins were the same player.

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Bit of journo potential there. It's called "padding". :)

i was wondering if anyone would say anything. I suppose he's worked hard and deserves a bit of extra encouragement.