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RugbyWA chief executive Vern Reid is sitting comfortably in his new role within the first few months of it and is pleased with the work done to set the Emirates Western Force up going forward.
Several months ago there were plenty of doubters floating around, including some in certain media outlets, that were looking down unfavourably on the Force's fortunes going forward.
That was with both with the playing stocks for 2010 and its future going forward with the move to ME Stadium, but things are now looking tremendously strong on both fronts.
The Force will play its home games at the rectangular ME Stadium, which will receive $2 million worth of upgrades ahead of the 2010 Investec Super 14 season.
That will be followed up by a full $160 million revamp by the end of the 2012 season that will make it a fantastic new facility for rugby to be played at.
That is the first piece of tremendously positive news that will set up RugbyWA long-term in Perth, but having a strong team on the field is the next step and the 2010 team is looking good.
Reid rightfully points out that he hasn’t lost a game in his time in charge yet since replacing Greg Harris, but there is sure to be plenty of wins for him on and off the field with things looking good.
"I haven’t lost a game yet in my role, so that's a positive. I have been on the board of RugbyWA for years now, though, so I already had a handle on the strategic issues we were facing," Reid said.
"The timing of my appointment was also very good and Greg was considerate in the way that he planned his withdrawal to allow me the whole off-season to get to work and reset the business really.
"Everything is travelling quite well, the majority of our playing squad is signed, we've got a new stadium deal and things are as good as they can be at this stage."
It is a long way out from the 2010 season, but early signs point to a Force team that is certainly capable of pushing for a first ever finals berth with the strong signings, and re-signings that have been made.
The retention of James O'Connor was the biggest step in the process, and he will form a potent back-line with World Cup winning Springboks flyhalf Andre Pretorius, Brett Sheehan, Ryan Cross and others, possibly including ex-Waratah Sam Harris.
It is the Force's forward pack that looks most intimidating, though, and will without doubt be the best the club has ever had. Tim Fairbrother, Matt Dunning and Nic Henderson add plenty of brute strength and size to the Force and will gladly join Pek Cowan.
Nathan Sharpe, Tom Hockings and Sam Wykes will occupy the lock positions, with the trio of Matt Hodgson, David Pocock and Richard Brown back again to wreak havoc at the breakdown.
Despite the loss of players that was focused on at the end of the season, Reid is more than happy with the playing stocks that coach John Mitchell will have at his disposal.
"Like we did after 2008 coming into 2009, we have set about building a better team for the 2010 season and we are confident we have done that. It was obviously disappointing to lose someone the calibre of a Matt Giteau, who is a marquee player, but we've had to live with that and have moved forward the best we can," he said.
"You can't answer the doubters until you give them results so we can't do that until the season is underway, but we are happy with the signings we've made.
"I think a lot of people are now looking at our situation as having the glass half full, rather than half empty at the end of the season with departures we had."
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Originally Posted by travelling_gerry
