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The under-achieving Western Force has so many new faces for the 2010 season that coach John Mitchell does not know how many there are exactly.
- Joseph Sapienza
- October 20, 2009 - 9:47AM
It even even prompted Wallaby backman Cameron Shepherd to mention the "awkward small talk" that has gone on in the gym between the players who are not familiar with each other.
The Force began its pre-season campaign yesterday at Mt Claremont and Mitchell stressed the first priority was to help his players reach peak fitness, before team work and tactics start dominating the training sessions after Christmas.
That is due in part to several Force players on Spring tour duties with the Wallabies, while new World Cup-winning South African fly-half Andre Pretorius is finishing his Currie Cup commitments across the Indian Ocean.
The new number 10, brought in to replace Matt Giteau, will begin training with his new club on November 1.
Mitchell predicted there would be both nervousness and excitement floating around the camp early on, due to the number of guys - which currently stands at about a dozen - that are new to his plans.
"It's a new team and a new year," he said, after describing the club's congested off-season revolving door as "culturally refreshing".
A new team indeed, considering the former All Blacks coach had no idea how many new players were in the ocean blue, but he said the challenge for the non-Wallabies now was to start chasing their fitness goals.
Mitchell will have all of his charges at his disposal from January 4 following the European Spring Tour.
When questioned about the loss of Giteau, Mitchell believed the Force had a lot of depth in the backline, including Pretorius, Sam Harris, one-Test Wallaby back Mark Bartholomeusz and James O'Connor.
There would also be "no pre-meditated selection" for the season next year, which starts with a home clash against the Giteau-led ACT Brumbies on February 12.
Mitchell also had no time for the past, which has seen the Force end the previous three seasons mid-table.
"We're quite blessed with a lot of depth and talent in that particular area," he said.
"We've got certain strengths that we want to keep from our past but we also want to add some new things going forward.
"It's a real opportunity for everyone here to put their hand up...People like to compare and look at the past and look at what individuals offered, (but) this is a new team on a new journey and it's really exciting from that aspect.
"We have moved on, and it's important to focus on what we do and how we come together and not worry about what we don't have or what we did have in the past.
"All our focus is on 2010 and hoping our group really comes together."
http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/new-...1019-h4uc.html
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