MITCHELL CONFIDENT FUTURE IS BRIGHT

[RugbyWA]

Emirates Western Force coach John Mitchell is confident of a strong team at his disposal next season despite the long list of departures from the side he believes underachieved in 2009.

The Force finish the 2009 Investec Super 14 campaign in eighth position with six wins and a draw, and while that's far from a terrible performance, he believes it could have been so much better had close losses to the Hurricanes, Bulls and Stormers gone their way.

While the Force says goodbye to Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Josh Valentine, Tai McIsaac, Scott Staniforth, Ben Castle, Tamaiti Horua and Junior Pelesasa, Mitchell and the team are reflecting on what might have been.

"It's time to reflect on some guys that have been here since our inaugural year and others have joined within the last four years. They can always take away with them that they have been a foundation member of this club," Mitchell said.

"I guess there are elements of mostly goodness, some sadness and also frustration of not reaching our potential as a team this year. That will probably dawn on all of us over the next few days. We have to learn to go the distance and while we have fallen short in some games, we've played some really good rugby.

"Since bye week, the players have owned the way we've played and I just think we have left at least two games on the table. We missed a lot of the close ones and you have to nail those if you want to be a serious contender in this competition."

Despite that the season could have been better, Mitchell sees plenty of positives to take out of 2009.

"We have created a new benchmark by scoring more for and against and scored more attacking tries than in our history. It's now about looking at how we can get better."

Wallabies selection is now the focus for a number of Force players with Giteau the obvious star, but Nathan Sharpe, Matt Hodgson, David Pocock, Richard Brown, Valentine, O'Connor and Mitchell will all be in the mix.

"I'm not a national selector. I'm sure some Force guys will feature though. Cameron Shepherd has been exceptional on the left wing when fully fit, Crossy is a game breaker and then there's the class of Matt," he said.

"Valentine has really improved throughout the season after not being a threat with the ball early on in the season. He has become a real threat and there has been really good improvement in his first and second phase defence, especially his tackle."

The Force's focus now turns to attempting to secure the signature of 18-year-old James O'Connor after already recruiting Kiwi-prop Tim Fairbrother and Waratahs scrumhalf Brett Sheehan.

Young New South Wales hooker Damian Fitzpatrick is also close agreeing to terms, with Stormers' halfback and inside centre Peter Grant right in the Force's sights.

http://rugbywa.com.au/news/article,55735.html

[Flamethrower]

The Futures So Bright

[mudskipper]

Did you think he writes his own stuff... ?

[travelling_gerry]

Only as much as you mud

[shasta]

Did you think he writes his own stuff... ?

What's your point, Mud?

Seeing as the article is all about his views going forward and 80% of the article is direct quotation of John Mitchell what would you expect?

[GIGS20]

Sure sounds like John Mitchell to me, incredibly analytical, with the political correctness overtones that he's had this year.

[AndyS]

It is going to be interesting. The pack is certainly shaping well, but it is probably inevitable that the backline will not be as dazzling as it has been. But the more I think about that, the less concerned I get...we have had a cracking backline to date, but it has not got us better than 7th. It certainly could have, but didn't. For mine, that would tend to indicate that there are a few things more important than just talent.

All of the players we may have in the backline will be talented, otherwise they wouldn't be one of only 130 or so professional players in the country. Looking at the games across the competition, it has been fairly apparent that execution has been far more important this year. How often did a losing captain say "we weren't talented enough" as opposed to "we pushed too hard/didn't take our chances/didn't finish well enough/left points on the field etc etc? For mine, regardless of who is in the team, skills should be the watchword. Complete more of your opportunities than your opponents, there is no way you won't be competitive (to say the least). That is one of the key elements that made the Kiwi teams so formidable in years past. Now that the Force is apparently big and fit enough, we should be taking a leaf and aim to be the best ball handling team in the comp, regardless of what pressure is being applied.

The other element has to be ruthlessness. It is an old story, but we coughed up leads against the Blues and Hurricanes, and very nearly against the Highlanders. Interesting that they were all kiwi teams, but the first two had a very significant impact on our season. It has happened plenty of times in the past - that hard edge just seems to go missing, the foot comes off the pedal, the team starts coasting, then suddenly the opposition comes roaring back and get their tail up. Frankly, it has become almost predictable and is a major hurdle to the hopes of the team ever contesting finals. A big chunk of responsibility has to lie with the leadership group, but ultimately the whole team has to man up to it. Again, it is the Crusaders of old that were the benchmark - they never, ever gave a sucker an even break. Can't someone give Robbie a call and ask him how that ethos was created?

Get those sorted and the future will be all sorts of shiny...