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Thread: Future of the Western Force hangs in the balance

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    Future of the Western Force hangs in the balance

    Future of the Western Force hangs in the balance

    By Jim Tucker | February 27, 2009 12:00am


    LEAVING ... Matt Giteau.


    • AUSTRALIAN rugby is grappling with its own dangerous Y2K bug.
    The loss of Matt Giteau has the potential to erode the code's boldest pioneering feat into the Western Farce.

    No Giteau. Few wins in 2010. No magnet to attract new players. Lock the gate at Subiaco Oval after the last player leaves Perth. That's the doomsayers' view.

    The conundrum is just how much the Giteau-Y2K bug will eat at the foundations of a Super 14 success story that launched in front of 37,037 zealous believers in February, 2006.

    The Y2K bug itself was largely a myth, scaremongering that when it ticked over into the new millennium nine years ago there would be a global computer meltdown.

    No one is relocating the Force to Melbourne. Times w ill get tough but the death of the Force is exaggerated.

    Fear of an exodus of top stars is real. Wallaby finisher Drew Mitchell is another near-certain departure and hard-headed back-rower Richard Brown may be another.

    But the Force will be with us. Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill will make sure of it, especially with discussions next week in Dubai about a competition leap to Super 15 for 2011, with the Force as an integral element.

    Try this yardstick. Since the Force were born, Nathan Sharpe's men have won more games (15) than his old Queensland Reds (nine) and averaged significantly bigger home crowds.

    "A team in Perth, rugby's continued growth in Western Australia, is very important to us," O'Neill said.

    Former Wallaby hooker Brendan Cannon, the first star signed by the Force in 2005, is adamant what has been built is bigger than one player.

    Realistically, he is still worried how 2009 plays out.

    "Timing is everything in sport. It's unfortunate there are so many players coming off contract (17) when ideally you would manage things so you only have a few each year," Cannon said.

    The timing is all wrong too when it comes to Kiwi coach John Mitchell. He is an astute coach and creator of the positive Force style.

    But the player petition that so publicly railed against his management style is not exactly a selling point you'd slap on the next "Join The Force" recruitment flyer.

    He is good bloke John Mitchell a lot of the time, and Jack Mitchell, super-intense, controlling and withdrawn, at other times.

    Once in 2008, he walked into a losing halftime dressingroom, called his players a "pack of useless *&%$" and walked out with his coaching staff.

    A senior player told him to "$#*! off and close the door". They won the game.

    Former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones was disgusted with how the Force hung Mitchell out to dry so publicly by handcuffing him from certain duties and calling in a retired judge to deal with the petition.

    "The Force have a tough time ahead with no local player base in Perth but it's good to see O'Neill so strongly backing their survival," Jones said.

    "Like Chris Latham at the Reds, Gits is worth four wins a season by himself."

    Jones is a fan of a player draft, not of the AFL style but one modelled on NZ rugby.

    "Each of our four Super 14 clubs would still get to nominate their top 22 players but the rest would go into a draft. It would help equalise squad strength," Jones said.

    Jones rated South Africa's Jake White as "zero chance" of taking the baton from Mitchell.

    How the Force are going to surge ahead now the genius of playmaker Giteau is heading back to the ACT Brumbies is tricky.

    No longer do the Force go to the player market offering the vision of a problem-free new club and a windfall in third-party money from fuel technology company Firepower.

    Firepower was a costly myth. It duped the Force, the Sydney Kings basketball club and others. Millions have gone unpaid to Giteau and co.

    "I was never the highest paid footballer in Australia. The most highly promised, perhaps," Giteau can now say.

    The Force will have to hunt hard for a marquee flyhalf from abroad under the new international player policy that enabled the Reds to sign All Black flanker Daniel Braid.

    Former All Black Luke McAlister, England's Test-retired Johnny Wilkinson ... who knows?

    When the ARU culled the Australian Rugby Championship after one year, the Force were hit hardest because the perfect next tier to develop their player pool disappeared.

    Cannon was in Perth last week and saw no friction in his old camp.

    "It did look like a different John Mitchell. He was more relaxed and maybe sharing the load of duties is working out," Cannon said.

    "People have to understand that when the Force was born, it was basically Mitch, (chief executive) Peter O'Meara and a few others.

    "Mitch naturally assumed a lot of roles because we were starting from scratch and a new team needed a strong personality."

    The other dimension to the debate comes from the Reds, Brumbies and Waratahs, who saw their player stocks raided when the Force was being assembled.

    The Force have done one thing. They have forced the Reds to get their act together with a shrewd recruitment chief in Ben Whitaker.

    The Reds won't be like defenceless fur seal pups when the Force next come raiding.


    http://www.news.com.au:80/couriermai...003411,00.html

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    Quote Originally Posted by travelling_gerry View Post
    Fear of an exodus of top stars is real. Wallaby finisher Drew Mitchell is another near-certain departure and hard-headed back-rower Richard Brown may be another.
    since when has there been a rumour that Brownie will leave? i thought he was pretty keen to re-sign with us at the TWF awards night

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    Veteran Contributor normie's Avatar
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    ...Fear of an exodus of top stars is real...

    Followed by an exodus of 'on their way up' stars in. There won't be a shortage of quality players looking for a game!

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    Followed by an exodus of 'on their way up' stars in. There won't be a shortage of quality players looking for a game![/QUOTE]

    I would negate that, there will in fact be a shortage of quaility talented players, this is the reason clubs pay alot of money for guys like Gits.

    How would you replace Gits or anyone in the team? Luke McAlister is going back to NZ, Nick Evens has his eye on RWC with the AB's, Dan the man, just forget about. Perhaps some South African talent? but again, who? And there just is not enough talent left in Australian Rugby ranks...Can you name anyone that is off contract at seasons end? The only names that spring to mind are Gits, Drew Mitchell, Richard Brown, JOC blah blah.....

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    Quote Originally Posted by travelling_gerry View Post
    "The Force have a tough time ahead with no local player base in Perth but it's good to see O'Neill so strongly backing their survival," Jones said.
    Dear Mr Jones kindly "$#*! off and close the door".

    we have several up and coming local players in the force academy and Kieran Longbottom is a home grown talent.

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    Immortal GIGS20's Avatar
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    The more I hear the doom and gloom, the less I worry really.

    Let's face it, we haven't done a whole lot better with the big-name signings than we did without them....sure there's been an improvement, but surely you'd expect meteoric, rather than steady.

    We have a great squad on paper, but we're still fragile on the field, so what does that mean, to me it means we're short on commitment and heart.....the only way to improve that is to move the guys who don't want to be there out, and move guys who'd sell their grandmother for the chance in.

    If Dre wants to go, good luck to him, there's always a replacement waiting, sure we'll lose some finishing, but we'll gain something else, from somewhere else...and we'll get on with business.

    As for signing a marquee flyhalf from overseas to replace Gits...I'm not so sure. I think our backs are pretty good....even if Drew left we'd still be pretty good. Let's face it we can almost name a wallaby backline without both of them

    9 Valentine
    10 O'Connor
    11
    12 Staniforth
    13 Cross
    14
    15 Shepherd

    A little short on the wings, sure but Nick Cummins and Dane has proven that they're up and comers, and the money we'd save on Drew and Gits would enable us to fill the holes with quality players I reckon we still need to fix the engine room, rather than the backline (and that's a problem right across Aussie rugby) Ben castle was a great signing not necessarily because he's the best in the world, but because it says we know where the problems are and we're trying to fix them......maybe we'll get Carl Hayman next year!

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    C'mon the

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    Champion Tazzmania's Avatar
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    While the articles headline is very much attention seeking, the content is actually very good and more or less sums up where we are.

    Agree with Gigs20, we need to get back to a slow and steady rise with committed and consistent players rather than flying too quickly, and crashing and burning with short term exceptional players

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    Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”

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    Yep, it's a Y2Kesque bug but I'll run it up the flag pole one more time....good one Jim, thanks for being so supportive. It aint going to happen but imagine if it did happen, great stuff

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    Quote Originally Posted by GIGS20 View Post
    maybe we'll get Carl Hayman next year!
    What a rippa of an idea and a good hooker for a year to develop holmes that little bit more to bring him up to international standards, he's not getting a chance with Tai, i mean really with the australian hooker selection, if you can throw the ball in straight you've got the # 2 jersey for the wallabies, Moore - Tai - Ferier - not much choice in my eyes..

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    as long as TWF has supporters going to games,you'll will always have a team.

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    Veteran Contributor The EnForcer's Avatar
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    I love this.....it just makes the media look even more stupid than they really are.

    Things to note.

    The Force still have a fantastic membership.
    The Force make money....despite the robbing WAFL bastards.
    The Force have financial backing from some very good local companies.
    The Force have financial backing from some very good major sponsors.
    The sponsors are in harmony with The Force with regards to moving to MES and encouraging quality players to come play with us.
    Our supporter base, even though we have had some major problems in our starting years, are still well behind the team.
    The Force has the best, by far, supporters website. (Thanks Coach)
    We sold out MES for a training game.....18,000 supporters FFS!
    We are located in a state which will survive the recession better than others.
    We are located in one of the best cities in the world.
    Also, I believe we have 60 odd members from this site alone going to watch our boys in Canberra - How good is that!!!!!!!

    Yes Giteau is leaving, yes Mitchel may well follow, yes we may lose a few others, but it is not about those individuals it's about our team. And, when our team succeeds in it's goal then our victory will be much much sweeter because we know we did it despite all the BS that has been thrown at us.

    Go The Force

    (Having re-read that, I now realise that a lot of the BS written by our friends over East is envy based.)

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    Just happy to be here

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    Veteran Contributor normie's Avatar
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    Well said, TEF;

    BTW; I've been keeping a close eye on the weather and astronomical phenomena of late and it looks like the sky isn't falling. The Brumbies didn't implode when Gits left, so the WF won't either!

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