Force v Brumbies Round 17

[Moono74]

Now here's the reality check I spoke of last night. South Sydney Rabbitohs v Warriors sets a venue record crowd at NIB today of 20,272 fans. Wake up Call Force! Get your house in order!

[Scozzie]

Maybe we are playing like a club rugby team because of the coaching? We are a professional Super Rugby team and I assume we are paying top dollar for our coaching staff. At the end of the day the Head Coach will still be putting his hand out for his very generous pay packet regardless of the results. Coaching is a cut-throat business and in professional sport it all comes down to results.
Over the last few years it has become evident to me what a huge impact a coach has on a team. Look at what Link was able to achieve with the Reds, Chieka with the Tahs, White with the Brumbies. I have no knowledge of the feeling in the club or amongst the players but I'm thinking that 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark' for things to have gotten so bad this year. I hope Mr. Sinderberry is on to it.

It's only wishful thinking that the ARU are going to send us a shipment of Wallabies. Why would any Wallabies want to come here when we are playing like a club rugby team. Our stodgy, boring, risk free rugby is even boring for the die-hard fans, it certainly wouldn't inspire a Wallaby at the top of his game to pack up and move west.

The future of the Force depends entirely on the Force, no one else. We need to be playing good, consistent entertaining rugby to get the fans back and to entice good players to want to come here.

Can we achieve this with the nucleus of the team we have? I think so. Can we achieve this with the current coaching staff? Not from what I have seen.

Absolutely no disrespect intended to our current crop of players, but surely the main reason we're playing like a club team is due to the lack of international-standard players..? The coaching team can only play with the cards they've been dealt, but agree there's a definite lack of someone there with a bit of nous for the attacking side of the game. The difference with the Reds, Tahs and Brumbies, as mentioned above, is that they already had good squads and just needed a bit of "direction". I believe it would take more than that for us, unfortunately.

I also think having at least a couple of Wallabies (or ABs / Springboks) in the squad would help "encourage" others to come across. The last time we attracted Wallabies was with the lure of cash that eventually went sour. We've done a good job at developing Wallabies, such as Pocock, Ioane, O'Connor, etc., but we don't get any support to retain them.

[jargan83]

The art are happy to throw some cash at an academy for us to develop talent over here, but don't want to give us a leg up into spreading the talent more evenly.

They will even drag their heels on signing Benny Macs contract, but watch Quakes signature fly through the office if qld want him

How do they spread the talent?

You can't force people to move interstate and that would the ARU interfering with the contract process that we're usually up in arms about.

The only way I can think of right now is possibly giving the Force and Rebels larger salary caps similar to the AFL with its expansion sides.

[andrewg]

How do they spread the talent?

You can't force people to move interstate and that would the ARU interfering with the contract process that we're usually up in arms about.

The only way I can think of right now is possibly giving the Force and Rebels larger salary caps similar to the AFL with its expansion sides.

The solution is this and more:

+ We need the Draft that Qld, NSW and ACT are against.

+ The Academy/building local talent has long term benefits but doesn't fix the current situation.

+ We also need additional incentives/provisions re recruitment of experienced players.

+ Ongoing commitment to the NRC.

All part of the road to taking Rugby Union to another level in WA.

[boof1050]

We also need the schools & clubs getting along together as well. The kids are only allowed to play a certain amount per weekend for either school or club. The rugby wa board need to be sharpened up as well. I also believe the players should be on an incentive program as well win bonus, lose get base wage. We need to stop rewarding players who arent playing to their ability. Time to get tough and develop some kill instinct. Hodgo can't keep putting his head in the ruck all the time and make the decisions for the penalties as well. Surely there is someone in that squad that can think for the team and not have to look for permission as to what to do. Some of our players are just too soft at times. Maybe we have a coaching style that is too stifling fo some of the players re letting them run and play a bit adlib. There certainly at times this year when some hard decisions haven't been made during games regarding some players form and being very soft in defence. Maybe someone also should make the players and coaches more aware attractive rugby attracts crowds which in turn attracts sponsors and attracts revenue.

[valzc]

Not sure what to make on Foley's comment in Sunday paper on the back of the club achieving 9 games last year compared to nothing when they had high profile players......."Asked whether the Force would be able to attract gun players in the future, Foley replied,"That is something I guess I will have some say in over time"
Does this mean they're rethinking the philosophy of not attracting "star" players who create dramas and don't commit for very long?
Personally I'm glad we didn't get the JOC saga again, but without a couple of top guys (apart from the ones we have) the Force are fighting a losing battle against other sides. It's also a chance for the younger guys to have exposure to learn from.

[Alison]

Is he saying he doesn't currently have a say in those recruitment decisions? If so, who does? The RugbyWA board? The ARU? The RUPA????

[beige]

The solution is this and more:

+ We need the Draft that Qld, NSW and ACT are against.

+ The Academy/building local talent has long term benefits but doesn't fix the current situation.

+ We also need additional incentives/provisions re recruitment of experienced players.

+ Ongoing commitment to the NRC.

All part of the road to taking Rugby Union to another level in WA.

I'm not a fan of an out-and-out draft but something like they do/did in NZ would be good. Scrap the Wallaby top-ups and let the franchises decide player value. I agree that there need to be some extra ARU incentives or allowances for players to go to Melbourne and particularly Perth ala the AFL. At the end of the day the point of expansion is to have 5 teams to choose players from, not '3 plus'.

[SG1]

Drafts in Australia will never work as well as in the States because we don't have the same development system. In the States it goes high-school->college-> then big-time at 22. In Australia it goes high-school->big time at 18. Those 3 or 4 years at college are so vital to the success of athletes in NFL, NBA etc. Without it the clubs have to get assess to players at ~14/15, then develop them physically so they can stand up to the rigours of Super 15, NRL etc immediately when they get in the main squad.

Otherwise you end up with the same situation as the AFL where clubs have to waste 3 years physically developing 18 year old kids to cope with a season, during which they are 5 times more likely to get injured than those with 3+ year experience.

[Rex Messup]

2015. Started with so much promise...a win over the Brumbies in the trial on the back of a stellar 2014 season then an upset win over the Tahs in Sydney.
What ensued over the next 4 months was the best advertisement for mungoes in WA.
The season highlight is the departure of Sam Wykes...watching him spew in background trying to keep up with the play won't be missed.
The pack is competitive but the backline has been a disaster and the alignment and attack has reflected poor coaching and a lack of leadership from the critical position of 10.
After a decade...we hold the spoon. What a load of rubbish. Sick of excuses. Solutions and actions required.

[FingerTips]

Now here's the reality check I spoke of last night. South Sydney Rabbitohs v Warriors sets a venue record crowd at NIB today of 20,272 fans. Wake up Call Force! Get your house in order!

NIB Stadium:
Friday night, Union, 9,054 attended;
Saturday afternoon, League, 20,272 attended.

Must be some kind of lesson there.

[GIGS20]

A draft won't work in Perth Boys and Girls, we have to realise that the top couple of players in each position will live in Sydney or Brisbane, that's just the way it is.

What needs to happen is the ARU should shake QRU and NSWRU off it's titties by removing the disaster that is Wallaby top ups. This money might be distributed in several ways. If RUPA are shitty about players losing income (The most likely outcome IMHO) it should be used to bulk up the match payments system, if not it should be directed into the most needy areas for the improvement of Aussie Rugby ie some to the Force to increase their salary cap, some to grassroots rugby in each state, some to an improved elite development program.

We will EVER get Adam Ashley-Cooper away from where he wants to play his rugby, we have to live with that. What shits me is, we should be a place for the bloke who sits the bench behind AAC and can't get game time. If the only reason we have him is that he can walk into a starting spot and play like a demon to show the Green blazer brigade at Moore Park that he's worth a contract back at "home" AT LEAST HE'S PLAYING LIKE A DEMON FOR US!!!!!!!!!!

At the moment, the Tahs don't have to pay very much for AAC because he has an ARU contract paying him a pretty penny to stay in Oz, if the top up were taken away, AAC wouldn't lose a cent, not a fraction of a cent.....they Tahs will pay whatever it takes to keep him, the bloke who is currently earning a bloody good wage to sit behind him is the one who will have trouble feeding his family to stay in Sydney. We could make use of that, because we want quality up 'n' comers who are hungry.

Even the fuckwits at the AFL can tell that an emerging market needs to be funded beyond the typical model of the heartland until the results start to come!

[Whatsdoin]

Quality will not come to play negative unattractive rugby!
This is what Foley dishes up whereever he goes, plus a SA as attack coach....please!!!!
I read today he pumping himself up about last season. Well they play more games than previously so he has more chance, and he plays easier teams more often.
Sounds like he is trying to save his job! Pressure is on, Reds are now an option again!

[Jules]

The NRL is a novelty if they have a team here for ten years I'm pretty sure the crowd would be the same if they were wooden spooners. I'm just sad that the ARU are so unsupportive. If things had me managed differently we could have bigger memberships and crowds. We just need a good result for a couple of years and I think it would improve!! Please do something to restore some hope this off season rugby WA and the ARU!!

[Ralto]

Maybe Paddy will go into a TV and/or radio career like his wife?

Great Idea, Perth's own Bill and Giuliana Rancic