Force set to be axed

[PJ43]

Now there's a thought....buy the Rebels....how about that for plan B.

[blueandblack]

Any thoughts about this? You need to read the article to the end.

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/opinion/l...-teams-8379338

[brokendown gunfighter]

Lovely article on G&G from a sea of blue member.. sums up a lot our feelings i would say

he is also a TWF poster!

[shasta]

Lovely article on G&G from a sea of blue member.. sums up a lot our feelings i would say

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/don...away-my-force/

[shasta]

he is also a TWF poster!

..........and good at organising petitions.

[Herbasimplex]

Any thoughts about this? You need to read the article to the end.

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/opinion/l...-teams-8379338

ideas about the future format of super rugby are like arseholes etc...

pacific island team just won't work. finances don't add up. maybe a US team? but the idea of demotion/promotion pools within super rugby seems a new idea. he clearly thinks the SA sides are going to duke it out with the kiwis in the top flight though. haha.

though his point about SANZAAR making a dog's breakfast of the current scheme 2 years after they expanded it is right.

3 conferences of 6 seems the most logical way to try and appease the competing interests moving forward. so they'll never go for it

[andrewM]

Who is this Man of Mystery we may ask..

[jargan83]

The corporate regulator has put Western Force’s $15 million public fundraising into a short holding pattern to await more information from the Super Rugby club.

The opening of the offer has been pushed back by a week to next Thursday after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission extended the exposure period during which it scrutinises such documents.
While ASIC did not comment, it is believed the commission has simply asked the Force to flesh out disclosures relating to the likely financial impact on the club of it possibly being jettisoned from the Super Rugby competition as part of governing body’s SANZAAR’s strategic review.

Force chief executive Mark Sinderberry also declined to go into detail, saying only that ASIC had sought “clarification” and the club was “not foreseeing any major hurdles”.

The franchise wants to secure its future by raising between $5 million and $15 million, including $5 million of oversubscriptions, to buy back its licence from Australian Rugby Union.

The Force is in the crosshairs of speculation that SANZAAR is looking to cut one Australian and two South African sides to streamline the Super Rugby competition to 15 teams.

Former Force and Wallabies player John Welborn told a lunch function in Perth yesterday that realistically the club could do little more than concentrate on its game-day opponents.
“The real challenge for the Force isn’t to focus so much on the political side which you can’t control, it’s to recognise that performance on the field will drive the relegation,” Mr Welborn said.
“I actually think the Western Force will survive because I don’t think that SANZAAR’s got the balls to cut the South African teams.”
Some 5000 supporters have expressed interest in buying the $1000 shares on offer in Western Force Owners, which would hold the Force licence.

https://thewest.com.au/business/ipos...-ng-b88431553z

[AndyS]

He's wrong, results this year are meaningless to the outcome. Results last year or the year before might have driven the answer, or even some proper success over the last 12 years. But despite all the evidence of a crooked table, the Force were content to go along playing their game to their rules with their pieces. Innovation on and off the field now is all a bit late, and even if there is a reprieve until they restructure the competition in 2020 RWA needs to be seriously planning what they do between now and 2019 to prepare for the future.

[shasta]

Who is this Man of Mystery we may ask..

Which one? They're coming out of the woodwork.

[MI5_Dog]

What really pisses me off about the whole thing is that the ARU are/seem willing to throw any team under a bus.
Removing a team is extremely short sighted and has a great impact if (or when) they decide to expand again.
It will impact the NRC, the number of players coming through from local competitions, the number of available wallabies, the depth of Australian rugby and the confidence Australian players/fans have in their governing body.
It will/has give/n opponents of the ARU a lot of ammunition and will weaken the ARU in any future negotiations with anyone anywhere.

There is no upside to how the ARU are/have/or will handle this. They've lost face. Even with the best outcome of three conferences and no teams being removed they will look like the dickless, clueless, weak little hand wringers they are.

[zimeric]

still no response to my letter to the ARU last week... they might be struggling under the weight of all the mud being slung at them right now

[blueandblack]

What really pisses me off about the whole thing is that the ARU are/seem willing to throw any team under a bus.
Removing a team is extremely short sighted and has a great impact if (or when) they decide to expand again.
It will impact the NRC, the number of players coming through from local competitions, the number of available wallabies, the depth of Australian rugby and the confidence Australian players/fans have in their governing body.
It will/has give/n opponents of the ARU a lot of ammunition and will weaken the ARU in any future negotiations with anyone anywhere.

There is no upside to how the ARU are/have/or will handle this. They've lost face. Even with the best outcome of three conferences and no teams being removed they will look like the dickless, clueless, weak little hand wringers they are.

Darren, can you change the mobile display to include thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons? This post is a perfect example of the need for it.

In the meantime, props to you MI5_Dog.

[Sheikh]

Lovely article on G&G from a sea of blue member.. sums up a lot our feelings i would say

Yeah, great article, Ex

[.X.]

Yeah, great article, Ex

Thanks Sheikh