Western Force given hope as Melbourne Rebels owner may sell back licence

[RugbyReg]

My preference remains that no one gets cut remains, but is obviously not a reality.

So in my eyes the Rebels should be cut. No one down there would notice (well bugger all at least) and you could conceivably try it again in 5 years time should the competition's fortunes change.

But, correct me if I'm wrong here, if you cut the Force then the ARU would be pushing shit up hill if they wanted to get a team back there in the next decade.

The community engagement is a good example. Look how strong the Sea of Blue remains, but where is the Rebel Army? Do they even exist anymore? They are pretty damn quiet on this regardless.

[PerthGirl]

My preference remains that no one gets cut remains, but is obviously not a reality.

So in my eyes the Rebels should be cut. No one down there would notice (well bugger all at least) and you could conceivably try it again in 5 years time should the competition's fortunes change.

But, correct me if I'm wrong here, if you cut the Force then the ARU would be pushing shit up hill if they wanted to get a team back there in the next decade.

The community engagement is a good example. Look how strong the Sea of Blue remains, but where is the Rebel Army? Do they even exist anymore? They are pretty damn quiet on this regardless.

Reg the ARU could never show their face again in WA as far as I and many others could care if they cut the Force. I will not follow Rugby again

[.X.]

You must be kidding. We have a licence.

Mate - I dont want to get technical. But we dont have a licence, We sold the licence to the ARU.

I think we need to give General, Hansie a chance to do what they gotta do - I am sure that they will pass information to us when and where they can. Whilst the ARU has not played this smart - I think RugbyWA have. They will tell us - when they have something to tell. Speculation will cause trouble. As we have all seen.

What we all need is facts, and patience.

[antiussentiment]

Reg the ARU could never show their face again in WA as far as I and many others could care if they cut the Force. I will not follow Rugby again

the fine lady and i plan to follow The Hurricanes if The Force are axed. I'll be damned if I'll follow one of the other ARU teams..

[shasta]

Melbourne gives precisely zero f$cks about any form of Rugby in their town.

The storm have been in existence for almost 20 years, started off with the largesse of Murdoch. They've consistently played finals footy, won a couple of premierships and are pretty much impregnable at home. Yet they get zero time in media and would be lucky to get 10K at their games. It's hard to know what else the storm could do to become more accepted by Melbourne. Rebels are well behind storm in every metric.

another stupid idea #564 by the ARU to even consider that the Force should go down before the Rebels.

How right you are. But the junior development story is the important angle to compare.

The Storm were STOLEN(not that I'm bitter about it - from WA by Rupert Murdoch and given as a reward to their original CEO John Ribot for planning and executing the Super League War. They, in their short history had already used 3 WA juniors in First Grade. 4 if you count Matt Geyer who played 2 seasosns with Freo Roosters before getting a Reds contract. Went on to play Tests and Origin. Luke Goodwin repped for NZ Maori as does his brother for The Kiwis now all these years on - did Teddy have a TV? Still since then WA has produced current players Bryson Goodwin, Corey Patterson, Curtis Rona, Chance Peni, Corey Te Mari, and past players, John Green, Daniel Holdsworth, Bronx Goodwin, Grayson Goodwin, Matthew Peterson and probably others I don't know of - mostly through Aranmore College and all after Rugby league in WA "Fell apart".
The Melbourne Storm have been a winning operation. But have cost a fortune and in 20 years produced 2 yes a whole 2 first graders - Mahe Funua and Young Tonomopea. Value for money invested??

Sounds familair doesn't it?

[Herbasimplex]

My preference remains that no one gets cut remains, but is obviously not a reality.

So in my eyes the Rebels should be cut. No one down there would notice (well bugger all at least) and you could conceivably try it again in 5 years time should the competition's fortunes change.

But, correct me if I'm wrong here, if you cut the Force then the ARU would be pushing shit up hill if they wanted to get a team back there in the next decade.

The community engagement is a good example. Look how strong the Sea of Blue remains, but where is the Rebel Army? Do they even exist anymore? They are pretty damn quiet on this regardless.

Hi Reg,

I am a force supporter and obviously believe the force should remain.

But I think it very unfair that either rebels or force supporters are going to be bitterly disappointed. They both have passionate and committed supporters who in no way deserve to be treated like this. What I find galling is that the ARU is effectively playing parts of the rugby community off against themselves and making them fight for their literal survival.

What should have happened is the the ARU should have unified the entire rugby community in Australia with an approach that everyone could have accepted, i.e. 5 Super rugby teams. Yet they agreed 5 months ago to cut an Australian team without even a whisper of consultation with the wider community, whilst approving of a Japanese and Argentinian side to remain.

Even if the force remain my faith in the ARU to make decisions that benefit the rugby community as a whole, as should be their raison d'être, has been rocked to its core. Their needs to be a clean out of Augean proportions and the entire organisation rebuilt from the grassroots up.

That is the only thing, IMHO, that will save rugby in this country.

[blueandblack]

Mate - I dont want to get technical. But we dont have a licence, We sold the licence to the ARU.

I think we need to give General, Hansie a chance to do what they gotta do - I am sure that they will pass information to us when and where they can. Whilst the ARU has not played this smart - I think RugbyWA have. They will tell us - when they have something to tell. Speculation will cause trouble. As we have all seen.

What we all need is facts, and patience.

and faith and OwnTheForce shares.

[blueandblack]

the fine lady and i plan to follow The Hurricanes if The Force are axed. I'll be damned if I'll follow one of the other ARU teams..

I won't even do that. I'll pay attention to the Northern Hemisphere. ARU don't have any control there AFAIK.

[Kalahard]

What a shamozzle.

[jono]

Please let this be true! Phil Waugh said it would be the force on Fox :-(

yeah but he's a fuckwit who cant think beyond NSWRU.

we just have to think back to some of his post game press conferences when the tahs were well and truly beaten to know where he sits on this matter.

[jono]

My preference remains that no one gets cut remains, but is obviously not a reality.

So in my eyes the Rebels should be cut. No one down there would notice (well bugger all at least) and you could conceivably try it again in 5 years time should the competition's fortunes change.

But, correct me if I'm wrong here, if you cut the Force then the ARU would be pushing shit up hill if they wanted to get a team back there in the next decade.

The community engagement is a good example. Look how strong the Sea of Blue remains, but where is the Rebel Army? Do they even exist anymore? They are pretty damn quiet on this regardless.

This is where it's at as well.

IF the rebels are the ones to go, given their proximity to the eastern states, there is the potential to start up another frahcnise there in the future.

Canning the force will 100% be the kill shot to rugby in WA.

if it's the rebels the ARU need to immediately look at supporting the amateur competition there with a long term strategy. In order to potentially re-start a professional franchise there that will be able to develop local players in the short term - not 15 years down the line like we are seeing in RWA.

[blueandblack]

yeah but he's a fuckwit who cant think beyond NSWRU.

we just have to think back to some of his post game press conferences when the tahs were well and truly beaten to know where he sits on this matter.

Like this?

[The InnFORCEr]

The best part about that scoreline was the Saders using 96-19 as a lineout call the next time they beat the Tahs!

[blueandblack]

The best part about that scoreline was the Saders using 96-19 as a lineout call the next time they beat the Tahs!

then there is this:

"The next day when the Waratahs returned home, a cargo container was sighted through one of the aircraft windows. On one side the Christchurch airport cargo crew had written: ''Thanks for coming, Waratahs. Will you need a 100-point start against the Brumbies next week? You are the weakest link. Goodbye. Signed, the Crusaders.''

A week later in the semi-finals, the Brumbies won 51-10. A 100-point start would have been handy."

http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_...ng-super-rugby

[SNOB]

The whole debacle is a plot by the eastern states because they are scared! They get rid of the Force and they get rid of the NRC champs and of course the Force who are now embarrassing other sides by being 2 in the Aussie conference. 😉