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Thread: TWF 2018 Style

  1. #1
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    TWF 2018 Style

    Something has been bugging me, and for a long time, I couldn't put my finger on it.

    No GIGS - I am not going to have yet another rant about ranting here on TWF.

    It is the other thing.

    The Rugby. World Series Rugby. We aren't talking about it.

    We - ie the members/contributors to the forums of TWF - the house that Coach built.

    I'm probably not making sense

    Prior to the 2017 Season, we all had thoughts and opinions on everything. Coaching, player performance, recruiting. Members like HerTryk expressing her undying love and devotion for Nathan Sharpe. Alison expressing her undying love and devotion for Nathan Charles. We even would find our cult player who would become a fan favorite.

    But not this year.

    This year Our Western Force have played 5 matches so far. We are 3 - 2.

    There has been no discussion on the performance of the Coach. Zero talk about playing style. The minimal debate over the recruitment by Matt Hodgson.

    What we do know is the exact number of people at each match, and have compared it to the performance of other Teams playing in another comp that we - aparently - have no interest in.

    We know exactly how many times the CEO of Rugby Australia has mentioned the Western Force and how they continue to block Minderoos efforts in creating a new and exciting brand of Rugby.

    Have the actions of the Rugby Australia board changed how we watch Rugby? Its still very obvious we are attending Western Force matches.

    Has the actions of the Rugby Australia board made us all cynical so that we look for the "Fake News" in everything we see?

    I think that Andrew Forrest, Matt Hodgson, and the Minderoo team have worked very hard to not be Rugby Australia. They are doing everything in their power to ensure that Rugby Australia has little involvement.

    I hope that TWF can (collectively) find our renewed love of Rugby again.

    I hope that come the 2019 World Series Rugby season we can love (or hate) Coach Sampson.

    And we find our new Cult Player - Personally, I vote for Chris Heiberg - his try on Saturday night was something special.

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  2. #2
    Veteran BLR's Avatar
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    It's a stop gap year and no competition structure to really compare ourselves to our opponents.

    There isn't much to say as we don't even know if this team will be the team which runs out next year.

    I suspect once the first game of next season is played and we have a good idea of how the comp will turn out then the chatter will begin.

    An extended pre-season for 2019 is the way I think of it. The pre-season never really matters compared to the real season.

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  3. #3
    Senior Player Leo86's Avatar
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    Its difficult being exhibition matches, dont get me wrong, I love the fact I have rugby to go watch.

    But without being a comp yet, we cant see how the other teams would go against each other, how we really line up.

    Regarding Sampson (and I suppose this includes Hodgo's recruiting) but I like what I have been seeing.

    Fan favourite is a tough choice this year as so many new faces and great efforts by all but personally I reckon Lacey or Deegan would have to be up there.

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    Champion Contributor sandgroperrugby's Avatar
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    Yep agree. It’s hard to identify with the players and see them in action when normally we would have seen double the amount of games that we have this year. Not saying that in a bad way just an observation as i loved going to all the games.

    However in saying that the two players that have stood out for me so far this year are Feleti Kaitu’u and Clay Uyen. Both are exciting prospects and it will be good thanks see them throughout the NRC as well later in the year.

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    Immortal Contributor shasta's Avatar
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    At the first game I found it hard to be enthusiastic because there's nothing hinging on the result. Pretty much attended out of a sense of not wanting WSR to flop. I surprised myself by really enjoying the night pretty much just as entertainment even if the pulse stayed completely normal. Being honest that can only go so far and if nothing pans for next year WSR will be a lame duck. Maybe we should sign the U-Bolt.

    My standout player so far is Deegan.

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    The team and competition was put together in a few short months, this year is an interim year, and I'm just grateful I have professional rugby to watch (at a very reasonable price).

    The glass is more than half full.

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    I do sense that WSR is been run by professional sports administrators, that have successfully turned a few friendly games into events for us. (This is in total contrast for me, to the efforts of the bumbling idiots at SANZAAR and RA)

    I look forward to seeing what the WSR people announce in the next month or so, and how well they can market WSR to HK and Japan etc in the next couple of years. I am getting more and more confident they will do a great job.

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    Immortal Contributor The InnFORCEr's Avatar
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    I hear you Ex but like most of the others the real talk will be back next yaer once we have something to compete for in a regular non stop season.

    As far as the stand outs, I think Deegan, Stander, Alcock, Davies and Prior have all been very consistent this year and been the glue that has bonded the team together. My prediction for the new Force cult player is Masivesi Dakuwaqa, a huge unit and try scoring machine that will be hard to miss in 2019

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    Not much to say until we see the shape of next year, and even more so the teams that will be contesting it. Will certainly be interesting...was discussing it the other day and couldn't help but wonder whether anyone is talking futures with Japan. Coming out of the World Cup, you'd have to think they'd need more than one team that is away more than half the time to really capitalise on interest. Three or four teams around the country and a game each weekend though, playing regional neighbours and being genuinely competitive...

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  10. #10
    Champion SPaRTAN's Avatar
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    It's pretty hard to be critical of World Series rugby this year. Infact if it wasn't for World Series rugby we wouldn't be watching anything so to me that's the reality of the situation


    Don't want to be too critical of the players or the coach but there is reason to be critical of their performances to date.


    Let's be honest that team would struggle not to finish last in Super Rugby. The reality is that the players that have been chosen for the Western Force aren't actually that great. If they want to be competitive in super rugby then they would definitely need to go on a recruiting rampage but I don't think that's going to be necessary given the standard of World Series rugby next year. I find it hard to be critical of Sampson due to the fact he really doesn't have the best players to choose from however come next year when the tournament is in full swing there won't be any excuses for this teams lack of performance.


    Most ITM Cup teams would be competitive and some probably be better than the Western Force right now. I mean the team would be competitive against most pro teams but It probably wouldn't win much, just be competitive. But that doesn't actually really worry me to be honest I'm just grateful I'm actually getting to see the force play this year and I'm not having to watch all my rugby on TV


    The team really needs to get a few more Kiwi Imports to beef up there core skill levels and most definitely need to get some super rugby standard players playing. And when I say Kiwi Imports I don't mean players that have retired for 4 years or are no longer wanted by New Zealand rugby I mean actual players that are currently playing in Super Rugby right now. All players about to leave to Europe. They need to be smart about who they pick because there is limited spaces and it's a brand new team with no one really developed yet so it's almost a lottery who to pick to ensure that the team gels and works together. Usually teams already have some history together. This team is a little bit different considering the way it was axed from last year's tournament.


    I'm really appreciative of what Andrew Forrest has done and don't want to be too critical of him right now as the tournament hasn't really got up and running yet and it's very exciting to think about the potential it has. I think it would be very hard to start taking pot shots at the guy when he has done nothing but good for the sport and for the people of Western Australia therefore I would like to remain optimistic and give the Western Force and rugby WA and Andrew Forrest the benefit of the doubt for the risk they have taken and the stress they have endured to get this team back up and running in such a short period of time. If it wasn't for Cameron Clynes attempts to destroy rugby in WA then it would probably be business as usual on this forum. But Clyne and Pulver took it upon themselves to ruin 12 years of blood sweat and tears developing rugby in Australia and growing the sport in WA for their own selfish greed. They don't care for the sport they are fat cats and they care for their bank accounts. In fact I am pretty certain that both Clyne and Pulver would be hated by their own children and that is saying something. They are despicable human beings.


    Anyways I am optimistic for World Series rugby's future and I can't wait for the announcement after the Japanese game.

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    Last edited by SPaRTAN; 17-07-18 at 19:12.

  11. #11
    Veteran Sheikh's Avatar
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    I think when the NRC comes and we start seeing meaningful matches every week, we'll get more of an idea what the team can do and how they'll play. They currently have faced some very different opposition (and weather!) and styles of play with long preparation times between matches - playing every week means they have can't run specialist drills in each game and have to fall-back on the structures the coaches have trained into them. That's when we find out what sort of team Sampson has prepared.

    I was worried what side will turn out for the NRC - I was worried we'd rely too much on foreign imports who either might not play in the NRC or if we played them we'd be accused by the other sides of buying the title, but if you look at the core players we have, very few of them aren't Australian. And of those who aren't, many have long-term links to Perth (Brache, Stander, Heidberg, Alatimu, Grant).

    Most of the foreign newcomers for this season are grouped in two positions, lock and centre:
    At lock: Bardoul has been a regular, and Thrush has been good, but we could play the NRC without him as we have Fergus Lee-Warner and Leon Power (and Furno?)
    At centre: Iona looked good in his first 2 matches before heading off for internationals, Taefu has looked OK, but hasn't had much of a chance to shine yet. Not sure if we'll see Pisi, due to his injury. We don't actually have any Australian centres at the Force, but if Samoa and USA aren't playing internationals, we should have a good group to choose from, and Iona and Brache looked to have an excellent combination against Fiji & Tonga.

    ETA: What Spartan said about not being competitive in Super Rugby, is probably correct, but I think they recruited the side this year more with a view to: a) what players they could get outside of a normal contracting window, and b) building a side to compete for the NRC and beyond - a youngish side with a few older heads and mainly guys who were being overlooked for Super Rugby. As such, I'd have been very surprised if we'd beaten the Crusaders or Rebels - I thought we did well to keep the Rebels as close as we did. The Pacific Island sides we've faced haven't been their first teams, but rather barbarian sides, but we've done slightly better against them than I thought we might. We should beat Hong Kong and the match against Panasonic could be tight - that's more the sort of level I'd say we were.

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    Last edited by Sheikh; 17-07-18 at 19:36.
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  12. #12
    Veteran Ecky's Avatar
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    The key is regular (relatively) high level matches. That's not happening this year. Some of the team play for a Premier grade team in the Perth comp, but not all. And obviously not all in the same team. Prior, for example, plays 10 for Soaks, whereas he plays 9 for

    It shows that they don't play regularly together; especially Rebels & 'saders.

    Seems to be the embryonic stage of a competitive team, so hopefully we'll see a higher level, more consistent performance in the NRC and then next year.

    I go to each match when I can, purely to make sure I am part of the crowd. Also, I am interested in the match officiating aspect, obviously, so I pay particular heed to that aspect.

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    Legend Contributor fulvio sammut's Avatar
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    I was only ever here, really, for local club rugby, but that, sadly, has been killed off.

    I now only lurk occasionally, probably out of habit.

    The eyes are open, but the sparkle is gone.

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  14. #14
    Veteran chibi's Avatar
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    Honestly? Only time I bothered with how the team played was the games against the two Stupor Rugby teams. I knew they would be used by troglodyte media over on the two Tasman coasts to shitbag the new Force and WSR. And especially against the Rebels, we had some serious brainfarts by not playing any wet-weather stuff at any stage of the game.

    Otherwise? I don't really care too much about the on-field stuff, the games are really exhibition games which are against scratch teams, but we're still getting bumper attendances even in shitty weather. I'm over the moon I still have a pro team to watch, and I'm damn glad we get to see the Pacific Islands, Hong Kong and a Japanese side here this season, having all those international visitors in Perth in one year is absolutely unprecedented; I only wish we could match that first Fiji attendance for the last two games.

    I'd like to see the NRC fixtures incorporated more into the WSR season, and I know that THOSE will be the games I really care about performance-wise; I'm DESPERATE that we win that competition; I don't give a stuff if we're blamed for fielding "too strong a team" as this team has only been put together since February, so that's practically impossible to do that anyway; I mean it's not like we have the World XV or the full All Blacks teamlist on our roster.

    We'll see the same team/gameplay/tactics speculation back on these fora once the NRC starts, guarantee it.

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    Last edited by chibi; 19-07-18 at 03:56.


    Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!

    Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?

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    Champion SPaRTAN's Avatar
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    Another reason why the this place isnt as popular as it once was is probably due to the sea of blue facebook page that im sure most of you on here are apart of. Obviously trying to post across two different mediums is time consuming and the way the future is going social media seems to be the most popular. I personally still prefer the old school forums as I am a traditionalist in the IT world but I can't hold a grudge against anyone who finds facebook more convenient.

    One problem with the sea of blue page is that it isnt public and all the banter etc doesnt get smeared in the RA's face like this place does.

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