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It is alarming to find out the eradication of the Force came with absolutely no benefits, in fact its left a state without a team, a very successful state that had a good solid honest track record of growing its grass roots and expanding the game in a tough AFL state, which is did and prospered, whilst having a large number of locally grown stars representing the Force, they in a very short amount of time had produced an honourable amount of Wallabies, and even developed many more. Rugby WA was once one of the main engine rooms driving Australian rugby, and it was absolutely ripped out and remodeled to suit a few men in suits ego's and to sustain a failed franchise, The MELBOURNE REBELS.
Last year (2017) the Force finished the ladder 2nd. They were 1st equal on wins, but in a tough competition and with a reasonably tough draw they were able to string together 6 wins which although not many, was a lot in the Australian conference and to finish the season they ended it with a massive win against the establishment, NSW, a real in your face F U to Rugby Australia, Clyne, and the man who fell on his sword, the gutless Pulver! This same year Melboune got a single win, 1. Because the Rebels didnt have access to WA's developed talent, they couldn't even finish higher than the Sunwolves.
So in 2017 between the Force, 6 wins, and the Rebels, 1 win, they managed 7 wins between them.
So fast forward to this year and the Rebels have just concluded the season 2nd of the ladder (and only just) which meant they finished on equal wins to the Brumbies, Last year the Force were equal 1st on wins, this year the Rebels are equal 2nd on wins, that equals a fail already. Now we get to the wins, 7, so by combining the talent of last years Force team with this years Rebels team plus 2 guaranteed wins against the Sunwolves, the Rebels still only managed 7 wins. What a complete utter failure from the RA.
So this year (2018) the Rebels stacked full of Force players got 7 wins, and they get two opportunities against the Sunwolves!
So you can safely assume that had the two teams been in existence this year, and had Clyne not axed the Force, then we could be pretty confident that the Force again would get about 7-8 wins, this is if the team gelled and developed like we all thought it would. But even if they got 6 wins again, and the Rebels got an extra win, lets say 2 to be generous, then straight away Australian rugby would have more talent to chose, more players developing across more pro teams giving more opportunity to players in more remote areas that may have or had access to a pro team to strive for.
The eradication of the Force has been an absolute failure and not just for the reasons above, the financial implications, the disengaged and disconnect with the Western Australian rugby fan base, the missed opportunities in the West with the new Stadium and future Bledisloe series, all the hardwork that many loyal and honest fans who poured their heart and soul into helping develop the game here in the West were all taken advantage of because of the selfish interests of Clyne and Co.
None of the money meant for grass roots made it to grass roots, the game is in dissaray at that level, fans have disengaged with super rugby, it doesn't represent Australia, why are the sunwolves in our conference, who cares for them and who wants them there, they just made a competition with a very small Australian influence even smaller with one less team, the fans know it, the fans arent gullible and they are hitting the RA where it hurts, by turning the TV's off and staying home during game night. The polar opposite to what is happening in Western Australia. The game has been ruined by Clyne, Pulver, Eales, Robinson, Sherry and a few others who helped kill it through greed and selfish reasons, It looks like Raelene was hired to be a scapegoat to eventually fall on her sword with a lucrative pay out.
This season proved nothing for Australian rugby other than what a mistake it was to terminate the Force, the selfish reasons around hanging on to the IP just showed their true nature, the fact they ran Rugby WA into the ground until it couldn't paid its debts just showed their real colours, East Coast Grey!
I think this year just proved to everyone super rugby officially died in Australia, a few local australian kiwis prop up the teams on game day by switching on their TV's or watching their local teams play
Post your reasons as to why Australian Rugby and Super Rugby has failed this year: