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This whole thing is an absolute nightmare. The ARU is absolutely not giving an inch is it. Even if the arbitration goes our way in TWO MONTHS' time, we will have no bloody players left except those that have contracts into 2018.
My anger and frustration has just about reached boiling point. God only knows what the poor players, coaches and staff are feeling.
And the chances of Cox selling between now and then are zero as the ARU will refuse to pay anything while it still thinks it has a chance to get rid of us for bugger all.
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
2 key points are : 1 Both parties must agree on arbitrator. This should result in an independent arbitrator appointed.
And 2, there is a right of appeal. This gives us avenue to keep fighting the ARU.
But then again seeing as the 2 culled South African franchises are joining the European competitions from reports just come out, there might not be a Super Rugby to compete in soon.
It appears to be the least worst option, given the court backlog.
I believe RugbyWA must feel very confident in the contract being watertight to have agreed to arbitration. However, does the issue of flaws in the ARUs evaluation process regarding Vic Gov funding not confirmed & shutting the Rebs down anyway, get considered in the contract dispute? Thought they might be a separate argument to the actual alliance agreement?
Its THREE months time Ali. And yes, there won't be players or coaches left.Originally Posted by Alison
However I expect this will be resolved prior to the arbitration...I think the shoe is again on the other foot and Cox will now sell. There is nothing in it for him to stay.
The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor
No point trying to guess our way to frustration here folks. I suppose we should just trust the legal team advising Rugby WA and also the board.
Perhaps someone with expertise can explain how this will work. Particularly whether either party can appeal simply because they don't like the outcome or whether there are some constraints on that.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Surely it is/was in our interest to drag the dispute out as long as possible? And surely the Courts would have been better?
Do we still have the same legal team in McCusker QC et al??
Pull-over clearly came here on Tuesday to push for arbitration. I had understood that both parties had to abide by the outcome of the arbitration process - where did this right to appeal come from?
Very true Shasta, as much as this absolute shambles gives me the shits we have no choice but to stay patient and let Rugby WA's legal team do their work, at least we know they absolutely want the Force to survive and are prepared to go hard on it - that will have to do me for the moment. In the interim I intend to email Sports Minister Mick Murray again to thank the government for their support to date and ask them to also stay in the fight and be tough - don't want them losing focus over time on this. The more emails they get from punters the stronger they will be!
I would encourage all Force supporters to do likewise.
The only thing that really upsets me is that we now won't know the outcome until after the end of the Super rugby season, so we may not get the opportunity to bid adieu as a club should things not go our way.
I did have some hope but what I've been reading is not helping about the issue! Also saw Curtis Rona rumoured to be going to a RL club next year 😳
It also takes the decision past what seems to be the main contracting window for super rugby - bloody tough for players currently fielding offers from other Aus and international clubs - what a debacle! We may struggle to re-sign players like Adam Coleman
Well done the muppets at ARU
This really is quite a disappointing outcome. The arbitration proceedings will all be confidential, so we won't have any more clarity on how any decision has been made and the incompetence of the ARU that would no doubt be uncovered in court will not come out to the public either.
If I was a Force player without a 2018 contract, I think I'd probably be looking elsewhere now since it's not going to be sorted out soon enough. Still haven't seen any signing announcements from the Force after the freeze has been lifted, which makes me think the ARU isn't going to sign off on any new contracts for us and therefore our team is going to be decimated by the time any decision has been made.
Surely dragged out court proceedings would've been preferable as they would likely take us past the point of no return for next season so we'd have to be retained and the ARU would be force to keep 5 teams or look elsewhere, which would give our players enough certainty to stay with the club??
The ARU have given assurances that all contracts will be honored.
Why not sign with the Force?
The contract will either be transferred or payed out.
The ARU can't force (if you'll excuse the pun) you to go to a team you don't want to join.