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Has the parachuting-in of “names” been a success? I personally don’t really think so. It’s upset the balance in the centres - made worse by the loss of Prior and his quick ball and metronomic place kicking - and has diluted the gel we have been used to seeing the past two years. Maybe it’s just the style of rugby we are being forced to play in this comp?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts on the addition of the “names”.
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
Yes, it has definitely been a success and I don't think we could have been competitive without them. I honestly don't know what we would have done without Lance, as much as I like AJ I just dont know if he could have controlled the game like Lance could. (Ok, Lance does need to work on his kicking). Greg Holmes made an enormous impact off the bench (until that blady thumb injury). Our scrum stabilised as soon as Pekka came off the bench after half time. Our centre pairing were solid yesterday, especially in defence with Godwin and Kahui. Only one I am not 100% certain on yet is Frisby, his game massively improved yesterday so maybe he will get better with more game time.
And we believe too.
Western Force coach Tim Sampson believes Force have played their way into Super Rugby future despite losses
Nick Taylor
Western Force coach Tim Sampson believes his side has played its way into the new future of Australian rugby, silencing doubters who claimed they would be easy beats after three years out of Super Rugby.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has already said he wants the Andrew Forrest backed Force in whatever form Super Rugby takes next year.
They were controversially axed by RA three years ago but with billionaire Forrest’s backing Sampson rebuilt a new side in Global Rapid Rugby.
He opened the door to players no other side wanted, brought in untried youngsters and put faith in those who stayed loyal to the club when RA’s guillotine blade dropped.
More here but it's behind the paywall.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/western...ng-b881626581z
Sorry WT, but RA couldn't give a flying proverbial about the bit you highlighted...they were more than happy, even actively expected, that all those players could piss off overseas, go get real jobs, or just generally fuck off. The only key piece of that article that matters is "...Hamish McLennan has already said he wants the Andrew Forrest backed Force..."
I don't disagree, and we know without Mr Forrest's money we wouldn't be here. But at the same time Tim has done a great job getting these players together and producing this team with limited player resources and giving guys a chance. I was just highlighting the bit in the story about what he has done as a coach and I think that was the point of the story too.
I bet Tim has had one big eye opening intro into the shitefield political arena of SR so far - biased reffing, crap fixtures, bigoted commentary at games, condescending attitudes from the other states etc. Hope it hasn’t scared him too much and given him an insight into how the story went for the Force in SR. The bonus for us now tho is Twiggy holds all the cards, the Force can essentially recruit whoever they want provided they suit the Force culture. WA can just keep churning out our own young talent & hopefully GRR succeeds accordingly.
Honestly it's a catch 22 GRR llooks shelved for next year due to travel restrictions, even the members email alluded to force not having a clue what comp they'd be playing in, so if RA offer a place in whatever comp comes up we'd be idiots not to take it. Unfortunately that will mean signing a contract spanning several years, I guess we'll just need to deal with that.
Once we have the media credibility of playing in super rugby, we'll at least be able to contract on an equal footing with regards to standard of play, but anybody who thinks wallabies jerseys will go to the best players really hasn't been following rugby for the last 15 years. Well still be under the pump contracting players from NSW and qld, because everybody around them will tell them they can't build a future here.
Nobody can build a world class team in Australia without selecting some players from outside their catchment, there simply aren't enough good players in the country.
So do we choose integrity and developing rugby into what it should be or actually playing some rugby?
It's a freaking minefield and I hope twiggy gets some genuine work completed to keep the sharks out and fix RA, because I'm not really keen on signing up for another ten years of withering slowly on a dying vine
C'mon the![]()
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I'll tell you exactly how that recruitment will actually work. Every WA player will be considered a waste of money that should be used to initially repatriate players, then for players the ES aren't prepared to pay to retain. But both will still constitute 'theft' and a reason why WA isn't a real rugby state. Should any WA player developed actually prove to be useful, they will be expected to go east and will then be name checked to a SS club or somewhere else if a parent as much as flew over another country. And every cent spent will be an unfair advantage, that they have to get extra money from RA to compensate for.
If you doubt it, keep an eye out for all the players AF 'should' pay for to make the Force a real team, and how many think his money will somehow make a 5 team domestic comp viable. Personally, I'm just amused at all the people who dismissed GRR of the last few years as meaningless exhibition games, but who think a bodged together SRau for 2020 is somehow meaningful.
Would be ironic if we were offered a contract but onlyif it was longer term !
Brand new competition. It'll probably be considered more 'efficient' if RA holds all the IP and licenses centrally...
Meh, we finished ahead of Queensland, New South Wales and Melbourne in the Australian conference in 2017 and still got cut; with no contingency provided like the South African teams had. Very hard to have faith in RA.
Last edited by chibi; 03-08-20 at 00:31.
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?
Obviously everything is up in the air atm but we will need to be in a competition next year and as already stated GRR is unlikely due to travel. IMO we should start extending our squad so that we can play in two competitions! We can use GRR to bring on our own home grown talent and use it to get players back to fitness etc.
We would have the best of all worlds producing our own talent have an extended squad for SR and be the envy of the rest of country.
Maybe at a later stage other SR teams would have a second string GRR team and this could be woven into some form of NRC comp.
There are so many possibilities and with Twiggy in the drivers seat I’m going to hope for the best.
May the FORCE be with you!