Western Force 2010 - Strengths & Weaknesess

[Burgs]

Could be the straight man for Cooper I guess Andy, either inside or outside of him depending where he settles.

[AndyS]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The Reds have other options, but probably none that Daruda wouldn't back himself against.

[Burgs]

I think Scotty is a really good player in the making, he just isn't/wasn't the teenage superstar some may have hoped or made him out to be.
Another couple of years maturing and refining his skill set and I reackon he will be highly sort after.
Unfortunately the top levels of pro Rugby don't believe they have that luxury any more for anyone but pre-pubescents...
Let's face it, he is arguably the best back to come out of PNG...

[brokendown gunfighter]

I think Scotty is a really good player in the making, he just isn't/wasn't the teenage superstar some may have hoped or made him out to be.
Another couple of years maturing and refining his skill set and I reackon he will be highly sort after.
Unfortunately the top levels of pro Rugby don't believe they have that luxury any more for anyone but pre-pubescents...
Let's face it, he is arguably the best back to come out of PNG...

how about wil genia?

[Burgs]

Doh, second best
Stupid brain...

[Burgs]

Getting well off track, but I always thought if they could get Genia, Daruda and Henari Veratau to play for the Puk Puks with a few of their better mungoes they would be on their way to a potential RWC berth...

[Lee Grant]

Apparently Daruda is having trouble getting game time at Agen. It's hard to know if it's on form or if he is being marginalised. Agen is in the Pro D2 competition (2nd Division) and it's hard to get to see those games compared being able to watch the Top 14 matches.

If Daruda has been eased out he won't be the last foreigner to be so treated in the next year or so. French clubs won't be allowed to have so many foreigners on their books in the future and they have to make plans.

The European Union will not permit discrimination against foreigners holding Euro passports playing in France but French rugby will get around it. They will require their clubs to contract a certain percentage of players who have gone through their club system. Clever.

Within 6 months'(for the 2010/11 season) that percentage will have to be 50% and within 18 months (for the 2011/12 season) the figure will be 70%. Since each club has 35 contracted players, only 10-11 of a clubs roster for 2011/12 can be players who did not come through a club's system. Since some of those players would have gone through another French club's Academy you could find the number of foreigners reduced to 6 or 7.

That will be a huge difference for the galactico clubs.

On the other hand Daruda may have been a dud. I doubt it though.

Petoors is contracted for 2010 only. They may re-hire him but the long term view may be to get a good young Aussie - and perhaps get a marquee hooker for 2011. The press release said Daruda was quitting the club. If that meant immediately he could play in the 2010 Super14.

If I wanted someone to run on to play 12 and cover for 10, or cover 10 and 12 from the bench, I would take Daruda on his old S14 form over Harris and Hunt every day of the week.

[The Ethicist]

Any true Aussie hates France
The French people are arseholes
Their women are snobs
The language is ridiculous
The men like to cuddle each other
The wine is over rated
Frogs legs and garlic just doesn't provide satiety to a rugby player
It rains all the time
Aussies just don't like it
Daruda has been there,done that went to Paris and got the T-shirt
Nobody wants to be in that sh1thole in second division waiting for someone to break a leg so you can get a spot on the bench
Life's too short
Time to leave

[brokendown gunfighter]

wasnt the France I visited,but then again I was wearing beer goggles

[James]

Daruda's dad is Austrian isn't he? So he'd have a EU passport.

[jazza93]

Daruda is a very good player, the force should of given him more of a chance but anyway hopefully he finds the right club in france eventually.

[Lee Grant]

Daruda's dad is Austrian isn't he? So he'd have a EU passport.

It's not to the point of what French clubs are doing. British and Italians, for example, playing in France have EU passports also.

What the French are doing is reducing the amount of foreigners, not eligible to play for France, who are contracted by French clubs.

They can't do it on a passport basis: the EU wouldn't allow it. But they can have an internal regulation whereby each club has to have a certain amount of contracted players who have been through their own academies.

Close to 100% of players who have been to Academies of French clubs would still be eligible for France.

There maybe the odd academy player who switched to play for another nation when he was older then came back later to play for a French club but there wouldn't be many.

As I said: clever.

[James]

I doubt it will happen to any significant degree. The French clubs wouldn't be paying big bucks for players from other countries if they didn't want/need them. They'll find a loop hole.

[Lee Grant]

Reading one of the French rugby sites - my surmise that he may have been marginalised is bunk.

Apparently Daruda never settled in in Agen. He and his partner didn't like it there and the cold snap was the final straw.

[brokendown gunfighter]

poor bugger,he'll find his niche somewhere