Force have their man in O'Connor

[travelling_gerry]

Wallaby wunderkind James O'Connor will be a Western Force player next season - despite the teenager still wrangling over the ARU portion of his contract.

While the ink is not yet on the contract, both Force coach John Mitchell and new CEO Vern Reid confirmed publicly last night that O'Connor would be a Force man next year.

But there is still no indication of when that might be confirmed by the ARU, with the rumoured $1 million contract - which would make O'Connor one of the sport's highest paid players at just 19 - taking longer than expected to finalise.

"James has committed to the Western Force, but our contracts are a three-way contract between the club, the player and the ARU," Reid said.

"The final details are being worked out and we trust that will happen very, very soon."

O'Connor cemented his reputation as one of the brightest talents on world rugby with some blistering displays for the Force last year, feeding off the brilliance of Matt Giteau to earn a place in Robbie Deans' Wallaby set-up.

A meeting with the Queen on Australia's tour of the UK - and some brushes with authority including a ticking off for a food fight in the Wallaby hotel - matched his rise to prominence.

With Giteau's departure leading an exodus of stars away from the Force, O'Connor's signature was the key one for Rugby WA powerbrokers - with Mitchell also confirming he would be staying for the next two years.

"His major issue is with the ARU, there are some elements in his contract he has got to sort out," Mitchell said.

"But he is with us going into the 2010 and 2011 seasons

http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/forc...0729-e0ke.html

[JediKnight]

Come on ARU....pull your finger out!!!

[AndyS]

Maybe just giving the "heartlands" a last opportunity to have a crack...

[robyn <3]

BOOYAH! Fantastic James.

[Sheikh]

Who came up with this ludicrous contract arrangement? Its almost as if the ARU wanted to screw players over. Oh, wait...

[force addict]

for goodness sake ARU hurry up!! dont screw over the boy.

[laura]

I'm hoping this is like the Drew situation in that he has signed with a provincial club (Force) but he's just waiting for the ARU to get their stuff together before he can 'officially' announce it all.

If JM & Vern Reid confirm it, its as good as a done deal in my book.

[GIGS20]

I'm getting too cynical aren't I?

Queenslanders aren't proving to be highly reliable in this department.