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Article from: PerthNow
Nick Taylor, rugby writer
May 09, 2009 06:30pm
WESTERN Force assistant coach John Mulvihill has resigned with one year of his contract remaining.
Mulvihill assumed the pre-season lead coaching role while an independent inquiry was carried out into head coach John Mitchell's style.
"There are opportunities that will come up, both in Europe and in Japan, and I really want to be in a position to put my best foot forward should the opportunities arise," he said.
"You can never afford to be too comfortable as a coach. This was my fourth year as a Super 14 assistant coach and you've always got to look to the future. I think I've been a pretty good Force man and I take a lot of pride in my performance, particularly this year."
Mulvihill believes the club has moved on since the pre-season inquiry.
"It was really important that while that was happening that the players kept up their development," he said. "We've come out the other side pretty well and we're now playing our best rugby.
"From adversity comes good things, and there are good things that will happen with this club in the future."
Mulvihill said he needed to be refreshed in a new rugby program and that there needed to be a freshness within the playing squad.
"We've laid a strong platform to go forward and I'm really proud of what we've achieved in attack this year," he said.
"We set a benchmark of scoring 35 tries this season and we achieved that with two games to go."
Mulvihill talked with Force chief executive Greg Harris before the Lions home game and told the players of his decision on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Force's latest re-signing, Wallaby No.8 Richard Brown, has recovered from the ankle injury that sidelined him from last night's game against the Stormers.
Brown revealed he had received a lot of offers from other Super 14 franchises and from overseas clubs.
"I didn't even look at overseas," he said. "It's a big weight off my shoulder, (because) of all my other contract negotiations there's never been anything like this."
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005401,00.html