0
![Not allowed!](images/buttons/up_dis.png)
WESTERN Force fans will farewell favourites Tai McIsaac and Scott Staniforth on Saturday night when the pair run on to Subiaco Oval for the last time.
As they were preparing for the do-or-die clash with the Stormers in Cape Town, the pair looked back on four years with the fledgling Super 14 team.
If they escape injury - and it would take a lot to stop the tough hooker and centre - Saturday's game will realise milestones for both men.
McIsaac has played every game since the Force's foundation, while Staniforth will make his 100th "Super" appearance.
"Taipan" and "Spanner" - as they are known to teammates and fans - will head to Japan when the final whistle blows on their Super 14 careers. McIsaac will coach with the Honda Heat in Suzuka and Staniforth will play for Yokogawa.
Staniforth, 31, still hopes to earn a dream Wallabies recall, although he realises his chances are slim.
He is contracted to the Force for next season, but has negotiated an early release. Selection for the Wallabies will see him remain in Perth for 2010.
Staniforth played 61 games for the Waratahs, but in 2004 the NSW side chased rugby league's Mat Rogers, Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor.
Staniforth was granted an early release to play for London Irish and thrived in the UK, being voted his club's player of the year.
But with his wife, Emma, pregnant with their third child, they wanted to return to Australia.
The Force's last inaugural pick, Staniforth scored nine tries in the first season, including the five-pointer that sealed the WA outfit's first Super 14 win - 16-14 over the Cheetahs in South Africa - and was the club's first player of the year.
The powerhouse runner then proved the Tahs wrong when he was selected for his second World Cup, in 2007, after making the 1999 squad. He has 12 Test caps.
However, his 2007 World Cup came to an end when he injured a shoulder with his first touch in the 55-12 victory over Fiji.
"There are a lot of moments (that stand out), but our first win in Kimberley is probably the best," he said.
"If I hadn't come to Perth, I'd probably still be plying my trade overseas. I'm not sure where I'd be.
"It was great to get back; it was a great opportunity.
"Obviously I never thought I'd get back into the Wallabies and another World Cup campaign.
"Playing all my football predominantly at wing at Super 14 level before I came here gave me a chance to play in the centres, and that got me back in the Wallabies.
"Being a versatile 12, 13, winger really put a couple of strings in my bow.
"The Force has been great for me. No regrets. Definitely not."
Before rugby, McIsaac had been a national league water polo player and represented Australian at under-21 level.
He never started his rugby career seriously until he was 24, at prop with the Gold Coast Breakers in the Queensland competition.
McIsaac joined the Reds in the Super 12 competition, debuting in 2003. He moved to the Force as Brendan Cannon's deputy.
When Cannon retired with a neck injury, McIsaac grabbed the starting No.2 jumper and has kept a tight grip on it since.
Moving to the Force thrust McIsaac into the Wallabies selectors' radar.
He toured Japan with Australia A and debuted with the Wallabies in 2006, against England, the first of his eight Tests.
"If I'd stayed at Queensland, I probably might have retired the year that I moved here, or the year after maybe," he said.
"I wasn't enjoying it there and to do anything you've got to enjoy it. Moving to Perth was the best move I ever made.
"Those four years have gone pretty quick - very quick actually - but the last four months have been the most enjoyable of my rugby career. It's probably been the best four months I've had in rugby."
The Kimberley win against the Cheetahs was also a big highlight for McIsaac.
"That first win we ever had - we'd come off so many losses and so many of them had been so close, so many gut-wrenching - to finally get a win was fantastic,'' he said.
"The only regret I have, I suppose, is not being young enough to hang around for a few more years."
When he walks off Subiaco on Saturday it will definitely be his last as a player - to protect his looks, he jokes.
"I'm really looking forward to not having to bash myself around any more," McIsaac said.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005403,00.html
they will both be missed, great servants for our club...
they are such great players. it's a real shame they have to move on. all we can do is thank them for their outstanding contributions to RWA and the Force and wish them all the best for life after the Force.
Be There. Be Heard. Be The Force Behind The Force
Fingers crossed Spanner makes the Wallabies then. That way we can keep him around for another year. Somehow I doubt Deans will use him though. He'd sooner play a younger guy to develop for 2011. Fingers crossed anyway though. He definitely has been in great form these last three or four weeks.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
I like the idea of Tai becoming a coach... possibly a future Force coach that would be fantastic... to employ an explayer as a coach... and an Aussie...!!!!!
Thanks for the past four years guys, good luck to you both
cheers fellas, it's been great to watch you as force players.
all the best for the future.
thanks for the last 4 years
made all us fans extremely proud!
good luck in the future!
but your always welcome back![]()
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White
Thanks Guys...You will always be welcome back in Perth. Loved your Work...All the very best in your new adventures..
All the best fellas...thanks for all your hard work
coz Stone Cold says so
is tai playing on sat??
i surely hope so!!!!
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White
the first game he has not started!
Be There. Be Heard. Be The Force Behind The Force
we'll see. maybe they'll give him the run at the start...but he has to be fit first.
"12 Years aSupporter" starring the #SeaOfBlue
lap of honour i say for all our departing players or just spanna and tai
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White