1
Dear All
You will all be well aware of the continuing battle for survival of the Western Force in which the RWA board is embroiled with the ARU. The ARU continue to pursue either the elimination of the Melbourne Rebels or our own Western Force from the Super Rugby competition. They have widely announced that they have no plan B and are anticipating to be in a position to announce their position soon after completion of the Super Rugby playing season. There is considerable speculation but we must assume that one team may have played its final match last weekend.
Since the first indication that we were targeted for the axe we engaged Lavan, together with the support from two prominent Western Australian Senior Counsel, to develop our strategy and our defence. We still maintain we have a strong legal position. However, the process has dragged on and the legal representatives of the ARU continue to attempt to attack us in every imaginable way. Arbitration is set for early August and we remain confident that completion of the Arbitration process will see us successful in our case and complete a Milestone which will then enable us to commence negotiations with the ARU to recover our Super Rugby License and set about planning our future.
However, none of us predicted that this farce could drag out for so long and in the process require such significant legal defence. Though significantly subsidised, we have and will continue to incur costs defending our position and, with this in mind, we need to secure a Fighting Fund to underwrite legal costs. Our current accrued cost is $350,000 and we anticipate at this stage total costs running up to an additional $300,000 to complete the Arbitration Case. It is our intention after victory to seek costs recovery directly from the ARU as part of our final negotiations. However, we cannot be guaranteed of that outcome.
You will have all heard that Andrew Forrest has agreed to support our cause to ensure the Western Force remain in WA. We are receiving great support from him but quite rightly I have said to Andrew that all of the community feels as strongly as he does to fight for the team and we are all fighting together. One of the ways we can do this is to contribute to the Fighting Fund.
So, in a nutshell, this email requests your support to help us underwrite the legal Fighting Fund. We would also appreciate you sharing this with Rugby supporters at large. We have also approached prominent Business men and women in our Rugby Community to help with the Fund.
Money for the fighting fund can be transferred to the trust account below:
St George Bank
Account name: Lavan Law Practice Trust Account
BSB 336 065
Account 551 206 056
Please note, all transfers must include your Surname, Initials and the following reference information "1156288 WFF".
If you have any questions or need clarifications please contact me
GO THE FORCE
Yours in rugby,
Tony Howarth
Chairman,
RugbyWA