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Mitchell excited for new season
Story by Sportal for the ARU
Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 10:15 AM (AEST)
Despite losing some experienced players, Western Force coach John Mitchell is confident the Perth-based Super-14s club is set for a successful 2008 as pre-season kicked off.
The Force are now entering their third season in the Super-14s and while Mitchell has been pleased with the solid progress in the first two years, knows it is now time to have some success.
"We are entering a different phase as a club. While we have gained a little respect over the past two years and had some pats on the back, it's about now raising the expectations of the team, fans, sponsors and our whole organisation. I want to see the team perform," Mitchell said.
"It's about every individual wanting to take their game to another level and committing to that. We've been through enough adversity and had enough success in the first two years to understand where we've got to go to next."
The Force will certainly not be helped with Junior Pelesasa requiring a full knee reconstruction, and with Rudi Vedelago and Digby Ioane (Reds) electing to move on.
"We certainly knew about Rudi's situation, so while you don't want to lose someone of his experience it is part of the game. It now presents an opportunity for somebody to else to stand up, and we have some very good youth in terms of Tom Hockings and Pat O'Connor," he said.
"Junior's injury is a full season rehabilitation, but it will be another person's opportunity. No chemistry is ever the same going into a campaign, and I'm excited about this particularly campaign. It's up to the group getting together quickly to enjoy another good experience."
On the positive side, the Force has added the first two players from the RugbyWA Academy to its squad, Kieran Longbottom and James Stannard. Nick Cummins and Scott Fardy enter the squad after impressive Mazda Australian Rugby Championship campaigns for the Perth Spirit, while Australian under-19 lock Sam Wyles has also joined in the pre-season training.
It wasn't the ideal start to pre-season for Cummins as he strained his hamstring, but Mitchell is confident he has the squad capable of being successful already together.
"I'm excited about the whole group. We still have some availability, but there's no way I'm going to bring anyone in unless they can add value and lift our standards. This is a very talented group, there's some excellent youth that we've brought in through the summer program and it's up to them to stand up," he said.
"You would be worried if the team didn't have the goal to get to the finals stage and give themselves a chance, but you need to look at a little more than that. There are only a certain number of things that you can be the best in the competition at, and that's all we will concentrate on. We have enough experience now to take into this year and to help take us further."
With temperatures in Perth starting to rise, the Force players will certainly be in for a tough pre-season, but Mitchell will make sure he keeps them refreshed with some non-rugby activities.
"The biggest challenge is to find new ways to do the same things. I want to refresh the program, so this time we will be doing a few more hills in the opening part of the program and will break down some parts of the game that we want to focus on during the week," he said.
"We also want to take the guys out of rugby boots and do some miscellaneous activities around the community, which helps their conditioning and is refreshing to do."
The Western Force's five Wallabies players, Nathan Sharpe, Matt Giteau, Scott Staniforth (after recently undergoing shoulder surgery), Drew Mitchell and Cameron Shepherd will all join the group before Christmas.
The Force plays its first trial match against the Crusaders in Melbourne on February 2, host the Reds on February 7 before opening the Super-14 season against the Sharks in Durban.
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Originally Posted by Burgs
