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Hapless Force sink deeper into the quicksand they're built on
John Connolly | January 18, 2009
THE uneasiness at the Western Force is not a great way for any team to start a season. Although coaching restrictions were lifted on January 5, you have to wonder what on earth is going on at Perth when 30 of 36 players and 10 staff sign a petition to complain about their coach, John Mitchell. It is a sad first for Australian sport.
The Western Force board has a tough decision to make. Mitchell has a contract with the club until 2011, though it is my understanding he's sent out feelers to Britain to see what jobs are available there.
Mitchell finds himself in a tough place because it's easier for the board to sack one coach rather than over 30 players and staff. It may only be in time that we find out how the situation at the Force has got to this, and the part, if any, played by Mitchell's approach to coaching. But the situation again highlights the pressure a coach lives with.
To be a coach in any sport, you need man-management skills, you must be able to work with the players to get a result and you obviously need an in-depth knowledge of the game. You don't have to be the greatest coach in the world to get results, but you do need the players' respect, and that is normally gained by showing mutual respect and displaying fairness.
We saw at the Brumbies a few years ago the situation arise where the players reacted to an issue they had with their coach by running the show themselves, but they were a more experienced playing group than the Force.
The Force find themselves on the defensive at a time their Super 14 rivals are talking up their own chances to win the title. The Western Force have world-class players, including Matt Giteau, Ryan Cross, Nathan Sharpe, David Pocock and Drew Mitchell, and I thought they were going to be realistic semi-finals chances this season. However, the issue will surface again in the future, and it'll affect their form. I'm afraid they're more likely to finish closer to 14th than first.
It's a fact of sporting life that boards can make the wrong choice when appointing a coach - that happens through a lack of knowledge. It has occurred a few times over the past few years and it will continue in the years to come.
The situation at the Force is different. Professional team sport is about living in each others' pockets, and rugby is different in that regard to football where they have a director of coaching and a multitude of coaches; American football has teams within teams. We've just witnessed in cricket the Kevin Pietersen-Peter Moores fiasco in England.
However, because a rugby team lives in each others' pockets, flaws in a player's or coach's character are eventually exposed. You quickly learn if a player or coach is selfish, whether it is all about him or whether he has a poor work ethic.
While most international sports teams have large numbers of support staff - for instance, the South African cricket team in Australia has a team of 11 support staff looking after 14 players - the buck stops with the coach.
It is tough, and how the coach handles the pressure is the key to how he survives. Pressure is what changes people. It affects your reasoning, your moods and how you handle your staff and players - all of whom require the personal touch, and in rugby that can mean up to 40 people.
We've seen AFL and rugby league coaches stressing out and snapping in their box. All top-line coaches have been there, and it isn't fun.
Mitchell left the All Blacks under a cloud because of the way he supposedly handled issues. He joined the Western Force, and they enjoyed outstanding success under the direction of former chief executive Peter O'Meara, who understood the ins and outs of Australian rugby. A good operator, he was on top of most issues.
The new chief, Greg Harris, is finding the going tough. Membership has decreased 20 per cent a year over the past two years and their ground at Subiaco is unsuitable for rugby.
The Force have been marred by many problems. Their biggest one has been the tyranny of distance and competing with NSW, Queensland and the ACT for players.
They also endured the Firepower fiasco, the sacking of star halfback Matt Henjak after he broke teammate Haig Sare's jaw in a bar-room brawl, the quokka episode and now perceived problems with the coach have surfaced.
I've always said the Force are, to an extent, built on quicksand because of the distance from the eastern seaboard and the fierce competition they face from AFL.
A month before a match ball is even inflated, it's obvious the Force face a tough year ahead.
Under O'Meara, the Western Force drew huge crowds, managed to recruit international-class players and, at their best, it took 18 months for them to match what it took Queensland 100 years to achieve.
However, Queensland have the foundations to support the sport through the lean times.
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Originally Posted by travelling_gerry
Supporter" starring the #SeaOfBlue
Knuckles Connolly backing his old QLD mate Peter O'Meara... what a load of rubbish... the good (CEO) operator who recommended firepower to the Force board, that’s laughable... Connolly was the worst Wallabies coach of all time... 
