Matt Giteau Back to Brumbies

[pieter blackie]

There will be a standing ovation when he takes the field next Saturday by the BRUMBIES community...

One of the things I am afraid of. You can imagine what it will do to the Force's confidence when the Brumbies crowd gets up and give Gits a standing ovation. It is like a kick in the face.

[blueandblack]

Looks like the force “COMMIT NOW ADS” worked on Gits...and he's committed to going home...
....

Thanks for the ad.

[jono]

well, at least his time at the force got him to get rid of the fingerless gloves...

[mudskipper]

It will be a moment but once over
I 'm sure they'll focus on Mortlock... I saw him today while having breaky at a cafe in Manuka gee he's looking really fit this season....

[mudskipper]

yerr he looks pretty young in that pic...

[oxleymoron]

His early decision in week 2 will give others at the Force time to considered their commitment and for the Force to recruit well for 2010..

Agree Mud. The announncement of Gits signing for the was made during week 11 of the 2006 season (just after the draw to the saders). Sure, back then there were no marquee players to consider and the brumbies had more depth in being able to replace gits, but the timing didn't help the brumbies in the planning for 2007.

[laura]

One of the things I am afraid of. You can imagine what it will do to the Force's confidence when the Brumbies crowd gets up and give Gits a standing ovation. It is like a kick in the face.

Good thing some of us will be there to bring their confidence back up. Giteau is still a member of the Force squad and I, for one, will be cheering for all 15 on the field and 7 on the bench.

[greenandgoldrugby]

Knowing how passionate you guys all are, I'm not at all surprised by the emotions in this thread. What I am surprised about is that they're almost solely aimed at one person, and it's Matt Giteau.

If the money, girlfriend and house are all in Perth, it would seem pretty obvious why he's leaving - John Mitchell. Hell, we all know Mitch has got a track record, and there was even an independent inquiry run which would have taken far more than one player like MG to instigate. And the inquiry acknowledged that there is a problem.

But my finger isn't pointing at Mitch - he plays it as he sees it right or wrong. My finger is pointing at the Rugby WA board who made two stuff ups:

1. One large one when they gave JM a four year contract when there was plenty of smoke billowing around the show already
2. and another HUMUNGUS one that they're making now by holding onto (or playing Mexican standoff with) JM, when it's obvious to blind Freddie that the guy's position is untenable

I can only assume that the board are looking at what they'd have to pay out to Mitch in these tougher financial times and hoping that he's either going to walk away, or some miracle illness is going to strike to get them out of this mess.

Which is obviously totally nuts. Mitch's contract is a sunk cost. They needed to take the hit and move on, promoting Mulvahill if necessary to soften the financial blow.

Instead what they've done is let the sore fester, and what we get is a very dangerous situation for the Force. To me it looks like Gits made his position very clear publicly over the past few months: keep Mitch and I go. No surprises on his announcement then only a week or two after the lack of action following the 'inquiry'.

I don't need to tell you guys the demotivating impact that losing Australia's prime marquee player means to both those in the organisation, and those thinking about joining it.

As an Australia rugby supporter, it pisses me off because I think of all the potential in the Force, see 2009 probably now being another missed opportunity, and worse in the years to come. All because the Rugby WA board couldn't make the tough, but only logical decision they had to make. For me, they're the guys who deserve a rocket, not Matt Giteau.

[mudskipper]

Its not fair-play to now turn on Giteau, as he will have honored his 3 year contract before departing Perth. He hasn’t been negative in the media about the Team, Mitchell, its supporters or the RUWA / Force administrators. He has even been very cautious about his comments when referring to the great firepower swindle. He has handled his business disappointments professionally…

The Force have benefited form his involvement and in turn he has benefited from playing as a starting 10 at the Force. Remember while he was in Canberra Steve Larkham was still the Brumbies starting 10.

After 3 years away he is entitled to return and play a few seasons for his home province before eventually taking up a sunset contract in the northern Hemisphere…

Personally I think he has handled the Western Force’s business complications with grace and has behaved respectfully. All credit to Matt for not being pulled down into cynical subterfuge… you’re a credit to your family and the Brumbies community….welcome back…

[Happy]

lol

[zimeric]

Knowing how passionate you guys all are, I'm not at all surprised by the emotions in this thread. What I am surprised about is that they're almost solely aimed at one person, and it's Matt Giteau.

If the money, girlfriend and house are all in Perth, it would seem pretty obvious why he's leaving - John Mitchell. Hell, we all know Mitch has got a track record, and there was even an independent inquiry run which would have taken far more than one player like MG to instigate. And the inquiry acknowledged that there is a problem.

But my finger isn't pointing at Mitch - he plays it as he sees it right or wrong. My finger is pointing at the Rugby WA board who made two stuff ups:

1. One large one when they gave JM a four year contract when there was plenty of smoke billowing around the show already
2. and another HUMUNGUS one that they're making now by holding onto (or playing Mexican standoff with) JM, when it's obvious to blind Freddie that the guy's position is untenable

I can only assume that the board are looking at what they'd have to pay out to Mitch in these tougher financial times and hoping that he's either going to walk away, or some miracle illness is going to strike to get them out of this mess.

Which is obviously totally nuts. Mitch's contract is a sunk cost. They needed to take the hit and move on, promoting Mulvahill if necessary to soften the financial blow.

Instead what they've done is let the sore fester, and what we get is a very dangerous situation for the Force. To me it looks like Gits made his position very clear publicly over the past few months: keep Mitch and I go. No surprises on his announcement then only a week or two after the lack of action following the 'inquiry'.

I don't need to tell you guys the demotivating impact that losing Australia's prime marquee player means to both those in the organisation, and those thinking about joining it.

As an Australia rugby supporter, it pisses me off because I think of all the potential in the Force, see 2009 probably now being another missed opportunity, and worse in the years to come. All because the Rugby WA board couldn't make the tough, but only logical decision they had to make. For me, they're the guys who deserve a rocket, not Matt Giteau.

So way off the mark i dont know where to start....
I had such a brain fart when i read this im still trying to get back up of the floor.

1)

it would seem pretty obvious why he's leaving - John Mitchell

- If it was that obvious why whould he say this? "(My relationship with Mitchell is) fine. I've never had an issue with Mitch, it's been good."

2)

My finger is pointing at the Rugby WA board who made two stuff ups:

1. One large one when they gave JM a four year contract when there was plenty of smoke billowing around the show already
2. and another HUMUNGUS one that they're making now by holding onto (or playing Mexican standoff with) JM, when it's obvious to blind Freddie that the guy's position is untenable

- I suppose this has to do with one speculated incident during halftime in the game between the brumbies & the force? One slanging match between a coach and his players in order to rev them up and need i say win the game... yeah plenty of smoke billowing there!!

3)

To me it looks like Gits made his position very clear publicly over the past few months: keep Mitch and I go. No surprises on his announcement then only a week or two after the lack of action following the 'inquiry'.

- your entitled to your opinion but how did you come about this startling epiphany? Do you somehow know what the report contained or reccomended? did Gits at anypoint mention this to anyone?

4)

As an Australia rugby supporter, it pisses me off because I think of all the potential in the Force, see 2009 probably now being another missed opportunity, and worse in the years to come. All because the Rugby WA board couldn't make the tough, but only logical decision they had to make. For me, they're the guys who deserve a rocket, not Matt Giteau.

- The Emirates Western Force is a business, they pay buckets of money to players to perform on the field between February and June. If one 4.5 million dollar man leaves (ok so its less than that now thanks Firepower!) it frees up plenty of money to develop the other players, possibly recruit another... Not everyone loves Matt Giteau enough to come 4000kms across the desert to play rugby, there are other reasons to do that. In fact many players came because of the COACH.
Secondly, the fans loved Giteau playing for the Force and will miss his awesome talent but the Force were created on the backs of the Fans BEFORE Giteau arrived here and the Fans will carry on Supporting the Team after he Leaves. We are "THE IMMOVABLE SUPPORT BEHIND AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE!"

[waratahjesus]

4) - The Emirates Western Force is a business, they pay buckets of money to players to perform on the field between February and June. If one 4.5 million dollar man leaves (ok so its less than that now thanks Firepower!) it frees up plenty of money to develop the other players, possibly recruit another... Not everyone loves Matt Giteau enough to come 4000kms across the desert to play rugby, there are other reasons to do that. In fact many players came because of the COACH.
Secondly, the fans loved Giteau playing for the Force and will miss his awesome talent but the Force were created on the backs of the Fans BEFORE Giteau arrived here and the Fans will carry on Supporting the Team after he Leaves. We are "THE IMMOVABLE SUPPORT BEHIND AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE!"[/QUOTE]

with all due respect, can you name a player that came to the force for the "COACH" and i dont mean produce a statement from the player who says "and playing under a former all blacks coach" etc etc, i mean a payer that put his hand up and said, i dont care about money or opportunity, i wanna play for mitchell!

its a professional sport, gits was there cos there was a 1.5 million dollar offer on the table! and the other players came for money and opportunity as well. if they were behind other players at other provences or offered more money or leadership opportunities, for whatever reason. but i put it to you that not one player sat down to think about his playing future and went, you know what, that john mitchell guy seems like a top coach, i think i might play for him!

[zimeric]

with all due respect WJ, Money & the Pecking order would be my priority too but what youre saying is that noone considered the COACH as a factor... cmon dont skim the top off my statement to serve your own agenda.

Digby, Pusey, Hilgendorf, Sharp and Cannon all publicly stated that the opportunity to be coached by Mitchell was something they couldnt pass-up.
and im sure there were a number of other players too.

What the media are spinning now is that because Matt THE MAN has left we will have an exodus... well thats crock. We might lose 1 maybe 2 because of the natural contractual process at the end of the season... noone is going to leave to go to other Franchises, quite possibly getting back in line behind the incumbants in those teams and take a pay cut while they're at it just because our coach is a tough SOB...

[waratahjesus]

with all due respect WJ, Money & the Pecking order would be my priority too but what youre saying is that noone considered the COACH as a factor... cmon dont skim the top off my statement to serve your own agenda.

Digby, Pusey, Hilgendorf, Sharp and Cannon all publicly stated that the opportunity to be coached by Mitchell was something they couldnt pass-up.
and im sure there were a number of other players too.

What the media are spinning now is that because Matt THE MAN has left we will have an exodus... well thats crock. We might lose 1 maybe 2 because of the natural contractual process at the end of the season... noone is going to leave to go to other Franchises, quite possibly getting back in line behind the incumbants in those teams and take a pay cut while they're at it just because our coach is a tough SOB...

in a number of days or whenever matt giteau is asked about why he signed with canberra, he will praise andy friend and say he ahs great respect for both the man and his coaching ability. its PR. cannon was on the outer in sydney so he took an opportunity, im not pushing an agenda, im saying if eddie jones was coach of the force the players would say the same positive crap about him! all players in all codes praise the organisation there heading to when the sign a new contract. acting like a press release from a new signing is anything but crap is nieve isnt it?

no one in perth before your franchise started would have looked at the scope of world rugby and gone, you know what, im glad were getting a team but what would make it really exciting for me would be if we could sign that world cup semi final losing coach from new zealand. the supporters didnt care and as a player the only thing in a professional set up that would concern you about the coach would be

a)do i have a personnal conflict with him
b)am i going to be in the starting 15

John Mitchell isnt a mastercoach, if he was he would have invested in a front row! your signings (matt giteau) have merely been marketing moves! him leaving is good as the force as an organisation and business can sit down and actually build a team, not individuals (that can be the brumbies problem)

[brokendown gunfighter]

WJ how many high profile Australian front rowers were availlable?(apart from Moore)
after all Australia is flush with high quality frontrowers,isnt it