Some more negitave publicity: TIME TO DECIDE IF THE FORCE IS WANTED

[blueandblack]

what im confused about, is why would anyone want to live in Canberra to start with, i say this with 100% honesty that i think it is the asshole of Australia, weather is shit, there is some strange sense of self-accomplishment except they are all cultureless hicks who havent achieved anything but overpaid doll work.

true, but they do have the right to possess x-rated material there. mind you, so do NT and they have better weather.

[robyn <3]

Tazz I am with you I feel EWF has about 2 years left and Melbourne will grab the opportunity with heaps of $ I hate been negitive but one has to be realistic, this is wht this stadium is so important........ bums on seats will help the cash flow.

Saw Drew on the TV he's gone although he said he "hadnt had his mind up" with a smirk, as did JOC hes leaning that way too I feel. I reckon Crossy will go to Brumbies as Mortlock is getting to the end.....

It's all so sad. I am woundering what EFW PR guy is doing cant we find some positive stuff to publish

With a smirk? The boy couldn't get off the TV fast enough. He hates the press, it's been pretty clear for a while now. And thats his normal face. Not a smirk!

WHY DO YOU THINK HE IS GONE! Giteau has left. Drew is not Giteau's siamese twin. Therefore, why do we suddenly ALL think Drew's going to vanish aswell? Giteau is not the force. Are we going to credit him with not only the western force's suceses over the last 2 year, for which I agree he deserves a part of, but with the entire brains and hearts of our team? We don't own a bunch of Giteau-clones! JEEEEZZ.

Sorry I took that out on you BDavey, I know probably most of that is irrelevant to your post, I just really needed to get it out of my system. Guys, our players do read this site. We are supposed to be the diehard fans who will support each of our players always. I've probably done this in the wrong thread and who knows what else, but come on. Our team isn't about to fall apart because we have lost one player!

JOC was a little bit more odd, I admit. He did give some stuff away with his admiring another super14 team, but quickly redeemed himself.

Also, both these boys are going to push the force for every penny they can. Why not hype the media up? Maybe the board think 'Jeez these guys aren't convinced, lets offer them more $$ and see if they want to stay'?

Cross to the Brumbies won't work too well I don't think, AAC will be at 13 with Giteau and their current flyhalf who's name escapes me will be in 10 and 12. Haven't watched AAC at 13, but it seems he's doing alright there.

The force are here to stay. There will be at least one bum on my seat at subi for as long as this team hangs around.

[pieter blackie]

There will be at least one bum on my seat at subi for as long as this team hangs around.

LOL If you can convince your dad to take you to all of them



only joking

[robyn <3]

LOL If you can convince your dad to take you to all of them



only joking

At the rate I'm going its no joke!

[Bondiflyer]

The article written by Wayne Smith is unfortunately wrong in many cases and is another attempt at defending Peter O'Meara and Firepower. I'm not sure why he keeps doing this and continues to blame the ARU and everyone else.

Smith neglected to add the following -

- I just read the Forces annual report (on their website). It was well promoted before that the Force had over $8m in the bank at the end of 2005 - before they'd even played a game!
They didnt need to break protocol rules and get in to bed with Firepower to recruit Mitchell and Giteau (in 2006) so why on earth did they do it?

- The Force boasted about a profit of around $2.5m in 2006. Again, why break rules, risk fines and create problems when the club is profitable and has lots of cash? Why did the former adminstration do this?

- The lack of funding to the Force and comparing this to the AFL is very misleading. The Dockers, Port and other teams all PAID MILLIONS of dollars to join the AFL. They all paid $4 - $5m 10 years ago to join. I dont believe the Force paid a cent.

Wayne, the Force havent been hard done by. As the SMH pointed out this morning, there's not much point in you trying to reinvent the past and pass the blame (of the current Force problems) to the ARU.

The Force had/have a great membership, lots of fans, were well set up and profitable with lots of cash - more profitable that the Reds, Waratahs and the Brumbies in 2006.

So, what really went wrong?

It all seemed to go wrong when the Force went on a spending spree and decided to align itself with Firepower in order to 'buy' a final and instant success.

Clearly the Force leaders of the time wanted instant success and would do it at any cost. Why? To promote themselves as heros?

Why didnt they build the team slowly and develop local talent? They had/ have a great coach, so why didnt they empower him to develop a team over 5-7 years. This could be done.

The Forces problems now are all linked to the dodgy third party deals done 2 years ago. Carlton did the same many years ago and it sunk that club for 5 years.

Perhaps some protocols should be in place to ensure the Force live the philosophy it was created for - to develop locally grown talent. Perhaps its is time for the ARU to tell them to do what they were created to do and let their coach do it!

[James]

You guys from Sydney don't get it do you? Noone was ready. It was going to take at least 5 years to develop the players and who was going to do it? Without topline players to learn from and idols of the game to look up to there wouldn't be a local talent base. Young guys around 13 when the Force started would see guys like Giteau or Nathan Sharpe or whoever and think wow that could be me one day. Without them there is just no pulling power. And face facts BF if you are making a profit you will want to continue to do so and the best way of doing that is a) a successful team and b) marquee players to bring in the crowds. This was done. It would have been wildly negligent not to.

You guys are foolish to believe the Force would've survived if it was slowly built over 7 years and spent those 7 years rooted at the bottom of the table.

[Bondiflyer]

James, you didnt read my article that well.

The Force signed enough stars in 2005 before the 2006 season.

But then went crazy in the middle of 2006 and signed Giteau and Mitchell. They didnt arrive until 2007. Remember?

So, my point is, the Force had signed stars (Sharpe, Pocock, Cannon, Fava etc) and seemed to do well in 2006. Whilst results were average the improvement was continual and looked good.

So, why change the formulae and cheat? Why? Firepower seems largely to blame really and thats not the Forces fault.

James, sport in Australia isnt big enought to buy short term success. Teams that do that invariably break rules, cause disharmony and end up worse than before.

[James]

I read it well enough.

14th place with 1-2-10 as you say aren't great results. But do you honestly believe they'd have broken out of the double digits without a few key signings? There was a cap that a few new stars helped us to break. We kept the bulk of our main squad. Giteau and Mitchell are two players not a whole new team.

How exactly do you propose they cheated?

BF you don't buy short term success. You buy success and hope it lasts a long time and unfortunately in this case it didn't. Peter O'Meara et al weren't thinking "We'll sign Giteau and have out short term success and then go back to mediocrity" they thought "Let's sign him, try and treat him good and he'll stay forever". Australian rugby was looking into a blackhole of quality, experienced playmakers for the 2007 season (see Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper) it would've been stupid not to have taken the opportunity to see through the bad patch.

You just seem bitter that when the Force came in they sapped the depth out of the Eastern states team and now in your opinion they've squandered it. You said we were enough without Giteau and Mitchell so suddenly you think we're nothing without them.

[Bondiflyer]

James, not at all.

My point was and is, that , I believe, the Force would have been successful in 2007 and 2008 without Giteau and Mitchell. They had a great squad then and still do.

No bitterness here, mate.

I'm actually defending Force fans. I think they may have been let down by certain people.

[James]

I'm actually defending Force fans. I think they may have been let down by certain people.

Fair enough.

But at the end of the day that's our business. When guys like you and Mudskipper rehash all the unfortunate past it seems more like gloating than defending. We don't generally like reading about it every day in the SMH/Rugbyheaven. You might call it burying out heads in the sand but if thats what it takes to drown out the likes of Growden then so be it. Some mistakes made. Those mistakes hopefully learned from. We don't like to rehash old issues like the Nucifora drama or NSW going bankrupt or the Eddie Jones fiasco because I doubt it helps anyone. This one just needs to get dead and buried.

[Bondiflyer]

James, youre right. I didnt mean to sound negative and the media do love to bash the bad news to death. Why? Because Australians seem to love negative drama. But thats another issue.

I really dont think the force need to worry about losing Giteau. It creates enormous opporunity for JOC.

I've said before that this kid could be a star. Its important he stays in Perth.

[hertryk]

Frankly I am sick of all the negativity...We more than deserve a team in the West, and if we lock in to those Plonkers in the media that are dragging us down, we will be lowering ourselves to the level.
They didn't want us to get the Franchise, they didn't want us to get Gitz...they have been doing nothing but fuel our possible demise since day one...
Come On everyone, lets keep our heads up, and support our boys...and have faith in the power at Force HQ to keep everything into perspective.....
The Players have to think of themselves, they are one game away of possible injury that could end their careers...but if the only reason they say they want to leave is because "I want to stay playing with Gitz, because we have become good friends.." what crap..perhaps only playing with Gitz makes their overall playing ability seem better...????

There are some older players out there close to retirement..can't hang onto them forever...and there are some great youngsters coming through too...

[waratahjesus]

well apparantly being part of the brumbies means more than the lifestyle and extra money on offer in perth! says alot about the "culture" of the force.

[AndyS]

So it would seem. Mind you, he will have been here for three of the four years the franchise has existed so perhaps he should be thinking less "their culture" and more "my legacy"...

[waratahjesus]

i think we as fans put to much on mat giteau, ive hear him speak, ive watched him play, maybe he just really isnt that bright and believes his own hype?

i think some others in this thread misunderstand what were saying about building a team. breaking the rules to tempt a player over to your club doesnt create loyalty. the short term success that is spoken of in this thread comes with the fact that you create a playing group that is there for themselves. they serve the dollar and not the club. if giteau was trully on 1.5 million a year, you have to ask yourself, did another club offer 1.49 million or did firepower and the force inflate his price on there own to lure him to the west?

cameron shepard is on a third party deal cameron wasnt first choice for nsw, isnt first choice for the wallabies and is recieving more money out west than he would command on the eastern seaboard were dare i say there is a much greater opportunity for players to kick on when there playing careers wind down. i dont mean that there isnt opportunities in perth, but rugby related opportunities such as coaching and media at a high level is limited there!

by building a young squad of up and comers, and remember you had sharpe to lead and most of your players had super experience, even if you only managed mid table (which is all you have managed) there would have been a greater sense of ownership and support behind the players as they would have been alot more loyal to the opportunity afforded to them than they were by someone offering thousands of dollars more than someone else!

(im ranting, this isnt meant to be negative, i apologise if it seems that way! i just think you should rebuild from youth, 1.5 million buys alot of players, if you buy four good ones and one becomes great and sticks with the force through thick and thin, its better than buying one at 1.5 million in my opinion!)