dark days for perth

[reality]

Have you indeed looked to see how well our academy is progressing now they have a home Super 14 team to play for if they make the grade? I can assure you that from juniors through to club grades rugby in WA has seen a dramatic increase in participation and results.

Gits doesn't own an apartment in Canberra it was/is being "supplied" by the Brumbies or perhaps a third party sponsor to lure him back home.

gits owns both his perents house and a city apartment that he lets, it was well documented before he moved back in a couple of articles i read. im sure if he is a wise investor he probably has dabbled a bit in the real estate market, may have even more if he actually got payed.

your not actually reading my point at all are you?
look at every other australian team, tehy have large academies and catchment areas and they still attract talent and players from other states as well. i just fear in the short term and maybe even long term, players will be more inclined to go to melbourne for some reasons mentioned above, fact is, there going to get a high profile coach as well, there going to attract a few big name players and there going to have alot of money thrown at them in there first few years to be competitive.

players coming to perth for opportunity now find themselves with a choice, if you grow up in qld or nsw usually you try out for one of those teams while your in school, to recruit players of caliber the force are going to have to (as well as everyone else) start getting them when there 15 or maybe even younger and its going to be tough to make the right decisions, its a change in approach that is needed and something i wanted to discuss, not something i wanted to be called a 'troll' over or be personally attacked for by people who think cos they post on a freaking website they know how operations run in the force itself, if you dont have an actual opinion i guess you could just not post in the thread, i though this place was meant to be for discussion, maybe a few of you could read the rules of trolling and see if anything on there doesnt apply to yourselves!

[Darren]

hi everyone, long time reader first time poster.

you seem to be quite defensive for an ex-pat perthie wetern force supporter, you should probably move on from a single person calling you a troll, but it takes all sorts...

see, back in the day when perth won the right for the 14th team, it was on the back of people power and the fact the timezone fit in well for broadcasting games.

melbourne however is a corporate decision and while good for the bank account has left a sour taste in my mouth.

Why? It was the best option for an additional Australian team - it would have been ridiculous to double up in NSW or QLD, even if they may have the player stocks

i think that alot of players from perth may head south for it, perth have been able to get players to sign on the back of being able to get opportunity, however if the same opportunity exsisted only an hours flight from home, would it not look better than the time between perth and syd/bris?

Nah - they'll head down from QLD or NSW. As fo distance, Perth is only an extra couple hours than Brisbane - less if you count the much shorter airport trips, and the cost of a couple hundred extra $ is small change

i hope this dicision doesnt leave perth as the laughing stock of the league as it has been the past few seasons with all the money they throw at players and being unable to achieve anything.

The Waratahs have that mantle

i also hope that everyone has an awesome year and that the government fix the craphole of a stadium the force are moving to.

But it's our crap hole! Work is coming along, I drive past regularly

it would also be nice if we could sign some players with actual spirit and desire to play for our club

Plenty of those here!

other than having to rely on third party payments to keep even the average footballers in perth.

They all went to NSW and ACT

that and that the perth supporter base continues to grow and flurish and remain independent from organisations that currupt!

[normie]

I see where you're coming from Reality, (and I don't think it's Frankston). But being a few hours from home isn't everything. In fact there are people all over the world who move somewhere far away from their birthplace and happily call the new place home.

There are people who embrace a change of scenary or love a particular lifestyle or climate or whatever and don't wake up in the middle of the night missing their 'home' town. So don't get too worked up over the issue of players missing family and friends etc. It happens, but it's not major catastrophe.


When it comes to professional rugby, it has been said there are some issues with the standard of the local comp not being up to say Shute shield standard, but the time will come when Perth's local comp will be: (a) the only place for the EWF squad members to play if not playing s15 and (b) be the primary source of s15 players for WA and ultimately, Wallabies. As it is there is 'local talent' in the squad now.

The local comp is developing with a lot more media exposure now than before EWF started. Furthermore, with the s15 longer season it would be sensible for Force squad players not picked in the team to play with their 'local team' during the season. This surely must have a positive effect on the comp. (as opposed to controversial finals selections)

I think the higher profile of rugby in Perth generally and the increased opportunity to play professionally at a high level will attract greater interest from potential players and ultimately attract players to the game; Especially from youngsters whose parents migrated to WA from 'rugby nations'.

The advent of a new team may initially mean a percieved reduced 'pool of talent' Oz wide and some players leaving clubs to seek greener pastures, but ultimately I think the Vics having a team is far from rugby armageddon in this state.

There you go- glass half full or glass half empty? Doesn't matter - it's time to find whose shout it is.

[AndyS]

I'm curious Reality - as a Perth expat, should your employer be worried that you'll be leaving at the first opportunity?

[hertryk]

I spoke to O'Connors parents a long time before he signed, and was advised that he wanted to stay in Perth and be continually coached by Mitchell..and the reason he didn't sign earlier was the ARU was holding negotiations up for whatever reason..!!!!

[travelling_gerry]

sniff sniff....I smell powder puff blue.

[The Lone Hydrangea]

What Gerry said!

[James]

The Western Force have great culture and the crown jewel is their ability to identify and recruit talent. We've continually taken young players who we know are ready that other teams aren't interested in and turned them into Wallabies. Noone else would've banked on James O'Connor or David Pocock at such a young age and they are both now Wallabies and those other juniors we talk to will know we aren't going to piss them about and that if they work hard they'll make it too. The Force signed Luke Jones this year at 17 because they identified that Australia has little depth at lock and particularly with the hard-nosed bruisers (from all accounts like Jones). A fifty says he's a Wallaby by 20.

Let Melbourne bring it on. They might take a handful of players, they might even take a couple of stars but the Force will easily survive on their ever improving academy and their great ability to try new things and look outside the box.