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NICK TAYLOR, The West Australian
February 24, 2011, 7:01 am
The Western Force senior academy would be scrapped under a proposal by the Australian Rugby Union.
The plan has angered Force bosses, who say the loss of the program would cut the local pathway into the Force for aspiring young players.
The Force receive $200,000 from the ARU to help fund their academy but the governing body wants to move all Super Rugby club academies to three centres, in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Under the plan, from next year the ARU would use some of the $200,000 to pay five Force players based in Perth but it would reduce the 37-man squad by two.
Other players, not ready for Super Rugby, would have to train at the new Eastern States bases.
Force management will meet ARU high performance unit manager David Nucifora and national programs manager Anthony Eddy in Perth today.
They are keen to maintain funding for the academy and staff and keep the link between community and professional rugby.
Closing the senior academy, that sits below the main squad, would mean taking young players away from support programs put in place by the club and leave them without any exposure to training with Force players.
The Force have four players in their senior academy. Prop Cruze Ah-Nau and fly-half Kyle Godwin are local products while flanker Ted Postal and hooker Siliva Siliva moved from the Eastern States.
The club restructured its program last year and introduced three levels below the senior academy. There are 18 level-one players, either under 20 or older, who are all amateurs except for two, who will be fast-tracked into the Force squad.
There are 23 players aged 15-16 at level two and 16 in level one for 14-15 year-olds.
Players like Kieran Longbottom, Ryan Tyrrell and Justin Turner have come through the academy in recent years.
An ARU source said the Force were not being stripped of $200,000.
"They will have five players in Perth, they will also have the choice of players from a pool," he said.
"The plan is put a structure in place where players from WA will be looked after and developed."
Force chief executive Vern Reid did not want to comment until after the briefing from the ARU representatives.
·NSW coach Chris Hickey has named an unchanged team for Saturday night's clash with Queensland at ANZ Stadium.
Hickey has kept the same starting 15 and bench for the round-two match after thrashing the Melbourne Rebels 43-0 at AAMI Park.
It means Wallabies prop Benn Robinson must again bide his time as a replacement after Sekope Kepu made the most of his opportunity at loosehead.
Blockbusting No.8 Wycliff Palu is still injured, allowing Ben Mowen to continue his good form at the back of the scrum.
"We had a look at the individual performances, the overall team performance and the form of the players and we found no reason to make any changes," Hickey said.
·Tana Umaga's return to Super Rugby has lasted just one game, with Chiefs coach Ian Foster axing the 37-year-old ex-All Blacks skipper for tomorrow's clash with the Highlanders in Dunedin.
The Chiefs will field a significantly different starting 15, with Foster making eight changes to the side that lost 28-20 to the Brumbies in Canberra in round one.
Two other All Blacks, fly-half Stephen Donald and half-back Brendon Leonard, will begin in the reserves.
With AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...ademy-funding/
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Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
Originally Posted by TOCC
Could be a great filip for the Vic Ist Grade comp. 
Supporter" starring the #SeaOfBlue
