Pretty poor form on Sharpie. Maybe it is true what they said about Mtichell. What you see is not always etc etc

Former Western Force coach John Mitchell didn't miss any targets in his new book.
This is what he wrote about particular Force personnel.

Nathan Sharpe: "...was highly respected. He is a good man, but he did not always communicate the difficult decisions he and I had to make to the team. I believe team leaders should be an extension of the management group and should represent the management to the players.

"They may agree or disagree when you meet, but, when they leave the meeting, they must be in agreement and take the consensus to the team. Nathan was adept at raising player issues with me, but he was not so good the other way round and didn’t communicate what I needed to be passed on to the players.

"Nathan Sharpe, had gone missing during the whole (inquiry) furore. I had a coffee with him in an attempt to get some insight into what had gone wrong, but I don’t think he was completely honest with me about what was happening in the team, which would only allow the discontent to fester.

"I thought he would feel that he could speak freely to me. Obviously I was wrong."

David Pocock: "There was no doubt that Pocock was a freak. Of all the players I have been associated with for a significant period of time, David's professionalism stood out. Pocock was an exceptional leader."

"David missed nothing: he was on top of his nutrition, his hydration, his strength and conditioning, his recovery, and he also sacrificed alcohol whenever he felt it necessary. He also asked really good questions in his efforts to help develop his game. I've noticed in recent years that he has reverted to just carrying again, but I was working on his ability to pass before contact."

Drew Mitchell: "...had the potential to be a world-class player, although I reckon if you ask him now if he has been as good as he could have been, he would say 'no'. Drew needed a lot of encouragement. His parents had a military background and whenever I spoke forcefully, I got the impression he didn’t like it. And he didn’t have enough self-discipline to stay in shape consistently. When he was on form, he was really on form – but he was too inconsistent. If I'd had a better backline coach at the Force, I could have nurtured in Drew better decision-making and additional skills, such as his ability to work off the ball and kick in the line behind space. He didn't enjoy defending at the breakdown and I think he pretended a little bit in that area. He was there in body but not in mind. Intuitively, I felt as if Drew had no respect for authority, but I'm not sure if that was intentional or not."

Scott Staniforth: "...as an exceptional individual. He wasn’t hugely talented, but he knew how to prepare himself and became an outstanding Western Force team member. He mentored a lot of the players who were trying to find their feet, which was phenomenal."

Matt Giteau: "...eventually moved to France because he was losing his enjoyment. He loves being able to express himself. Matt is a very creative guy, but he is also professional, and if there was one player after training doing top-ups, it would be him. He worked hard on his speed and other aspects of his game, and he was good in the squad environment because he would draw other players into working with him.

"When there was fun to be had, Matt was right up there, and I liked him as a person. But it was interesting how his relationship with Robbie Deans fell apart at the Wallabies.

"Matt is an achiever and likes taking on responsibility. If you take that responsibility away, he can be a difficult character. But my relationship with Matt never broke down because he was always honest with me."

John Mulvihill: "He had ability but lacked experience, so I needed to develop him as a coach. Sometimes I was wrong in my character assessments, and maybe Mulvihill, who had his first professional opportunity under me, was one of those.

"The first time I met him, he gave me one on the jaw while we were in a taxi on the way home after a night out. He said he was just mucking around, but maybe I should have seen that as a warning sign.

"At one point (kicking coach) Daryl Halligan, told Mulvihill that what he had done the previous year had been inappropriate.

"'You are a low bloke,'" Daryl told him. He had obviously been planning for a while to have a crack at him, but had to make sure HR had his back covered before he could do it.

"You’ve got to be careful what you say in Australia. Halligan clearly felt the work environment had been undermined, and he was right."

Ben Darwin: "I had also misjudged Ben Darwin, the scrum coach. Ben was a former international, but he couldn't handle the pressure and suffered emotionally. I hadn't realised this until he told me one day that he was being put under too much pressure and was working too hard.

"He was a heck of a nice guy, but in my opinion he derived more satisfaction from public speaking than from coaching."

Geoff Stooke: "He had been chairman of the amateur WARU for 18 years. He was a lovely old guy, a real straight-up, genuine bloke, who was obviously also a good politician of the game because he had been in office for a long time. Geoff was also quite a controlling individual."

Peter O’Meara: "...our highly competent first CEO. Peter was good for the franchise. He had a way with young men."