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Western Force to add South African, Japanese and New Zealand opposition to expanded fixture list
Nick Taylor in The West
Western Force are planning six international clashes at HBF Park to extend next season beyond their Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
They are in talks with New Zealand NPC side Hawkes Bay for one game with three against South Africa’s Cheetahs.
They expect to face at least one Japanese club, most likely the Robbie Deans coached Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic), and the final game could feature Irish heavyweight Leinster but is more likely to be another Japanese side.
The games are planned for August and September.
The Force already have two games with newly rebranded Urayasu D-Rocks (previously the Shining Knights) in November.
Force chief executive Tony Lewis said it was crucial for players to get more game time to aid their development.
“We believe that a young player should have 60 matches under his belt before playing a Test.
“In a perfect world Rugby Australia and the Super clubs would love to have a second tier competition.
“It’s something we’re all working on.”
The plan for extra games comes after the release of the Super draw that includes six Force home games, despite delays to the $35 million redevelopment of HBF Park for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and four games in New Zealand.
RA chief executive Andy Marinos, who was CEO of SANZAR when the Force were cut five years ago, said he expects improvement from the side that narrowly missed out on the finals last season.
“From a Western Force perspective, new coach, new coaching team in place, a couple of good pre-season signings,” Marinos said.
“From a RA perspective we are looking to see the Force’s performances pick up from where they left off last year and have a really good outing.”
Marinos said Optus Stadium was on the radar for future Super Round’s - where all sides play over one weekend - with Melbourne’s two-year deal ending next season.
He also confirmed Optus would likely host a British and Irish Lions Test in 2025 and World Cup finals two years later.
“We want to go the length and breadth of the country,” Marinos said.
“They (Optus) offer something unique out west for us.
“They are certainly a very strong and viable option.
“They put forward a really strong proposal.
“From an RA perspective taking Test matches to Perth in three of the last four years has been a pretty strong signal that it’s a good rugby market and a fantastic stadium.
“In terms of where finals will be played, that’s still a work in progress.”
Three WA players, Caleb Karangaroa from Wanneroo, Ryan McGloin of Joondalup and Kalamunda’s Dane Sawers, have been named in the Australian Schools/under-18 squad.
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
6 Extra games at HBF Park.
Sounds terrible for the members of the Western Force
Bastards!
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
It’s go into be tough on us Force fans having to deal with all this extra live rugby, it will be draining but like Gigs I think I can take one for team![]()
In all seriousness, interesting to see they will host them at HBF not UWA, considering they only got about 4000 for the BOP friendly last year and the cost to rent HBF is quite high, not that I’m complaining about watching at HBF, thinking purely just in financial terms
Well, as opposed to when we had 12 games in previous years! (8 Super Rugby and 4 NRC games, more if we made the finals)
I'm very happy to have more games to watch, but was pointing out that the Super Rugby schedule for next year has 3 'home' games for us to start the year when one of those games is in Melbourne and HBF is supposed to be unavailable for the other two (concert and Women's Soccer World Cup preparations). I'm not sure where we'll be playing for weeks 1 & 3.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
Despite the uncertainty of the ground this is both innovative and progressive …. Keep it up team !! I see the Force as a leader in future rugby plans ….. Perfect.
Tony Lewis has repeatedly said HBF will be ready for round one. I think the concert is about a week earlier
Listened to Tony Lewis on 6PR last night . Seems there may be a revival of GRR next year as a 2nd tier comp …… with a number of overseas and local teams interested. Brilliant work !!
This is the story (from May) I was going on: https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/we...ason-c-6736028
There is a Harry Styles concert on Monday 20th Feb, and there was originally going to be another concert on the 4th March (Melbourne's Super Round) with HBF stating that they were going to leave the stage up between the two concerts. Looking at the HBF Park website, the concert on the 4th March isn't being mentioned, so maybe it's been cancelled and the stage will be taken down in time for our 1st match on 25th Feb.
The Perth Now story also says that the work to make HBF ready for the Women's World Cup would take place after the two concerts and HBF wouldn't be available until late April (round 9). Great news if we can play at home in weeks 1 & 3.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
That would be about the best rugby news I've heard all year if true. Not my ideal third tier, but I'm thinking it may well be the only way Australia is likely to get one at all. Done well it could simultaneously solve the problems of creating an ongoing engagement with Japan, creating professional game time for developing players, and making that level financially sustainable (if not even potentially profitable, being an entirely separate product and market). In time it might improve to par with SR and make third tier an issue again, but that would be down the road and perhaps with a bit more money to play with.
Main thing would be to keep it in the hands of the teams and away from the national bodies. They'd only want to be in charge for its own sake, and soak it for as much money as possible while doing as little as they could. If it is to be a success, it needs to be run as a product in its own right by those with skin in the game. Make it successful, then require anyone additional to buy their way in.
From The West
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Fri, 3 June 2022 4:09PM
Perth Glory are planning to build a temporary stadium, compete with The Shed, at HBF Arena for a handful of games during their lock-out of HBF Park.
And Western Force no longer need a new ground, able to play all but one of their scheduled home fixtures at HBF Park.
Both clubs were going to be locked out of HBF Park for months with the stadium undergoing a $35 million upgrade for the Women’s World Cup next July and with two concerts scheduled for early next year.
An initial plan to build a $3.6 million temporary stadium at Leederville Oval has been scrapped with Glory looking north to Joondalup for a handful of early season games.
Glory chief executive Tony Pignata said planning was at any early stage but they were hopeful it would be ready for the start of the new season in October.
“We are looking at putting a rectangular configuration into the arena,” Pignata said.
“There will be The Shed behind one goal and another stand on one side.
“We are looking to play a handful of games at the stadium early in the season.
“We think it is a good option and it opens up a new market for us.
“There is a bit of work to be done, we have to check on the lighting and few other things, and we ask people to be patient.”
The club is negotiating a deal with Venueswest as compensation for losing HBF Park.
English singer Harry Styles plays at HBF Park on February 20 but another show pencilled in for the first weekend in March has been scrapped allowing the Force to get onto the ground.
Force chief executive Tony Lewis, who proposed the Leederville option, said: “That idea is dead but we’re in a pretty good space.
“We challenged Venueswest on the second concert and that date has been freed up.
“At the moment it looks like we can get six games in, we want seven, but we can definitely get six.
“At this stage we have games one and three at home, we’ll have a bit of a New Zealand trip, a bye and then we go home and away for the rest of the season .
“It’s a great outcome for us.”[/B]
I wonder which game "all but one" would have meant? They may want seven, but the Force only has six home games anyway because they had to ship one to Melbourne. So are they still missing one of those due to externals?