Super 14 Rugby 2010

I'm led to believe that several players at the Force are on contracts allowing them to negotiate with 'any other Australian franchise' for 2011. The Wozzies may be in deep shtook.

Should be interesting with the new franchise next year, Mick.

Was always going to be in some way/s taips.
They have a couple of real advantages over the wozzies; they are freer to recruit non Aussies, the $A is as strong as it's been in decades.

And they're not light years removed from the rest of the country.

The Force only have about 3 or 4 players worth keeping

OConnor , Pocock Brown and Hodson.

The rest are very replaceable

embee wrote:The Force only have about 3 or 4 players worth keeping

OConnor , Pocock Brown and Hodson.

The rest are very replaceable

Agreed, however McKenzie seems to have found a way of building something with 26 Nevilles & 4 names. The Crusaders do the same thing. Over to you Mitch.

Mick Sawyer wrote:McKenzie seems to have found a way of building something with 26 Nevilles & 4 names.

McQueen did the same thing with the Brumbies.

Be afraid of the Rebels next year.

McQueen did the same thing with the Brumbies.

Yep. He is a fantastic appointment.

Mick Sawyer wrote:

embee wrote:The Force only have about 3 or 4 players worth keeping

OConnor , Pocock Brown and Hodson.

The rest are very replaceable

Agreed, however McKenzie seems to have found a way of building something with 26 Nevilles & 4 names. The Crusaders do the same thing. Over to you Mitch.

It's been nice Mick but Sith Africa beckons.

It's been nice Mick but Sith Africa beckons.

What have I missed?

The Aussie teams, and in particular the Waratahs, will fade in the second half of the season like they always do.

Henry wrote:The Aussie teams, and in particular the Waratahs, will fade in the second half of the season like they always do.

That would be the Waratahs that played in the final in 2008 Trev?

Mick Sawyer wrote:

It's been nice Mick but Sith Africa beckons.

What have I missed?

Mitchell's time in the sun over long ago TIM CLARKE
March 24, 2010 - 7:24PM


John Mitchell's departure will be the longest farewell tour since Frank Sinatra - but Tim Clarke has suspicion it will not last until 2011.

It will be the longest farewell tour since Frank Sinatra, or Elvis, or John Farnham.

But that is what John Mitchell and the Western Force have apparently agreed to, with the announcement the former All Black coach will leave the club at the end of his current contract.

That deal, brokered before the team launched a mutiny in the build up to last season, runs out in 2011.

So that gives the team the rest of this year, and the whole of next year's Super Rugby season, to impress a bloke who is not going to be there.

A strange situation indeed.

Mitchell's time in Perth should be remembered fondly for the immediate boost he gave WA rugby and the Force by choosing to take on a new franchise.

Anyone who has coached the All Blacks, particularly with significant success, is a big rugby name. And for him to come to Perth without an established culture, or any players, was a brave and forward thinking move.

He arrived in WA with a reputation of being single-minded, at times ruthless, and not universally well liked in his home country.

Given the fervour New Zealand rugby operates under, it is understandable how he might have rubbed some people up the wrong way.

But as Mitchell's tenure has gone on, his communication with fellow coaches, fans, WA rugby staff and the media has deteriorated, and those following rugby closely in WA saw some of the traits so disliked across the Tasman.

That reached its nadir in the build up to last season, when the relationship between players and coach got so bad Mitchell was told to take some gardening leave and let his offsiders do the hard yards before Christmas.

Thirteen games later Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell were gone.

The communication issue was evident again today, when the announcement that the only coach the Force has ever had was leaving came not from the club, but from Mitchell's manager John Fordham – and the club had no-one immediately available to comment.

Where Mitchell will go next will not be the greatest concern of the Force support, although a role in South Africa would look the likeliest.

Where the Force go in the meantime, with a coach leaving and a team in transition, is anyone's guess.

But the best move might be to suggest to Mitchell his departure happens a lot sooner than the end of next season, so both parties can plan for the future rather than draw out the finish.


Source: watoday.com.au

Mick Sawyer wrote:

Henry wrote:The Aussie teams, and in particular the Waratahs, will fade in the second half of the season like they always do.

That would be the Waratahs that played in the final in 2008 Trev?

Facts. Story. Australian item. No connection in Trevland.

Facts. Story. Australian item. No connection in Trevland.

snigger.

You know, I could find some respect for him if he was actaully any good at playing the jism rag, windup artist.

It's been nice Mick but Sith Africa beckons.

Where Mitchell will go next will not be the greatest concern of the Force support, although a role in South Africa would look the likeliest.

Thanks lads.