Force 2018

[chibimatty]

I have to admit, I can't believe the amount of advertising everywhere. I've never seen so much of it, even in the suburbs with those buses everywhere; it's like we've just joined a competition, rather than being cut from one

 

[ForceFan]

it's like we've just joined a competition, rather than being cut from one

Isn't that exactly what has happened? There's no way now of going back to what was.......

RA were happy to cut the Western Force from Super Rugby with no plan on how to maintain a development pathway for rugby players in WA. RA were obviously of the view that the Perth Spirit could be a feeder team for professional rugby on the East Coast of Australia.

WSR IS a new competition that we HAVE just joined. But only on an interim basis as WSR further develops in 2019.

It IS a new player group and new coaches and support staff as RA was only too happy to destroy a set-up which was only just starting to reach it's potential.

I think the advertising is fantastic, as most non-rugby people are still of the view that the Western Force had been shut down - never to be seen again.

WE'RE BACK in a new competition.

Thanks Minderoo for the horsepower (aka $$s) and everybody who has worked so hard to make this season happen.

GO YOU (NEW) WESTERN FORCE!!!!!

 

[ForceFan]

For those who may be interested, this is the current squad for the NEW Western Force
(with more to come).

Shaping up as a very good mix of experience and up-and-comers. Av age 27yo.

First game against Fiji on 4 May......

Aj Alatimu *
Alifeliti Kaitu'u
Andrew Deegan
Brad Lacey *
Brynard Stander #
Cameron Orr
Chris Alcock +
Chris Heiberg +
Clay Uyen *
Elliot Turner
Fergus Lee-Warner
George Pisi
Harrison Lloyd
Harrison Orr
Harry Scoble#
Heath Tessman#
Henry Stowers
Henry Taefu
Ian Prior (Capt) #
Jacques Fourie
Johan Bardoul
Josh Furno
Kieran Longbottom +
Leon Power
Marcel Brache #
Masivesi Dakuwaqa
Peter Grant #
Rod Davies
Rodney Iona
Ryan Louwrens #
Tevin Ferris *
Tom Sheminant *

17 'new' recruits
7 from Western Force 2017 #
5 from Future Force/Perth Spirit *
3 returns (previous Western Force) +

12 additional players in Future Force program.

Fantastic job of building a new player group by Matt Hodgson as first offer made on 12 January 2018.


PS No cost burden on Rugby Australia. Fully funded by Minderoo.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Programmed becomes the first business to back WA

April 24, 2018
Programmed – a company with strong West Australian roots and a global reach – has become the Western Force’s first major partner for 2018.



With the West Australian rugby union team poised to take on the world in the revolutionary new World Series Rugby competition, Programmed and the Western Force are natural partners.


A leading provider of staffing and maintenance services with more than 20,000 employees across Australia and New Zealand, Programmed will display its logo proudly on both sleeves of the men’s and women’s playing jumpers.


The World Series Rugby tournament will be fast moving, free scoring and full-on and, in its first year, will see the Western Force return to the field in seven home matches.


World Series Rugby creator Andrew Forrest AO said he was thrilled to welcome Programmed as a partner because it understands the concept is about more than sport.


“If you back Western Australia, you back the Western Force,” Mr Forrest said.


“Programmed is the first company to back this team and our state in this way and I thank the whole Programmed family for investing in Western Australia with this impressive show of leadership.”
A strong advocate for gender equality and opportunity, Programmed will also have its logo displayed prominently on the back of the women’s jumper.


Programmed managing director Chris Sutherland said, “At the heart of Programmed is our purpose to build outstanding people, strong customers and great communities.


“Western Force is a great example of the power and influence a club can have on shaping the character of young men and women in our communities.


“Programmed is proud to stand with Western Force to ensure the great work of the past is not lost; that young boys and girls across WA can develop into great men and women through participation in rugby; and that the pathway from junior rugby to the highest level for men and women in WA is there for all to see.”


The partnership was announced by Mr Sutherland and Western Force CEO Nick Marvin at the home of the team, nib Stadium in Perth, where Force players, media and community members kicked goals for grassroots rugby, with every goal kicked representing a $1000 contribution from Programmed and the Force. The combined athletic abilities of everyone involved resulted in a total of $34,000 being raised.

https://www.westernforce.com.au/emb...rammed-becomes-the-first-business-to-back-wa/

34k raised for grassroots in WA in one morning almost a quarter of what RA give WA to run all comps per year.......

 

[ForceFan]

First sponsor for the new Western Force.
Programmed was a front-of-jersey sponsor in 2017.
$34k raised - Fantastic support for community rugby.
Great first shot on goal by new Captain Ian Prior.
https://www.facebook.com/westernforce/videos/1726701314035277/

 

[Rugbynutter39]

First sponsor for the new Western Force.

Programmed was a front-of-jersey sponsor in 2017.

$34k raised - Fantastic support for community rugby.

Great first shot on goal by new Captain Ian Prior.

https://www.facebook.com/westernforce/videos/1726701314035277/

Still no broadbcast of first game against Fiji arranged - big missed opportunity to not at least have something interim in place to market and gain broader exposure for WSR

 

[ForceFan]

Still no broadbcast of first game against Fiji arranged - big missed opportunity to not at least have something interim in place to market and gain broader exposure for WSR

"Have patience grasshopper" - the opportunity will not be lost........

 

[ForceFan]

Good article on TPN and the axing of the Western Force.
He had a big impact in just one season - a season which revitalised his game.

For the majority of guys in Australia this is not just the job but their livelihoods. Families are affected. Fortunately I don’t have a direct family structure, but there guys with young families were just distraught.
That’s my teammate who you are affecting and here you are wanting to put them in such a terrible state that they do not have a future. So it was a point of principle to the fact you need to show me that you care about these guys; if not then I may as well as pursue other alternatives.

Time has not soothed the hurt. Despite being in Perth for just 12 months, Polota-Nau talks passionately about the potential of the community programmes along the west coast of Australia.


The sense of injustice after the Force finished as second among the Australian franchises in Super Rugby last year was combined with the overwhelming shock when the news was delivered just days before a Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand.

It was devastating,” Polota-Nau said. “I am not going to lie. Emotionally, it overwhelms you because you have your teammates there as well. Guys who have planned their stages of moving on that’s fine, but I was definitely concerned for the guys who didn’t get an opportunity. Seeing the hurt in their faces is not ideal.
Personally I needed to keep my focus at hand and prepare for the Bledisloe, but my concentration kept falling out because my mind was with the people in Western Australia."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-u...nau-settling-leicester-force-heartbreak-guys/

 

[ForceFan]

Thanks for the ongoing coverage Wayne Smith......

An extract from The Australian 27/04/2018 written by Wayne Smith.

Meanwhile, a club that knows all about being shut down, the Western Force, are continuing their fightback with the inaugural match of World Series Rugby to be played against Fiji at Perth’s nib Stadium next Friday. And while details are being kept a closely guarded secret, it can be revealed that the Force will announce the signing of an All Black in June.

Already the club has announced the signing of 37-cap Italian Test lock Joshua Furno. Born in Melbourne, Furno played for the Azzurri from 2012 to last year, variously representing Narbonne, Biarritz and the Newcastle Falcons, before moving to New Zealand to play for Otago in the ITM Cup.

Force coach Tim Sampson has had to fast-track his preparations and deliberately limit his game plan for the opening WSR matches against Fiji and Tonga but all indications are he will be able to fashion a highly respectable team from players left over from the Force — Peter Grant, Ian Prior, Heath Tessman, Ryan Louwrens, Marcel Brache — coupled with exciting recruits like Springbok World Cup winner Jaque Fourie, Furno, former Wallabies winger Rod Davies and prop Kieran Longbottom.

With the Wallabies permitted to draw players from the Force, Longbottom — due in Perth on the weekend after playing with Saracens in the Aviva Premiership — is precisely the player who could figure in the reckoning for Test selection this winter.

“And then we have some exciting young recruits like Fergus Lee-Warner, a lock or blindside flanker, who has really impressed since joining us from Eastern Suburbs,” Sampson said. He was unsure how strong a Fijian side his team would face next Friday

 

[Killer]

Jaque Fourie

https://www.facebook.com/westernforce/videos/1728467507191991/

 

[charlesalan]

"Have patience grasshopper" - the opportunity will not be lost....

ok in case I have missed it, not being able to go to the game, how can I get to watch it?

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Meanwhile, a club that knows all about being shut down, the Western Force, are continuing their fightback with the inaugural match of World Series Rugby to be played against Fiji at Perth’s nib Stadium next Friday. And while details are being kept a closely guarded secret, it can be revealed that the Force will announce the signing of an All Black in June.

I wonder who this could be?

 

[ForceFan]

20,000 fans Western Force’s goal for comeback
Nick Taylor - The West Australian - Saturday, 28 April 2018

Matt Hodgson was puzzled.
Every email he was getting from mining magnate Andrew Forrest ended with “MIH”.
It was the end of January. Hodgson and a small team had the green light from Forrest to re-activate the Western Force. Forrest was determined the club would not be wiped from the map.

“I was trying to work it out. Eventually I had to give in and ask what it meant,” Hodgson said.
“Andrew sent back a brief message: ‘Make It Happen. Get the Western Force going. We need a side.’”

The three letters still appear on Forrest’s emails and are written on a whiteboard close to Hodgson’s desk where he is now the Force’s head of elite performance.
“We thought at the time, ‘can this possibly be done?’ We had no team, no players, no establishment,” he said.
Hodgson led the recruitment for the new side and in just over three months they have made it happen.

On Friday night the Force mark II kick off World Series Rugby against Fiji at nib Stadium in the biggest shake-up in Australian rugby since the game turned professional 23 years ago.

It will be bittersweet for Hodgson, the club’s most influential player and foundation member, who has a record 140 caps to go with his 11 Wallabies appearances.

Hodgson felt betrayed, bitter and angry when the Force were booted out of Super Rugby.
“The emotion was raw. Initially that is what drove me. That is what woke me up in the morning to make a change,” Hodgson said.
“Everyone was angry, everyone had an opinion. Now we do our talking through our actions. Now, to see smiles on so many people’s faces is what motivates me, seeing people talking about the Force again. That’s my driving point. But we can only do what we can do. We have worked hard for this and we want to celebrate it with 20,000 people at nib Stadium. We asked people to stand with us, now we need them to come and watch us."

“We’re proud of our effort, to get players from around the world, to have opposition like Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Crusaders.”
Hodgson bristles at how some cynics have described the new Force as a team of unwanted or discarded players.
“They are not unwanted or rejects. Some of these players will play for their country,” Hodgson said. “They have jumped at the chance because of what we have created in the last 12 years. The Force players that stayed, stayed because they wanted to back what we are doing. All I can do now is reward them."

“Players have come from all over the world. I have every first-choice player I want. I spoke to every player, they all knew about the passion and pride we have in the blue jersey and the support we get from the Sea of Blue.”

https://thewest.com.au/sport/western-force/20000-fans-western-forces-goal-for-comeback-ng-b88819122z

 

[ForceFan]

Western Force site now includes full profiles on the playing squad.

https://www.westernforce.com.au/teams/

 

[southsider]

20,000 fans Western Force’s goal for comeback
Nick Taylor - The West Australian - Saturday, 28 April 2018




“They are not unwanted or rejects. Some of these players will play for their country,” Hodgson said. “They have jumped at the chance because of what we have created in the last 12 years. The Force players that stayed, stayed because they wanted to back what we are doing. All I can do now is reward them."

“Players have come from all over the world. I have every first-choice player I want. I spoke to every player, they all knew about the passion and pride we have in the blue jersey and the support we get from the Sea of Blue.”

https://thewest.com.au/sport/western-force/20000-fans-western-forces-goal-for-comeback-ng-b88819122z

I’m curious who from the group of announced players Hodgson thinks will represent their countries? Like maybe longbottom if we have major injury issues, maybe Brache for US if they’re having trouble getting players with eligibility at their clubs, possibly fourie if SA get really desperate. Even Samoa have better options than pisi nowadays.

Think he needs a bit of a reality check on the current makeup of the squad, it’s great that the force are back but at this current point in time I wouldn’t consider them any better than a Aussie super rugby sides B team

 

[Getwithme]

Think he needs a bit of a reality check on the current makeup of the squad, it’s great that the force are back but at this current point in time I wouldn’t consider them any better than a Aussie super rugby sides B team

Sounds like rubbish to me. All the Australian sides could lose to anyone and these guys would pump all Aussie Super Rugby 'B' teams. I'm not saying they are the best squad running around but definitely better than your post dictates.

 

[southsider]

Sounds like rubbish to me. All the Australian sides could lose to anyone and these guys would pump all Aussie Super Rugby 'B' teams. I'm not saying they are the best squad running around but definitely better than your post dictates.

Haha alright ease up turbo. Talk my through it, I’m seeing a lot of guys that couldn’t cut it at other super teams, a few that would be decent squad members at super rugby level, and a few has been internationals

 

[ForceFan]

Haha alright ease up turbo. Talk my through it, I’m seeing a lot of guys that couldn’t cut it at other super teams, a few that would be decent squad members at super rugby level, and a few has been internationals

Only time will tell how good the current Western Force squad is.

What we do know is:

1. The current squad is an interim squad that will grow as WSR grows.
2. Only 20% of the previous WF player group remained in WA after the axing of team which was finally starting to show its potential.
3. The player group would have been very different if Hodgson had started even a month earlier.
4. Nevertheless, Hodgson has done a fantastic job of creating a player group in such a short time. The first offers were made on 12 January 2018. At that time no fixture, no opposition, no coaches.
5. Will the WF in 2018 be world beaters? Let's wait and see - but rest assured they will be competitive.
6. Why did the players join? Because they had confidence in a player who couldn't get a game with the Tahs but perservered due to his love of rugby and who finally played 140 Super Rugby games and earned 11 Test caps. He's the same player who led the team which thrashed the Waratahs 11:40 Force in the final game before the axing of the franchise.
7. Hodgson like many others only had a chance to play Super Rugby because a 4th (and then a 5th) Australian Super Rugby franchise was formed. How many young players will be lost to the game as Rugby Australia follows the strategy of "shrink to greatness"?
8. The Western Force and RugbyWA finally worked to the point where locally grown talent could progress to the professional game without having to play their club rugby in Eastern Australia.
9. Rugby Fans in WA are rapt with the opportunity to have a season of International professional rugby in Perth as a precursor to the bigger WSR in 2019.
10. All of this has been achieved without a skerrick of assistance from Rugby Australia; but RA continues to erect many barriers and hurdles. It's pleasing that World Rugby is right behind the initiative including the provision of referees from the International panel.

You're entitled to your opinion southsider but perhaps you'd care to share with the rest of us your credentials which allow you to question the opinion of Hodgson when he talks about the potential of some of the WF players. I can tell you that Hodgson's opinion is shared by coaches Tim Sampson and Van Humphries.

Perhaps it's not Hodgson who is in need of a reality check..........

 

[Forcefield]

I’m curious who from the group of announced players Hodgson thinks will represent their countries? Like maybe longbottom if we have major injury issues, maybe Brache for US if they’re having trouble getting players with eligibility at their clubs, possibly fourie if SA get really desperate. Even Samoa have better options than pisi nowadays.

Think he needs a bit of a reality check on the current makeup of the squad, it’s great that the force are back but at this current point in time I wouldn’t consider them any better than a Aussie super rugby sides B team

Harry Scoble was the Aus U20 hooker in 2014. He is a future possible. Cameron Orr was a U20 loosehead with plenty of potential. Post RWc they'd both be possible.

After Genia, there are no reliable 9s in Aussie rugby. Ryan Louwrens was the form 9 at the start of last season (until injured). Cheika would be crazy not to be looking closely at him.

Have a feeling Tom Sherminant was an Aussie U20. Lacey was. Clay Uyen almost was.

Aussie rugby also very short of good flyhalves- how will Andrew Deegan go?

Apart from Louwrens, I doubt anyone is really on the radar, but there are a handful that could make it in the coming years.

 

[southsider]

Only time will tell how good the current Western Force squad is.

What we do know is:

1. The current squad is an interim squad that will grow as WSR grows.
2. Only 20% of the previous WF player group remained in WA after the axing of team which was finally starting to show its potential.
3. The player group would have been very different if Hodgson had started even a month earlier.
4. Nevertheless, Hodgson has done a fantastic job of creating a player group in such a short time. The first offers were made on 12 January 2018. At that time no fixture, no opposition, no coaches.
5. Will the WF in 2018 be world beaters? Let's wait and see - but rest assured they will be competitive.
6. Why did the players join? Because they had confidence in a player who couldn't get a game with the Tahs but perservered due to his love of rugby and who finally played 140 Super Rugby games and earned 11 Test caps. He's the same player who led the team which thrashed the Waratahs 11:40 Force in the final game before the axing of the franchise.
7. Hodgson like many others only had a chance to play Super Rugby because a 4th (and then a 5th) Australian Super Rugby franchise was formed. How many young players will be lost to the game as Rugby Australia follows the strategy of "shrink to greatness"?
8. The Western Force and RugbyWA finally worked to the point where locally grown talent could progress to the professional game without having to play their club rugby in Eastern Australia.
9. Rugby Fans in WA are rapt with the opportunity to have a season of International professional rugby in Perth as a precursor to the bigger WSR in 2019.
10. All of this has been achieved without a skerrick of assistance from Rugby Australia; but RA continues to erect many barriers and hurdles. It's pleasing that World Rugby is right behind the initiative including the provision of referees from the International panel.

You're entitled to your opinion southsider but perhaps you'd care to share with the rest of us your credentials which allow you to question the opinion of Hodgson when he talks about the potential of some of the WF players. I can tell you that Hodgson's opinion is shared by coaches Tim Sampson and Van Humphries.

Perhaps it's not Hodgson who is in need of a reality check....

You have a few decent points there, but nearly all of them are pretty irrelevant to my previous comment. At this current point in time, with the squad announced it follows what I said in my previous post there’s a lot of guys who wouldn’t make another super squad, a few who would be squad members and then a few has been internationals. Hodgson said there’s guys with potential, they’re professional footy players ofc they all have potential whether they’re going to be a future international is a whole different question

In saying that there’s NOTHING wrong with that, stop letting your emotions get in the way, the definition of triggered is literally your reaction to every single post with even a slight negative connotation against the force. It’s ok not every single person that isn’t a force supporter is against you, I like the force and while I see merits to their axing I would’ve preferred they stayed