Giteau quits Force, rejoins Brumbies By Nick Taylor February 21, 2009 Australia fly half Matt Giteau has announced he will quit Western Force at the end of the current Super 14 season to rejoin the Brumbies. Efforts by the Force, club sponsors and supporters to keep the 26-year-old playmaker in Perth have failed, and he confirmed he will be returning to the Brumbies. The move has been one of rugby's worst kept secrets - and the offer to return home was obviously too good to refuse. In an ironic sense of timing, Giteau's announcement comes just a week before the Force take on the Brumbies in Canberra. His departure will leave a massive hole in Force ranks and will have the club on a desperate hunt for a new five-eighth. One option would be to rapidly accelerate teenager James O'Connor into the main pivot role. His contract expires this year but he has an option of an extension. Other players who are negotiating their contracts beyond 2009 may now be considering their future at the club and possible new signings may also be having second thoughts. Giteau moved to Perth on a three-year contract said to be worth about $4.5 million in salary and sponsorship. But his major third-party sponsor, controversial fuel-tech company Firepower, collapsed just one year into the deal leaving him more than $1 million out of pocket. A syndicate led by another major Force sponsor, ET Mining's Ross Graham, put together a $1.6 milion offer, but such a delawould mean Giteau signing for the Force until 2011. The two-year extension was a major stumbling block and Giteau refused the offer late last year. A group of Canberra-based businessman, who are said to have had talks with Giteau's new manager, James Erskine, are believed to have put up a big third-party deal that will take Giteau back to his home city.
