Western Force 2013

Some sports administrators offer top players some decision making power/s or say, instead of more coin. Player power was invented by managers and coaches not players. However Brumbies did win a super rugby championship during one of these called player power years…

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/basketball/14286698/force-shake-up-well-overdue/

Hmmm, I didn't really expect him to be adding fuel to the fire but this interview concerns me that he doesn't truly understand how poorly things are currently going for the Force.

I'd also say that a guy (shall we use Larkham as an example) doesn't instantly become a talented coach the day he leaves the game. He probably knows a thing or two about coaching as a senior player as well.

Plenty of players know plenty about rugby, you don't have to retire to understand what decisions need to be made.

As another point, why would a board fire themselves?

Sure, from a cynical standpoint they don't want to lose their jobs but from a fairer point of view they are successful people who have climbed the corporate ladder and probably honestly believe they have the talent to turn the place around.

For the same reason unions don't run companies and militaries have soldiers and officers..

For all intensive purposes the players may have the best intentions at heart, but is the player group really going to make the difficult calls like giving Mowen the captaincy over Moore, or sacking a senior player who is under performing?

I respect your opinion and there's not like there isn't any truth to it but I think it could be argued that go in the player power box (i.e. who is best to lead us this year, are we overtraining) and things that don't (i.e. squad recruitments).

EDIT: Yes I said are we overtraining, that bs about the Tahs under performing because they managed key players' workloads in the preseason is rubbish. There's a reason Weepu peaks in midseason (match fitness) and the Tahs only went backwards from that point.

The reason Weepu peaks mid season, is because that's how long it takes them to get the fat prick fit.
It is a disgrace that they allow a professional footballer be so overweight and unfit at the commencement of the season.
There is a reason why he was moved on last year.

That was the point I was making. Late in the season some (mostly in the media) were blaming the Tah's woes on a light preseason.

Indeed LB41, player power brings grief for everyone except the players, talented teams languishing middle of the ladder because underperforming "stars" will never bench themselves, and the coach is too scared to make hard decisions and get the sack.

The Brums were diabolical in 2011 in that respect.

If Pocock leaves the Force, it may in fact turn out for the Force the same way that it did for the Reds when Berrick Barnes left - a blessing in disguise, provided the Force's CEO moves on as well.

Funny that two brumbies players accused of said violations of player power are now assistant coaches, weird dynamic.

The elimination of Nucifora in 2004 was a disgrace.

PS: anyway, back to the Force

It is funny I have spoken to a couple of past players now in rugby administration positions as well as some administrators that were around back when these past players were still playing.

It seems that a leopard can change their spots or is it more that the leopard changes into a tiger!

Yrrr & both chaps are massive under achievers. As for Nucifora he wasnt sacked, the Brumbies board just didn't renew his contract, he had management issues. the Brumbies chose to move on to a new coach, they also said so during the season well prior to the team winning the championship that year which made Ncifora look hard done by, but the reality was he contract time was up. Laurie Fisher who has returned successfully as Forwards coach from munster became the next Brumbies head coach after David Nucifora.

Never said he was.
To say that the board was responsible for not renewing his contracts trivialises the reality that player power precipitated the demise of Nucifora.
And player power ensured that the Brumbies recruited average Head Coaches (noting that Fisher is a very good fwd coach) and remained in a black hole for the next seven years.

Black hole? for many years the Brumbies did just as well as they did this year finishing between 5 -7th on the table. For the record the players dont write contracts the executive/board does, Nucifora lost support on many levels. Players dont have to support a coach that they have lost faith in.. Laurie Fisher is a well liked and good local coach. He's doing a great job with the lads in 2012.

As for the Black hole that was created by the Force.

"Yet at the end of the day Pocock is a professional rugby player and joining the Brumbies in Canberra is starting to look like his smartest career move."

Jezz the guy has been at the Force since 2005! He's given the force plenty, I think he is due for a change. Moving to the Brumbies will help prolong his career.He'll be a good fit there. Furthermore If he is to become the long term Wallabies captain he'll need to be in a sucessful team located closer to the ARU HQ for media work.

I would think it ironic if the Force lose Pocock. Not because of anything to do with either the Brumbies or the Force mind you.

The ARU have been insistent on bringing in a salary cap to ensure the even spread of talent across the 5 teams in Australia and it is not working.

One could argue that the Reds have the lions share although the Tahs would equally have a similar argument based on their representation for the Wallabies.

It seems the current "Employers of Choice" in Australian rugby are the Reds and the Brumbies. People want to go (or stay) there as it is believed they have the best program and will sacrifice money in order to win. Similarly in SA players migrate to Bulls and Stormers and to a lesser extent the Sharks. In NZ it is the Crusaders and swaps around between the Chiefs, Hurricanes and Blues (although the later is on the nose at the moment).

The Force CEO saying that they dont need to make radical changes in akin to the captain of the Titanic believing that the ship isnt sinking. With the tyranny of distance a major factor the Force have to get their program to world-class level and soon. Otherwise the Southern Kings will be the 15th Super Rugby team. Dont think for a second that NZ and SA wont gang up on this because both (NZ in particular) need to protect their revenues and the recent Cru v Force game was terrible in terms of crowd attendance.

Come on ARU/WARU get your heads together and fix this so that we can have 5 competitive teams in 2013. Think more broadly than $$$$s and get the right backroom staff to drive a truly high performance program resulting in a competitive Force team.

The thing that really screws us is the lack of a local academy (thanks ARU) or a third tier competition (thanks ARU) or more funding for our local competition (thanks ARU). Anything that helps to develop local players. Anything that undermines WA's ability to produce players undermines the viability of a franchise in Perth.

It makes a lot of sense to have a team here. Junior numbers have consistently increased since the Force's inception (apparently up 10% on last year). There is no current competition from Rugby League. The broadcasters want a team in Perth. I hope that the more dire things get for the Force the more our insular supporters will latch on Connacht style.

Peter de Villiers is the answer at the Force.