Blues vs Force, Sun Mar 26th. Eden Park.

[Dismal Pillock]

Time for WA to secede from the union.

Or Federation.

Or Republic.

Or whatever you call it.

They've got the mining money, tell the rest of Australia to go fuck itself.

WA's new name writes itself: THUNDERDOME.

 

[Thalium]

Doesn't help when all the players we developed had to leave 4 years ago.

This is the main reason we have been importing talent. When Kicked out of Super Rugby all our player and coach left. Really the way to view the Force currently is as a new team started at covid. Import players are here to try get results now but our academy teams are starting to develop talent locally

 

[molman]

Why are you lot bemoaning the non-Wallabies eligible/Australian players in The Force?

The commercial reality is we need a strong competition, especially with South Africa moving to the URC. If The Force need to import some talent to shore up their squad I don't really see an issue, especially when most of the other viable Australian talent is earning a larger pay packet in the plethora of other overseas competitions in Japan, UK, France, Ireland, Scotland.... USA etc.

I mean, do you feel like there is a cast of other Australian players of similar caliber ready to step into those positions?

Raising the salary cap would really not help. The expansion with more Rugby teams has only served to spread the Australian talent over the years. Truthfully we could probably learn something from the Irish in how winning teams like Leinster provide a massive boon for the national team. The concentration of talent and cohesion created provides a lot of benefits. We don't need to keep spreading our players. In time The Force will provide a pathway for local talent, much like we are starting to see at the Rebels, but in the here and now, they just need to win some games.

 

[molman]

... also, really enjoyed the heart shown by The Force in defence and some little sparks here and there. A lot of players were working hard off the ball. Some green sproats of a positive culture forming for this team. Much improved over their effort against The Highlanders.

 

[farva]

This is the main reason we have been importing talent. When Kicked out of Super Rugby all our player and coach left. Really the way to view the Force currently is as a new team started at covid. Import players are here to try get results now but our academy teams are starting to develop talent locally

This is it and it grinds my gears when people criticise the Force at the moment. In 2017 a third of the squad were WA products and on top of that guys like Philip, Coleman and McCalman amongst others were developed from raw recruits to top line Wallaby’s.
When kicked out they all left not to return. It takes 5+ years to get players to that level. Starting afresh the Force either have to lure existing players over, for which they need to pay a premium for. Can’t do that much without a salary cap premium. So players like Rodda and Faainga are them.
otherwise you need to develop young guys from raw 18 year olds. Anstee, Pasitoa, Callan, etc are examples here. But to get them to the right level it takes years.
So then you need to build a competitive team so either go for guys who can’t get a game at other teams (Knuezle, Fines, McIntyre, etc fit here) or bring in internationals (English and kiwis) who are looking for a change, but typically won’t be test level players. When the Rebels joined they were given dispensation to bring in additional international as there was a cap at the time. I think the Force should be given salary cap relief for the next few years.

 

[Boof1050]

Maybe RA are shit scared that Twiggy may spend up big and cause some issues for the other teams.
From now on we are THUNDERDOME!!

 

[ForceFan]

Maybe Rugby Australia are shit scared that Twiggy may spend up big and cause some issues for the other teams.
From now on we are THUNDERDOME!!

WF has to work under the same salary cap as other SRPac Aussie franchises.

Doesn't stop Andrew F (and his associated entities) supporting the Academy, WFW, RugbyWA and developing grass roots rugby.
As well as bringing back OS Aussies (Timani, Rodda, McIntyre, Stewart, Hegarty) keep Aussies in Super Rugby rather than going OS (Robertson, Ready, FFainga'a, Horton) and developing young talent from WA and East Coast rather than losing them to the NRL.
Andrew F is funding a long game in developing WA rugby.

It's good to see ex-WF players getting involved in local coaching roles:
Jeremy Thrush - Head Coach Wests Scarborough, Lineout Coach Fortescue Academy
Greg Holmes - Forwards Coach UWA, Scrum Coach Fortescue Academy
Chris Heiberg - Forwards Coach Palmyra, Assistant Coach RugbyWA development teams, Forwards Coach WFW.