The past few weeks have seen much debate over the depth of Australian rugby and there have been several suggestions of reducing the number of Australian teams.
It has been painful as a Force supporter to see public opinion nominate my home team for the axe, with talk of moving it to western Sydney as an alternative.
I am not here to excuse the poor performances of the Western Force; when rugby is a professional sport, there is no excuse for poor play. Yet while the players must take responsibility for team results, the root of the Force’s troubles rest on the shoulders of its coaching staff.
The Force do not have the same concentration of talent that the Waratahs, Brumbies and, to a lesser extent, the Rebels have. There are some players who have been lacklustre, with Peter Grant proving to be rather inferior to Jono Lance this season and the sniping runs of Alby Mathewson are predictable at times.
Yet there are those at the Force who have shown to be on the rise. Adam Coleman has been increasingly touted for Wallabies honours. Kyle Godwin shows promise when he’s not injured, Jono Lance has proven to be a gift at fly-half and it is nice to see that Dane Haylett-Petty has been invited by Michael Cheika to the latest Wallabies training camp on Cockatoo Island.
Yet the progress of these players and the Force has been hindered by the coaching incompetency of Michael Foley. Many of you know how poor he was in charge of the Waratahs and he’s carried his poor form with him.
It’s become apparent that the successful season of 2014 was an anomaly with Foley in charge. The Force should follow in the footsteps of the Reds and sack him in order to have a hope of improving in the long term.
Sadly, Foley seems to be part of a wider crisis of coaching credibility facing Australian rugby at the moment, with the Reds job vacant and Daryl Gibson looking increasingly out of his depth.
As a Western Force and Australian rugby fan, my loyalty to the sport won’t be lost with a run of poor form. But this won’t cut it with the majority of casual rugby fans who will easily switch to league or AFL.
This must change.
Centreman
Guest
In the past the Force have had players in the squad such as Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, James O'Connor, Nathan Sharpe, David Pocock, Cameron Shepherd, Brett Sheehan and still have not been able to have any great success. I cant see them changing that with the current playing group no matter who is coach.
Sam
Guest
I do believe the Force are a credible organisation. They do have good players and have established themselves. I believe they deserve the respect of the rugby establishment. Calls to fold them are unfair and unreasonable particularly since they continue to persevere, and adapt.
RobC
Roar Guru
Thanks for your article Sean. Congrats on your first! On the topic of coaches vs depth. I think if the players were not changed, this team if coached by Check, will still lose to Check's Tahs. Or if Check coached the Reds
Not Bothered
Guest
Godwin just isnt very good.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
winediamond I suppose he should always hired and never questioned because he was a Wallaby.
ForceFan
Guest
In reality neither the Rebels, nor the Waratahs, nor the Reds, nor the Force have had a win against any team above them on the combined SR table.
OJP
Guest
I've watched a couple of the Sunwolves games and they have been pretty competitive; easily could have had a couple of wins on the board by now. In a year or two, no one will think it unusual they are playing in the comp.
puff
Guest
To give recognition when due, have watched the Force on their NZ road trip. No team travels unscared to NZ, the place can be a graveyard for team reputations. Yet his team of journeyman continued to improve and displayed a magnificent amount of steadfastness until the 60 minute period of each match. Then the depth and talent of the opposition become too overwhelming. If they could attract a few more high profile campaigners to bolster their back line and field a stronger interchange bench. Their results would be more encouraging. A team’s success is only as good as the club’s administrators, who hire all staff. Like most things, if you settle for ordinary, that is normally what is delivered. It is not continual funding that is needed out west but somehow with ARU input ,to channel more player depth and commitment in that direction.
CUW
Guest
the force have a squad of 37 and out of that 26 are auzzy ( 70% ) the team that played last weekend was 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Solomoni (Junior) Rasolea, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (c), 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Heath Tessmann, 1 Pekahou Cowan Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Sitiveni (Steve) Mafi, 20 Richard Hardwick, 21 Ryan Lourens, 22 Ian Prior, 23 Albert Nikoro now i count like 7 foreigners in that 23 which is 30% . so it tells me the full squad and match day squad are more or less a 70:30 split ( of course sample size is way too small to make a conclusion :) ) just wondering a statement like " Believe it or not, the Force have the cattle to succeed " has validity :D
AndyS
Guest
Given the apparent lack of process in the last two coaching appointments, I'd maybe wonder about the degree to which the Force board really has a say in the matter...
Ralph
Roar Guru
It's no good moaning about a coach and ignoring the organisation that thought it would be a bright idea to bring him on board and that keeps supporting him.
Sheikh
Roar Rookie
Or the ARU could support the Force to the same extent as the Tahs and Reds. The Tahs have a dozen current Wallabies in their squad, the Reds have close to that, the Force have 1. And yet the Force are apparently close to the salary cap. When the Force were looking for a replacement after Graham left, they were close to getting Cheika's signature. Then suddenly Cheika appears on Sydney and the Force get the Tahs' cast-off. Yes, the Force are packed with journeymen, but they still have winning records against the Tahs (3-1) and Reds (3-2) since 2014.
winediamond
Guest
kpm All true. The coach is the problem. Another illustration is a lack of leadership. Without Hodgson , there is none. Foley can't stand being questioned, let alone challenged.
Whatagame
Roar Rookie
Blue, your ignorance is noted upfront but really - fine the Force have under performed as have the Reds and Tahs. The blame lies solely with the head coach who is out of his depth and runs the team like a banana republic dictator from what I hear. Cross him once and you are on the outer regardless of skill level, talent or need. He would rather have a weakened side on the park than anyone who disagrees with him. He has lost some talent to other teams and overseas purely out of spite and as such needs to be shown the door sooner rather than later. Take Zack Holmes as an example... young talent coming up and working hard. A disagreement re contract renewal (why the heck the head coach should be leading this is anyone's guess) and he is dumped. Oh yes ... he is now doing very well in the Top 14 and has been replaced by a geriatric South African.... Foley is a scam artist, bully and so far out of his depth as a head coach that he now makes RG look good..... what a debacle.
Blue
Guest
No they don't. They are packed with journeymen and players who would not hold down a spot at most of the regular top teams. They are always two or three injuries away from crisis. These guys and the Kings need to be jettisoned. And they can take the Sunwolves with them. Nice idea. In a year or two nobody will care, Go back to S15 with the Argies instead of the Force.
Steveg
Guest
After last weeks loss Richard Graham now has a superior Super rugby record than Foley. Need I say more!!
DJW
Guest
Kyle Godwin hasn't shown promise for about 2 seasons. Has gone backwards under Foley and being part of pretty dysfunctional backline. Dysfunctional as in attacking. Although he is missed as Rasolea is not a 80 minute player. Coleman has been playing well although our line out struggled against the Highlanders. Also been impressed with Ross Haylett Petty who is only young. Heath Tessman had a good game last weekend and definitely has the starting hooker spot now. Ben McCalman also had a good game. One of my biggest concerns as Force fan is the teams fitness and conditioning. It doesn't seem to be at the same level as most other Super 15 teams. We matched it with the Hurricanes, Chiefs and Highlanders for about a half and then fell away badly. Foley came out this week and said they are hitting there fitness targets which seems bizarre. We have had to also carry two scrum halves on the bench in NZ which makes the bench unbalanced and is pretty amateur. I think Foley offers a lot as a forwards coach but just isn't up to being a head coach yet. There is signs things are slowly moving in the right direction with the new game plan.
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
Yep, and they lose a lot of talent to NRL, as Rugby WA seams to award South African talent more than local. Is there no local coaches?
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Michael Foley does seem to live a charmed life. He managed having been asked to leave the Waratahs, to take over another Super team despite the manifest evidence of his lack of coaching qualities at the time. Then, after several years of weak performances at the Force and the threat to the franchise as a result, he is still maintained. It's extraordinary.