Wallaby newcomers Dane Haylett-Petty and Adam Coleman are in the bad books after being involved in ugly alcohol-fuelled incidents during the Western Force’s recent trip to South Africa.
Veteran prop Pek Cowan has been stripped of the captaincy for Saturday night’s Super Rugby clash with the Stormers in Perth after being caught up in the drama, which reportedly involved a Force player urinating in the hallway of the team’s Bloemfontein hotel.
A vase was allegedly broken after a play fight between brothers Dane and Ross Haylett-Petty turned heated, while Coleman had a loud argument with prop Francois van Wyk.
A number of players broke the team’s 1:00am curfew, but the Force have opted against axing anyone.
Coleman will miss the game after failing to recover from the neck injury he suffered while on tour with the Wallabies.
The hotel drama caps a bad season for the Force, who sit bottom of the Australian conference with just two wins to their name.
Coach Michael Foley was axed in June following the disastrous run of results, while the Australian Rugby Union took the drastic measure of forming an alliance with the Force to prevent the Perth-based franchise going under.
Dane Haylett-Petty put in a man-of-the-match performance in last week’s 30-29 loss to the Cheetahs, scoring two tries.
It came just weeks after he and Coleman made their Wallaby debuts during the 3-0 series loss to England.
Cowan is one of the most-respected figures at the Force, and the foundation player was handed the captaincy duties once Matt Hodgson’s season was ended by a shoulder injury.
But the 30-year-old has been stripped of that honour this week after being part of the player group to misbehave during the trip to South Africa.
Dane Haylett-Petty would have been next in line to captain the side, but those duties will go to winger Luke Morahan, who announced on Thursday he had re-signed with the Force for another season.
Interim head coach David Wessels faces a monumental task to stabilise the side ahead of Saturday night’s home clash with the Stormers.
Although the Force have been able to sign Queensland Reds prop Ben Daley for the 2017 Super season, centre Kyle Godwin is rumoured to be on the move to the Brumbies.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
WIC, the only people who accuse others of being not very mature are those who are themselves not very old. Something tells me I'm a lot more "mature" than you.... Elite sportsmen are really just kids thrust into the limelight when they are not really ready for it. They can be good or bad. They need mentors to guide them, not people to crucify them. Consider, for example, Kurtley Beale at his worst ... and at his incredible best, when he had a mentor (Cheika). I wonder of you did anything like that when you were a kid. Or perhaps you still are....
Lubegoat
Guest
Yep - otherwise known as Boringfontein....
WEST
Roar Guru
Wow!! Sounds like a hell of a party!!
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I saw them as 2 recent Wallaby debutantes who you'd hope were looking to maximize their potential and cement spots in the top 15 players in Australia.
Boz the Younger
Guest
An African born flanker coming to the Brumbies from the Force with a name ending in .... History repeats :-)
AndyS
Guest
Maybe it is a cunning plan being trialling by the ARU before being rolled out to the other teams. A bit of misbehaviour to get in the news, and you'd have to say it has never hurt the popularity of the other codes or our own bad boys... ;)
Shane D
Roar Rookie
TWAS - there are plenty of top & aspiring Union players who abstain or drink in moderation as well. This story is about 2 players who have let themselves & their team down while on tour. Agree with you that this is unprofessional but I believe that this is not representative of the majority of top union players. There are plenty of anecdotal stories of top AFL players who have done the same. Check out interviews from players talking about their time with the international rules teams.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
With 756 or more full time professionals on AFL lists, you're going to get a higher number be known. Those that are aspiring to be the elite in those 756 are generally the ones who abstain - or if they don't, consume within team protocols.
Macca
Guest
Yep. Mommy and daddy have gone away so let's muck around...seriously? A pro.
Daveski
Guest
AFL has been shown over numerous episodes and anecdotal evidence it's rife with players using recreational aka "party" drugs. Probably often as an alternative to alcohol. I don't think you can hold up any one footy code as a universal example to follow. There'd be an equal percentage of rugby players who rarely if ever drink during the season. And if that's not the case it's simply because they're bigger bodies and can handle it better ?
Shane D
Roar Rookie
The Hurricanes players were dropped for the first game back in NZ after they returned from SA (they played a match in SA after breaking the curfew). The reason for that was there was no time to fly over the required replacements in time for the next match in SA. I would say the same reasoning applies for the Force players not being stood down for this weekends game.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
And how many of those are at the elite end of the spectrum? We are talking about players who are supposedly pushing for positions as first choice Wallaby starters. If you looked at the AFL, those players who want to be the best in their position are generally those that abstain. Dangerfield and Selwood are two examples of this. Because somebody like Dustin Martin regularly goes out and gets blind, and plays like a wasted talent at times with huge gulfs in his best and worst performance, it's an example for players who want to be good international level players?
Markus
Guest
Talk has been there for a while about Godwin, still waiting on a final announcement. Agree that if he makes the move it will be good to see if he reaches his perceived potential as a youngster. Brumbies have already signed Chris Alcock as cover for Pocock next year, hopefully his injury woes are past him.
Markus
Guest
"Many AFL players do not even consume alcohol during the season to ensure they keep themselves in peak condition." And many do, quite consistently.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Hardly. Many AFL players do not even consume alcohol during the season to ensure they keep themselves in peak condition. Clearly many rugby players (certainly not just the subject of this article) do not share the same standards of professionalism.
FrankJ
Guest
Gold!
Harley
Guest
They sound like they are auditioning to be an NRL team next year
world in cricket
Guest
@ KTinHK ... oh yeah very mature of you - no responsibility on the players just blame it all on the ARU. They're adults mate, no excuses
jameswm
Roar Guru
That's it, kick them while they're down. Anyone can do that.
RobC
Roar Guru
I guess it shows the stabilising influence Michael Foley had on the players.