Wallabies lock Adam Coleman has committed to the Western Force for the next two years, but he faces a nervous wait to see if the franchise will even exist.
The outcome of the arbitration hearing between the ARU and RugbyWA is expected to be handed down next week.
The ARU wants to axe the Force to fulfil its promise of reducing the amount of Super Rugby teams in Australia to four.
If the Force win the hearing, they will survive the axe and can start moving ahead with plans for the future.
It would also place pressure on the ARU to somehow cull the privately-owned Rebels, or conjure a merger between the Brumbies and Rebels.
But if the ARU come up trumps the Force will be cut from Super Rugby – barring a successful appeal to the Supreme Court.
The uncertain future of both the Rebels and Force has affected the private life of players at both franchises.
A number of Force players have even had to alter their housing lease agreements to avoid being locked into a lengthy contract.
Coleman is one who has been able to successfully transition onto a month-to-month periodic lease.
“My landlord didn’t know too much about rugby. I had to do a bit of explaining,” Coleman said.
“It probably would have helped if they were a Force fan.
“But the landlord was pretty understanding and was fine with it.
“The uncertainty – it’s a bit of a shambles at the moment.
“I don’t have kids, but I imagine the families who do have kids are thinking about possibly relocating their families to another state if the Force or Rebels get cut.
“I think the whole process hasn’t been handled correctly, and that starts from the top.
“The players have been held in limbo for months now. It’s unfair on not only the players, but their families.”
Stars such as Richard Hardwick, Dane Haylett-Petty, Chance Peni, and Ben Daley have re-signed for the Force in recent months.
Coleman will follow suit on a two-year deal if the franchise survives the axe.
“I can’t wait to spend the next two years of my life here in Perth playing for the Western Force,” Coleman said.
“I love the Force. They’ve given me a massive opportunity for my future.
“The supporters here are fantastic. Rain, hail, or shine, and win lose, or draw – they always turn out in numbers.”
ols
Roar Pro
Great read George from Nedlands RUFC. There is now a new articel (which is basically a couple of day old Rebels press release) Perhaps you could repost your excellent lat post in the new thread.
george
Guest
What is also funny is that the way the east coast media has been reporting it, that their "safe". IMO the Rebels might have an inkling that the Force will survive this week and did a pre-emptive strike to muddy the waters. The Daily Terror has a story saying its both teams fault if the ARU goes bankrupt. I'm sorry but its the ARU's fault if that does eventuate. I'm assuming whatever the debts was transferred. That article with Wellborn is quite funny about buying something for $2. I'm not a lawyer using just common sense. Nedlands RFC is an interesting read http://nedlandsrugby.com.au/. Common sense will surely prevail with this saga.
ols
Roar Pro
And another good thing for the Force in this article Twiggy Forrest has a hotline to Cameron Clyne. Or maybe it is vica versa! :D
ols
Roar Pro
I don't t know if John Wellborn is a lawyer but he agrees with George above that there is a breach of contract. https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-union/melbourne-rebels-sale-opens-door-to-cut-club-says-former-wallaby-john-welborn-ng-b88559512z Why aren't these stories coming through on the Roar in the last few days? From an Australian perspective surely it's the most important issue at the moment. We have to scroll miles down the page to post this in a few day old article which doesnt reflect the latest developments in this saga.
kipper
Roar Rookie
And the really ironic thing is.... If the force were not around, we may never have heard of Coleman. After all, it was cheika who decided he wasn't good enough for the tahs in 2013 and let him leave. What a great talent spotter that man is
George
Guest
The Rebels are in breach of their contract with the ARU with this ownership transfer. Its a bit like saying that the Chinese buy Kidman Cattle and expect to get retrospective approval from the FIRB to rubber stamp the transaction.Do you honestly think they would allow it, likewise with the ARU in having a retrospective approval process?
scottd
Guest
Agreed. The Rebels have failed twice now and this is the third ownership stage. I find it astounding that the VRU is seriously stating that they want to keep the Rebels. As it stands right now if the ARU decided to support 5 teams the VRU isn't capable of funding the Rebels. If I was running the ARU I'd simply tell all teams that they weren't getting bailed out again and the first to go broke would then lose their license. That way there would be no more arguments.
Hannes
Guest
A loss making enterprise needs capital and not only a change of hands to buy time to turn themselves around. I hope the Rebels has a.sustainable business model because they would not like to be dependent on the ARU.
markie362
Guest
We had some atrocious weather on game days here in perth.same everywhere probably but it's been a harsh winter in perth
ols
Roar Pro
I guess the concern is that with deep pockets that some government backing could provide the VRU would be in a situation where the ARU could not now buy back the licence,. This situation also mirrors why Twiggy Forrest does not want to own the Force and wants the WA public to own it. Even though Twiggy is a Rugby man and has a pretty good amount of integrity, the Andrew Cox's of this world are purely businessmen looking to make money and do not have the future of Rugby as a primary concern, Private ownership of teams is not the way to go in Australia. Another error from the ARU in this area from their involvement with the Rebels.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
There are a lot of Kiwi Force fans who show up every game. In addition big numbers of supporters of specific teams also attend whenever their team is playing in Perth.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Correct. Official attendance figures at Force game are only for paying customers who have tickets scanned. Kids getting in for free are not included.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
The Rebels development is very interesting. Why would they suddenly do this on Friday unless they believed they were under threat? What else have they got up their sleeve? There must be more because as Hannes says the situation seems to be that as at Friday is that the VRU owns the broke Rebels. That clearly isn't viable so we wait for the formal announcement by the VRU with considerable interest. Just chop the Tahs that very few in Sydney seem to care about anyway and let them have their precious Shute Shield whilst the rest of the country gets on with it.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Scenario 1: Rugby WA wins and the ARU backs off. (Although it is behind closed doors the flurry of activity from the Rebels yesterday indicates they probably believe the Force is safe and the torch will be turned on them.) Scenario 2: The ARU wins and Rugby WA use the time honoured legal tactic of litigating until the other side runs out of money or resolve and gives up. Appeals to the Supreme Court, then the Court of Appeals, then the High Court. Fresh legal action is launched on new grounds yet to be disclosed etc, etc etc. Either scenario shows the incompetence of the [E]ARU.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Unless you've actually been to a Force home game you have no idea just how passionate the Sea of Blue is. Are you aware that 20% of all registered Australian Rugby players are from WA?
Hannes
Guest
With the private owner with deep pockets exiting, the question is no how the VRU will finance the Rebels. The Rebels does not have the $8 million+ from the Own the Force or someone like a Forrest. I expect more to be revealed as the VRU does not have the financial mussle to underwrite the franchise. If the Rebels think they can go hat in the hand to the ARU when the pressure is on they may have to give up thei operating license again. The Force's position does not change is it just more likely that neither the Force nor Rebels will be axed.......roll, roll, roll .....heads at the ARU.
ols
Roar Pro
As Unko pointed out before, this is the latest news. https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/super-rugby/melbourne-rebels-have-transferred-ownership-to-victorian-rugby-union/news-story/544b31e5d2f35b75df36dea997b9b6ae Makes it even more imperative for Force to win the arbitration case
Bakkies
Guest
RM and they expected the cut team to take it up the date
Unko
Guest
So have you now seen that apparently Cox has sold his licence to the vru for $1?
sittingbison
Guest
Good grief if g slacker and others of his ilk are representative of ARU "thinking" then gawd help us all At least twas has half a brain to go with his personality malfunction