Damn you ARU! The wrong team is dead and you know it

It is impossible to see how the axing of the Force can be described as for the good of rugby in Australia. WA grassroots rugby has been growing and the dividends of this can be seen in the increasing numbers of local players coming into super rugby and the Wallabies. With Twiggy's involvement the Force seemed set for a good financial base. Neither of these positive factors is obvious with the Rebels. It is hard to see why the Rebels were not cut instead. The worst part is that the ARU has made a decision which appears to simply wipe out professional rugby in WA, deny WA kids a clear development pathway. And not one word from the ARU on any meaningful alternative. This is utter incompetence and a complete failure of their duty to the people of WA by the ARU board

Western Australia is the backend of nowhere commercially? Really! In which case can we have our GST back please?

Hi Waxhead, perhaps I haven't been paying attention, but I haven't seen any compelling grounds for cutting the Force. Making glib reference to information that may, or may not, have been published is not constructive. Please be so kind to share, what you think are, the most compelling reasons for this ARU decision. This way we can have a meaningful conversation on the subject.

or maybe its because people simply do like you Matt Jones

Exactly RIGHT Ross :) And Twiggy is not a man anyone should trust or depend on. This years Force revival should have started 12 years ago. Seems they thought being a Super Rugby team would be easy and they could settle for mediocrity. Too little too late.

@ajg - all the reasons for and against Rebels & Force have been gone through many many times here the past 120 days. I'm got gonna re-visit them all again now the decision has been made. ARU made the correct the decision in the end imo after an appallingly run process. Twiggy came in too late to save the Force. He might be Australia's richest man but he's not someone anyone should trust or depend on. That's why he's Australia's richest man. Everything about the Force was too little too late. Where was the passion, pride and fight for the 1st 11 years when it mattered most. Where was the financial support that only surfaced this year. Where were the big home game crowds we only saw this year. Too little too late.

All this is the result of SANZAAR's stupidy in allowing World Rugby to bully them into accept the Sunwolves and the SARFU to bully them into accepting the Kings. The idea was that the Sunwolves' inclusion would help prepare Japan for the World Cup, but most of the Brave Blossoms' national team members weren't actually involved, while the Kings kept talking about their huge non-white rugby-playing community, yet their team ended up looking about as white-dominated as any other. Expansion could have actually worked if they'd done it properly - including Fiji instead of Tokyo and creating three conferences of 6. I hope the competition won't recede into a shell of conservatism as a result of this debacle, because it needs to expand eventually if the game is to grow.

I saw a good comparison to this decision: that of a child that was very sick but miraculously recovered and are now healthy but that has die so that his organs can be used to save four other sick children. Put yourself in the shoes of a parent of that child and you will understand why WA fan’s are outraged and turn their backs on Australian rugby. For many Force fan’s the team is their baby, is family. This is an injustice to WA, a shame on the ARU and even the teams that will benefit from the cannabilisation of the Force should take a good look at themselves. The lack of empathy In the argument that this is for the greater good rings hollow.

The headline says it all. Joke of a decision

Secured for a $1 by an organisation that doesn't have a pot to p..s on

NO The Force had to go - they are shite Like the Rebels They should never have been added in the first place You can blame John "The Greatest Bestest Ever Administrator" O'Neil for this mess

Yes, Twiggy is a champion… of a losing cause! Where was he 12 years ago? 12 months ago? Heck, 12 weeks ago? If somebody like Twiggy had invested in the Force years ago, things would be different. This is so true. A last ditch effort to save the club. Helpful, but not much of a saviour.

When you halt a larger RUGBY support base accountability must be sort.

There was only room for one team at the finish and Force were the clear choice for removal since Rebels were already secured. The negative reaction to this is just hysterical rather than logical, which is understandable but doesn't change the circumstances that exist for the decision.

It also depends on the tv viewing number . If Brumbies games are bringing in viewers they maybe safe, even though they are in canberra

Now do the same for the tahs, Rebels and reds and explain why one hit wonders like tahs/reds are doing so much better. Using your table, the Brumbies deserve the stay, the others can be axed......context mate, and given the amount of resources and $$$$$$ tahs are the worst performers !!!! The wrong team went

Rugby in Australia is broken, the entitled are one hit wonders , with a team in the bush capital the sole performer while the team in Sydney is pampered with an entitled culture. The force had be best chance to be the next Brumbies on oz, instead we continue with the wallytahs...... I'm over NSW running rugby in oz. disgusting decision

you and your tiny little team are gone. congrats on producing 3 wallabies in a decade

yeah, that would be great

league marquees did nothing. they also chose to play in their home state. the force did a great job in stealing players from nsw and QLD