Like every Aussie rugby supporter who still believes in a fair go, I was left with a mix of anger and sadness for our mates in the West when I heard the NSW Supreme Court has decreed that the Western Force will be no more.
There were a few different article ideas floating around my head about what I would like to say about the ARU’s conduct on this matter, in the hope that something might be learned from this sorry saga.
Then I saw Cameron Clyne’s interview yesterday afternoon. He simply stuck to the script that Andrew Forest’s $50 million offer to the ARU to keep the Force in the competition was made too late.
Clyne made no mention of the relevant fact that before Andrew Forest even entered into this affair, grassroots Force fans joined in to stump up $1000 each in an effort to save their club. They raised plenty, a testament to the financial capacity and commitment of that club to remain viable.
Even reports that the Force axing decision was done and dusted days before the float went live failed to convince the West Australians not to put their money where their mouths are.
The interview with Clyne immediately changed my feelings from anger and sadness to the determination not to let this decision cause a further ounce of angst.
I’m sure that Clyne believes he is a good bloke who has had to make a hard decision. However, I feel he is wrong in this matter.
Sadly, the board members who have supported him are in the same boat. They would have come up with their own innovative solutions to protect the interests of West Australian rugby if they weren’t.
Suffice to say that as a long-term, Test-attending, formerly Foxtel-subscribing rugby fan, I now don’t feel the need to continue to support the ARU through the continued purchase of their products. This is beyond hoping to convince the board to change the way they act, because that clearly isn’t going to happen.
Now I just don’t want to give them any of my money, because it would make me feel icky.
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
But the silver lining is that Forest has indicated that he is looking to establish a competition in the Indo-Pacific Region so that professional rugby may live in the West. I say ‘good on ya Twiggy’, it’s a great idea and I hope it becomes reality.
Furthermore, I hope that games are available for viewing to people outside of the region where the competition will be played, via some sort of affordable web-based broadcasting arrangement.
If this was available, I would certainly be happy to watch games and adopt the Force as my team while they take on the pride of Asia. Perhaps the Force could combine web access with some sort of membership for non-Western Australia based Western Australians and supportive Easterners? “Nullarbor memberships”, as it were.
I am equally sure that there would be plenty of Australian-based expats from the participant nations in Asia who would like to be able to watch their teams from afar.
I will also be really interested to see what sort of innovative competition that the Western Australians can come up with. If there was ever a time when we needed something new to break the patterns of tribalism, groupthink and patronage that have dragged Australian elite rugby administration from being top of the world only 15 years ago to the current doldrums, it is now.
It would be great if the Westerners could show us how it is done.
Adam Smith
Guest
Looking forward to a new comp, but not sure the counties murmured are fit for it. Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Sri Lanka? No they are nowhere near ready. If anything a new international comp should include Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Japan, US and Canada.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Twiggy and DeClyne met yesterday to discuss it. All will be revealed in due course. You'll just have to wait for the announcement TWAS.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
More than there is to banking.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
When there argument ignores the facts then yes. Why would I have a proposal of my own? I never claim that I know better than the people doing the job. Running the ARU seems easy from behind a keyboard...
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I don't think so. If he had decided not to sell (because it made his position more secure knowing the Force situation) maybe, but that wasn't the case.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
So he's gone from putting a few million into the Force over the years, do willing to put in $50M up front, to now being willing to spend even more?
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I'm sure there's plenty of crossover between mining and professional sport...
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Don't get to be billionaires dumping money into unprofitable ventures either.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
How has it achieved anything? Their knowledge of the Force agreement offers them no advantage, financial or otherwise.
Bakkies
Guest
Leaking confidential documents achieved a lot of things for the Rebels.
AndyS
Guest
And the car...?
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
SR is like the Cobb and Co Coach and Kodak film. A great Idea at the time that provided a great product. Now, irrelevent
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
I was part of the target 155 campaign which seemed optimistic. They have now reached and surpassed this figure with some of the lowest production costs in the country. So if anyone can get this done with a lean business model, it will be Twiggy. It would be nice to enlist Nev Powers, the second half of the dynamic duo but I think he is busy.
concerned supporter
Guest
Drongo, TWAS is the biggest trash talker on the Roar. You must be his apprentice.
Drongo
Guest
All of those comments are rational and accurate. But TWAS isn't defending what I or others post, he is, as usual, making his own very sensible and fact based argument. Many on here just can't handle that and lash out at him in desperation.
rebel
Guest
Sheek lay off him, he's defending rational discussion like: Mickey Mouse Super Rugby light Stupid waste of time and Desperadoes embarassing themselves I'd rather be irrational and support those trying to keep rugby relevant in their state.
ForceFan
Guest
Twiggy's $$s didn't come from windfall profits but from building a 170 Million tonne/year Iron Ore company from scratch despite being up against RioTinto & BHP. FMG has a market capital of $18.2 Billion. He just pocketed a cool $260 Million from dividends from FMG. The $50M was what he was prepared to make available to the EARU. He will be providing a lot more than that for the Indo-Pacific competition and has backers lining up to get involved. He's recently covered all legal costs for RugbyWA (>$0.5 Million) Twiggy very much has a "can do" mentality. Suggest we wait and see what unfolds.
ForceFan
Guest
Most sensible comment I've seen on The Roar since the Indo-Pacific comp was announced.
ForceFan
Guest
Nothing definite to share at the moment TWAS but I reckon that you're in for a shock. Bit like Force players making up the bulk of Alan Jones' Barbarians side against the Wallabies in Sydney in October. We've already seen what a motivated Force team did against a team with 11/23 Wallabies back in July. Twiggy is already gaining momentum and a lot of support to shake-up the EARU. Forget about it being a breakaway or Rebel comp - it's going to be an IRB/ARU sanctioned comp so it is a genuine pathway into the Wallabies for WA-based professional players.
piru
Roar Rookie
The only thing I can think of is that it might have guided Cox's decision to sell or not? Not sure,