Just over half a year ago now, the ARU made a decision that would impact upon the game of rugby union in Australia for decades to come.
Let’s just say the outcome left a lot of people pretty angry. Half a year on, what’s been happening with the Force, and is the future of Australian rugby any brighter than it was in August last year?
The recap
As a whole, the Aussie teams vastly underperformed in 2017, but have had a significantly stronger start to the 2018 season. As Force legend Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins put it a while back, “Last year was a bit, uh, how you goin’, but um nah we’re good now.”
Early on in 2017, SANZAAR resolved to dump three teams from Super Rugby’s bloated roster – two from South Africa and one from Australia. As the ARU refused to commit to a decision, it looked like a straight shootout between the Perth-based Force and Melbourne Rebels – the two youngest Australian franchises.
Despite finishing second in the conference, with a groundswell of home support, the Western Force were shown the door. Cutting the Force raised eyebrows at the time, not least because their six wins were the joint-best in the conference alongside the finals-bound Brumbies. The Rebels, meanwhile, managed just one win on their way to the overall wooden spoon.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
The Rebels’ campaign was an unmitigated disaster. A shaky start set the tone for their season, as the Blues put 56 points on them in the opening round, only to plumb new depths with a 71-6 thrashing by the Hurricanes the following week.
By delaying and failing to lay out transparent criteria, the ARU invited widespread criticism. It was no surprise when thousands of frustrated Force fans rallied outside Rugby WA headquarters following the decision.
Forrest, alongside captain Matt Hodgson, addressed supporters during the aftermath. Hodgson stated the decision was “bigger than the Western Force… It’s about who is going to play rugby in this state.”
The protest was a public display of the loyalty of the Force fan-base, who, not unlike their beloved club, wouldn’t go down without a fight.
A series of unfortunate events
In April last year SANZAAR announced they would be returning to a simpler, 15-team format, with only four Aussie teams.
The announcement came as ticket sales and overall revenues for the Aussie clubs began plummeting following sub-par seasons where clubs failed time and again to get bums in seats, with record breaking low attendance.
On the surface, kicking out the team that came second in the conference instead of the one that came dead last doesn’t add up. Unfortunately for the Force, it was the ARU’s only option.
The ARU’s reluctance to make a decision left both the Force and Rebels unsure of their club’s future heading into the 2017 offseason. This invited widespread criticism and forced Bill Pulver, the ARU’s CEO to step down.
The decision to finally cut the Force came after Melbourne Rebels owner Andrew Cox sold his share of the franchise to Victorian Rugby Union for $1, a cheeky move that prevented the ARU from buying the club and shutting it down instead.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Bitter-sweet aftertaste
Even now I firmly believe cutting the club was a bad decision made by a desperate ARU.
Force fans you still have a right to be mad.
The move – which ARU chairman Cameron Clyne said was “guided primarily by financial outcomes” – could have undoubtedly stunted the development of the game in the state of Western Australia and across the country.
Although some argued this resolution would increase the quality of the remaining Aussie teams – and, I’ll grudgingly admit that it has – myself and most rugby fans (or at least enraged Western Australians) were left asking “at what cost?”
It’s up to the ARU to develop rugby in Australia and as fans of the sport we should have never been put in this position. Let’s just hope it never happens again.
CEO of the Rugby Union Players Association, Ross Xenos, put it simply at the time, saying, “The future of professional rugby in Western Australia will now be the collateral damage of the decision making of the ARU and SANZAAR.”
A western revival
Good news folks.
The Western Force will return to action on May 4 for the first time since their controversial axing at the end of the 2017 Super Rugby season.
Billionaire backer Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest recently announced the Force will play a series of invitational matches against international and Super Rugby sides.
Matchups against Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Hong Kong, as well as the Crusaders and Rebels, have all been confirmed. These fixtures are part of what has been titled the World Rugby Series (WSR) and will all be played at Perth’s NIB Stadium.
This is great news for the franchise that Forrest promised would survive its Super Rugby departure. With these fixtures, Twiggy has made good on his promise. The games are bound to be exciting spectacles for fans of rugby worldwide, and crucial for a new look Force side that lost a large portion of last year’s squad to the remaining Super Rugby teams.
(Photo by Daniel Carson/Getty Images)
The future
The removal of the Force cost rugby union the opportunity to take control of Western Australia.
Victoria and South Australia both have AFL, New South Wales and Queensland have both league and union, and look yes, I understand that WA has both the Fremantle Dockers and the West Coast Eagles, but I’d argue that the AFL hardly has Western Australia in a vice.
Point is, Western Australia is ripe for the taking, and to create a threshold for rugby over there would be massive for the game moving forward. Just because rugby isn’t everybody’s first choice right now doesn’t mean it can’t be in the future.
Even rugby league is beginning to acknowledge the need for expansion westwards. The double header in early March (Warriors vs Rabbitohs and Storm vs Bulldogs) was proof of this. The loss of the Force only magnifies the opportunity for an NRL team to step in and take WA for the first time since the Western Reds left for the Super League in ’97.
Investing in union in Western Australia made more sense than completely dismantling the professional game. The ARU and SANZAAR had the opportunity to grow the game out west but failed to take advantage of that opportunity and instead forced their exit out of the professional game.
This is why the announcement of the WSR is so crucial in terms of developing rugby union in Australia. It will be the first time anyone has donned a Force jersey (aside from the new woman’s comp the Super W) since a convincing win over the Tahs in the final regular season game in mid-July last year.
The Forces exit left the Perth Spirit acting as the only side in WA. This meant the competition would be tough with more players vying for spots in the NRC side, and more NRC players vying for spots in the four remaining Super Rugby teams.
Thankfully, with the inception of a brand-new competition and the involvement of several international teams alongside the Force’s former Super Rugby counterparts, this problem has essentially been solved.
Disaster averted?
With the announcement of the WSR is Australian Rugby back on even footing?
Honestly, I have no clue.
Gone are the glory days of Australian footy, where Campese could carve up anyone in his path, or where an inside ball from Gregan would guarantee any oncoming ball runner a try.
If anything, it’s just disappointing that we’ve had to come to this point. At least the future of the WA side is in much better shape now than it was a few months ago.
However, the whole process of removing the Force has raised several questions about the future of rugby union in Australia.
With a declining interest in the game nationwide, and waning grassroots pathways, diehard rugby fans are left questioning whether the sport will endure the hard slog, and fight right through to the 80th minute, or blow out, and walk back to the sheds head bowed in defeat.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
There was never any benefit for anybody of cutting an NRC team from WA.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
And I'd bet that's based on what they were told by adults. When my team were dissolved as a kid I didn't even know anything about the governing body that did it.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Approximately 50% of Australian Schoolboys representatives go on to play Super Rugby...
AndyS
Guest
I would have said the players feeling the need to specifically include it in the CBA says something. They obviously thought it far from certain, or perhaps just didn't trust RA if they said it was. Touching that they think that would somehow mean something though, if push came to shove.
mothy
Guest
Nice to know you take humbridge at the word begrudging. When the main point is their silence is deafening! Begrudgingly May have been the wrong word, but there was a lot of uming and arrring before it was confirmed that they could keep an NRC side. RA treatment of WA is woeful at best and they have a long way to go to build bridges for rugby in this state. AR at best are a slow acting and communication with WA has been in general negligible. Clyne is like that nasty kid who hides around corners throwing sticks in the wheel spokes of cyclists and then sits back and watches the carnage.
Ex force fan
Guest
And she had the right to approve it....the Department does not have the ability to veto the Minister and there was no corruption or fraud. Labour dropped it like a hot patato...there was nothing in it.
Ex force fan
Guest
Instead of trying to blame "parents" why don't you rather lay the blame where it belongs..Clyne, Pulver, Eales and their mates in the IRA (Incompetent Rugby Administration)
Ex force fan
Guest
Do not underestimate kids. Last some did not even want to shake Eales hand when they won the flag and he handed out the prices. You can see the disgust for Eales in their face as their coached forced them to take the price. The kids knows it is their rugby future that has been sacrificed - they talk to each other and are not stupid. This betrayal from the Eastern State states of WA will continue to haunt Australian rugby for decades.
Ex force fan
Guest
Mr Stats please explain your 50% probability assessment as every year a lot of school stars fail to make Superugby sides and that is far less than a 50% proposition. The Force organization gave then their break after extensive development in the Academy of even Future Force into Superugby. Vui may be born in QLD but he got his break at the Force - a product of the Force.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Nothing says there was anything begrudging about keeping the Force.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I doubt any kids think that independently. That’s a view driven by adults.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
The article claims without actually proving anything. And the claim is based on, the ARU had to connect the Rebels owners with key Rebels supporters. That’s ludicrous logic that people within the Rebels tent needed to be connected by people in Sydney.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
How many get a scholarship before year 11 and 12? I doubt you will find many. I say that because that’s when scholarships are generally given out for athletes. You can say that all you like. But historical data shows they were already a 50% of playing super rugby and were RECRUITED on that basis. Sham Vui was a QLD U20 rep at 18. He had 2 more years of 20s ahead of him. He was clearly a great talent. WA just offered him something earlier. QLD Rugby made him an elite talent and he would have progressed wherever he went. That’s the same reason that Vic don’t get credit for developing Hodge, McMahon, etc.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
There was nothing wrong? It’s come out it was recommended against then magically approved...
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Do you know this for sure? Can you provide proof? Were any conversations/negotiations held between the parties? The the Rebels insolvent, the ARU hed all the cards and could do what they wanted. They also had the power to cut funding to one or both franchises as punitive action for non-compliance.
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Read the article carefully, The ARU, secretly, worked with imperium to get them out of insolvency.. Until then, Imperium couldn't exercise their put option, but the ARU could theirs. It isn't clear what they did, angel investor, bailout or creative accounting, but we do know that the ARU were championing it and Clark now has a cushy job in Victorian rugby,
Bruce Dribs
Roar Rookie
"Point is, Western Australia is ripe for the taking" ..... what are you on Tumoana Poata? There are more registered Australian Rules players in WA than there are Rugby players in the whole of Australia. WA is an AFL stronghold and to think that the ARU has missed an opportunity here is just blind and senseless to the 10's of thousands of fans that turn up to watch an AFL game every week and the 10s of thousands that play Australian Rules every week in WA. They just built a 60,000 seat stadium here because 40,000 was big not enough to hold the AFL fans for regular season Eagles' (and the occasional Dockers) home games. You need a reality check. The Force contributed to their own demise and the ARU is getting the blame. Force sold their licence to the ARU because the organisation and the sport was failing. They then initiated a futile court case to pretend that did not happen.
Ex force fan
Guest
When I called parents to understand why good young rugby players decided not to register this year, I am concerned. Parent's tell me that they kids will try a different sport this year and then tell me that they turned their back on rugby as rugby turned their back on them as supporters. I expect a spike in AFL and NRL junior registrations in WA this year. This will follow through to Force memberships, it has to as people do not like to be treated as second class citizens. I am afraid,that rugby in WA may never recover from the Clyne incompetence. The sooner Twiggy's competition gets up the better.
Ex force fan
Guest
The Rebels sponsorship is above board? In fact it does not even exist! There was nothing wrong with the Force sponsorship just Labour trying to score a point and failing.
Ex force fan
Guest
Do you believe yourself? Without a willing ARU that sold tests to the Victorian government so that a proportion of that income can be used to finance the Rebels the Rebels would have gone under. It was the ARU that saved the Rebels from bankruptcy while on the other hand refuse to engage with Twiggy to save the Force. If the ARU wanted a merger to work, they could have made it happen. The Rebels still do not have a sustainable financial model without the special deal from the ARU - not even a main sponsor! Nor the Force nor Rebels would have liked it, but the ARU could have made a merger happened if they wanted to. However they were out to sacrifice WA rugby without an understanding of how important the Force is to WA Rugby. There is another post that show the impact on junior player numbers where at a club had more than 150 junior players last year and only 8 this year. That junior club will close down and who knows what the other 8 boys that wanted to play will do. In the clubs I am involved with junior registration is down 30%. This means that for some age groups we will not be able to field a team or where we had two teams in the past we can field only one and some players have to go to another club. The ARU dropped a bomb on WA rugby but is still too STUPID to understand what they did. Sometimes I can just cry myself asleep from how dumb this decision was. Talking about shooting yourself in both feet! Then there are ignorant people that defend this decision as bad luck WA. Dumb.