Roar Rookie
Joined September 2018
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With my old Western Force cap on, I sat down on Friday night and watched the Queensland Reds struggle to beat an ordinary Stormers…
Twiggy Forrest and his Global Rapid Rugby advisers are not trying to please the average Roar rugby poster, who would no doubt be a…
And the Tahs, Reds and Brumbies players had maybe zero nights away from the own beds, families and homes.
Meanwhile the Rebels and Force had 7-8 weeks on the road.
The Wrap: Wallabies take shape but Rugby Championships are far from settled
I agree Shute Shield is a great amateur club rugby competition, but so are the other vibrant amateur club competitions in the other states. Rugby at a top level went professional at the top level 25 years ago, but the Sydney amateur club old boys in my mind, and in the view of many others out side of Sydney, had way too much influence and control of professional rugby right across Australia. Living in WA, I see the contrast with AFL, where the amateur clubs in Melbourne have little say in the running of professional AFL and its successful spreading across Australia.
The magic of the Shute Shield
Or Aussies that would have gone overseas, if the Force option was not there.
Wallabies prop makes Western Force switch
“More player announcements can be expected in the coming weeks.” at the end of the Robertson press release from the Force.
Wallabies prop makes Western Force switch
“One of the main reasons why I wanted to play for the Force next year is Tim Sampson, who I think is world class,” Robertson explained. “Tim has a great reputation within the rugby community, and I can’t wait to learn and play under him.”
Robertson will be welcomed by some familiar faces when he joins the Force squad. “I’ve played with a lot of the Force players before, the likes of Fergus Lee-Warner and Kyle Godwin, who are great guys,” he said.
“I’m really motivated to help the Western Force squad grow. Western Australia has a lot of young rising talent, and the Force has shown this year that they can play great rugby.”
https://www.westernforce.com.au/western-force-secure-wallabies-prop/
Wallabies prop makes Western Force switch
The only thing wrong with Sydney Shute club rugby is the mind set that it is the heart of rugby in Australia and their followers desire to control all things rugby related all across the huge land of ours. These Shute old boys have led us to the edge of the cliff.
The are vibrant club scenes in Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Melbourne.
The magic of the Shute Shield
Ex, I was one Force fan who thought the Force would win a few games. I guess I did not factor in them playing every game away. I expected to come them back strongly in the games that were originally scheduled for playing in Perth, with the Sea of Blue behind them.
History shows home ground is a big factor in your win/loss ratio.
In AFL the Eagles lost almost all their games while they were in their hub in Qld. But when they came back to Perth, and played in front of the fans, the Eagles won every game. First game back in the Qld hub, the Eagles lost.
Anyway, I am proud of the Force efforts and they were close in several games. I am confident they will be stronger next year and hopefully get 50% of their games in Perth.
In fact the RA should reward the Force and Rebels with more than 50% home games next season.
Force out to rain on Rebels' Super parade
Geoff, Twiggy has a stated long term goal of making the Western Force the top side in Aus/NZ.
He has a habit of achieving his goals. As long as RA dont put silly salary cap restrictions on the Force.
I dont want to see him raiding the other Aus states, but rather bringing back top Aussies from overseas and a few key foreign players. And blooding young WA developed boys.
This is what the Force have pretty much done for the past 3 years.
The Wrap: It’s time for rugby’s loose ends to start to come together
Send Cole back to the Force please.
The Wrap: It’s time for rugby’s loose ends to start to come together
Geoff, I loved this comment that Shasta posted on the The Whole Force website:
“So it’s down to this: Our boys are well out of the race. But they have a chance to go out with a bang and keep The Rabble from a maiden finals appearance – which will lift the Tahs into the playoffs……….talk about Hobson’s Choice.! “
The Wrap: It’s time for rugby’s loose ends to start to come together
Philips putting is arms around his opponent in the air is illegal and dangerous. It is also highly visible to the ref and linesman. His opponent landed pretty heavily on the ground and could of got badly hurt. Luckily he did not. Yellow card was probably justified.
Swinton’s no arms tackle/shoulder to the head was also illegal and dangerous, but happened in a flash and need to be reviewed in slow motion to see how bad it was. His opponent was injured. That should have been a red card.
Does Super AU still have a citing process possibility after the game? Swinton deserves to miss next weeks game, as will probably his concussed opponent.
The Wrap: It’s time for rugby’s loose ends to start to come together
Twiggy is on record this year of saying that he wants the Force to be the top side in Aus and NZ. He has a habit of being successful, so I am backing him to achieve that goal as well. Maybe not next year, but in 3-5 years. And if he is successful, then the the Wallabies will have more depth and success, One of the other things I have heard him say, he would like to see the Wallabies holding up the Bledisloe again.
His ability to think our side of the box and his long term planning, is as important to Australian rugby as his money.
The case for the Western Force
“the Waratahs released Carlo Tizzano back to Shute Shield rugby.”
Carlo never came from Shute Shield rugby.
The Waratahs' youth need guidance
wre01, I have not noticed this Maurice Longbottom yet, but his namesake Kieran Longbottom is an awesome tighthead prop for the Force.
The Wallabies: Picking a side on Super Rugby AU form
Carrick, Yes Twiggy has lots of money and loves rugby. But he is also a very intelligent deep thinking man who thinks outside the box and does his homework.
e.g. He is now Dr Andrew Forrest with a PHD in marine biology, which is just one of his side interests.
Twiggy is convinced that the future economy of rugby in our area of the world is in Asia, where there are billions of potential fans and many possible major brand sponsors. He is talking of 10 year investments. He can see if rugby gets that right, then we can break out of our own little backyards and dwarf European rugby, AFL and NRL economically.
These Covid 19 restrictions are not going to last for ever and we need to plan for the long term.
Rugby in Aus/NZ need Twiggy for his brains more than his money.
Debunking the lack of depth myth
Yes Ex, the close to home advantage does not get a mention. Look at at how the West Coast Eagles suddenly starting winning again, when the other AFL teams had to start living 4,000km away from home and family.
Too big to fail: Why Rugby Australia must not make the same mistake again
The All Blacks have never beaten the Wallabies in Perth!
Too big to fail: Why Rugby Australia must not make the same mistake again
Agreed, and when the Force start winning Super games, then it will be accused of of being a cobbled together team based on money. I hope we continue to concentrate on returning mainly WA developed players to the Force from Australia and overseas.
One thing thing that seldom gets a mention is Union is now much bigger than League in WA. (unlike NSW, Qld, ACT and Vic). That was not the case 25 years ago, before the Force was launched.
Our day will come to hold up the Super Rugby trophy, as we did in the NRC in 2019.
Too big to fail: Why Rugby Australia must not make the same mistake again
And the Wallabies beat the All Blacks in Western Australia in front of a 60,000 sellout crowd in 2019.
In fact statistics show that NZ have never beaten Australia in Perth.
Too big to fail: Why Rugby Australia must not make the same mistake again
And Tokyo is 9.30 hours flight from Sydney.
And Buenos Aires is 1 day and 13 hours from Sydney.
and Joburg is 14 hours from Sydney.
Should have dropped the Tahs.
Too big to fail: Why Rugby Australia must not make the same mistake again
Well said Ex. Nicholas is pointing a finger at some of the older players in the Force side, which I agree is not ideal. However we need to remember that in 2017, the Force finished a close 2nd on the Australian Super ladder with the same number of wins as the Brumbies, who finished 1st.
That year the Force beat the Reds twice and flogged the Tahs, Then the RA axed them, and transferred about 15 of their best young players to the other Australian sides. Those players included WA schooled and developed players like Dane and Ross Haylett-Petty, Hardwick, Rona, Penni etc.
So in 2018, Twiggy had to start from almost scratch for GRR and NRC.
In 2019, WA produce 2 Aus U20 players, both of them are now in the Tahs squad.
In 3 years, I dont think Twiggy has poached a single player who was contracted to one of the other 4 Australian Super sides.
Too big to fail: Why Rugby Australia must not make the same mistake again
Sure, I appreciate the silly games agents and rival codes play in the press in these situations.
If I was this kids father, I would ask him “Son if you received 2 identical final offers from RA and NRL, which code would you pick?”
“Well son them you should pick them regardless even if the offers are actually vastly different. because that is where your preference and love is, and you are the one who has to play their game professionally for the next 15 years or more years.”
The Wrap: Truth proves elusive as Superman Suaalii saga rages on
Broken, the only Montoya signing speculation I can see is with Leicester Tigers. Where did you see or hear that?
Western Force signing spree continues with Irish superstar