Western Force
The Force sucks.
Sure they had a run of seven wins out of eight in 2014 and won five games straight as part of that, but those happy days were started by a complete fluke. Skipper Matt Hodgson ran on for his 100th game for the club, played like Superman and made his mates think they were invincible too.
But they lacked the experience of winning at the crunch time of the season and the kryptonite began to take effect.
That run of wins is not going to happen this season unless they tell Hodgson that they didn’t count it right and his 100th game is actually in Round 1 this year.
Matt Hodgson – Western Force should do a recount
Easy in hindsight, I know, but if the Force had scored three more bonus points they would have made the finals. They should have tightened up in some of their seven losing games because they earned only one losing bonus point. And a few more try bonus points would have been handy: they had only three in their nine wins.
Unlike the Rebels in Melbourne, the Force have a decent rugby presence in Perth due to its expat population, but some players from back east, where the big numbers of rugby players are, don’t like to offer themselves to a team based so far away from home.
The Force are sometimes compelled to take a punt on promising, unproven players and hope they stay in town if they come good. That sucks.
The loss of tighthead prop Kieran Longbottom, will make the scrum vulnerable. On the radar for the Wallabies last year, he is now getting a bit of ink in the UK for his good work for Saracens, because he is qualified for England. Shame; that’s a double suck.
Kieran Longbottom tackling – is now playing for Saracens
They would have liked to retain Jayden Hayward also, but at least he is well covered by Dane Haylett-Petty. However they should have got better recruits for the back three than two Kiwi nose-pickers, Albert Nikoro and Mitchell Scott.
They have to sharpen their attack because they made the least number of metres in Super Rugby last year and they scored the third lowest number of points.
And why do the bookies have them ranked 13th in the betting to win the Super Rugby Championship? Because they suck.
Michael Foley – suits the Force well and vice-versa
Why the Force may not suck in 2015
In Michael Foley they have a coach who suits them well and vice-versa. Foley has helped to build a high level of comradeship and that can only improve with his policy of growing the core of local players as spots become available.
Skipper Hodgson, no-frills like the side he leads, is part of a back row which has been their best team unit since the Force entered the Super 14 in 2006. He has the knack of getting the best out of his forwards on the field, but it is important that he stays healthy.
The Force conceded fewer turnovers per game than any other team last year, and were the best team in the competition to compel errors from their opponents.
Nick Cummins – a huge boost for the Force
The Force won a record nine games for the club in 2014, were fourth with four games to play, and showed great character to win some matches. In one game they ground down the Waratahs defensively in Perth time and time again, despite the visitors having the lion’s share of the ball. In another they had only 13 men of the field for eight minutes at the end yet hung on to beat the Highlanders in Dunedin.
They just need a couple of more outcomes like that this year.
The return of the Honey Badger, Nick Cummins, is a huge boost for the Force and if he can put together some career-best efforts as he did against the Waratahs last year in the above-mentioned game, anything can happen.
And if new recruit, Steve Mafi, can recapture the 2012-13 form he had with the Leicester Tigers, who he helped to win a couple of premierships after bulking up over there, we may see him packing down in the second row with cousin Sam Wykes.
Suckiness index – 7
See next page for why the Queensland Reds suck
