Force 2023

[Tazzmania]

As countless blogs and posts over seveteen years have outlined the Force are and always will be Australian Rugby's poorer cousin and will always have to fight harder with a lot less just to stay afloat and thats unlikely to ever change. However, that said there are a number of positives happening with the Force and with a lot of patience and a bit of luck will bear fruit in the years to come:

* Great coaching team
* Young squad, if kept to together will develop over time.
* A proper Academy and organisation structure now in place
* A proper rugby schools competition now implemented.
* Finally ex Eastern States/overseas players now staying on in Perth after retirement and getting involved in clubs / Force ensuring Rugby IQ is retained and built.
* A U16 and U19 program that can help retain players as they get older rather than lose them to other sports and / or the couch.
* A small band of hardcore rusted on supporters like myself that will stick with them through thick and thin and hope to attract a few more similar minds.

 

[SteveWA]

Also a potentially large supporter base due to the significant Kiwi, PI, UK and South African migrants populations in Perth. Not only will they come onboard if the team shows sustained success but their offspring will become rusted on supporters and local players in time.

 

[SteveWA]

Question for the Force fans (and anyone else who might care).

Does this build/rebuild feel different than in the past to you? Are you allowing yourself to dream?

We've had plenty of false dawns and heartbreak. Does this time feel real?

Yes. I've attended several training sessions and the intensity and attention to detail is the standout difference to me. It will take time to translate into consistent results on the field (especially with a young squad and few star players) but I can already see the changes starting to happen.

 

[Mr Pilfer]

I still believe there is not enough depth of quality players in Australia to sustain 5 professional teams.
Out of the 30 odd players in Australia that you could say are international standard we only have 3 or 4 of them, which is why we are having to recruit club quality players from NZ and England or fringe players from the other states.

Unless RugbyAU scrap the Rebels or they come up with a fairer system of spreading out the Wallabies players then I just think we are always going to be struggling and making up the numbers

 

[RugbyReg]

Yep. I guess it’ll happen. But on the weekend we only had two wallaby eligible players playing outside centre. I know the teams will say it’s all about winning and fan engagement but it doesn’t help build depth.

 

[Caputo]

We have to keep the 5 teams. We were not better off without the Force.

 

[Derpus]

I still believe there is not enough depth of quality players in Australia to sustain 5 professional teams.
Out of the 30 odd players in Australia that you could say are international standard we only have 3 or 4 of them, which is why we are having to recruit club quality players from NZ and England or fringe players from the other states.

Unless RugbyAU scrap the Rebels or they come up with a fairer system of spreading out the Wallabies players then I just think we are always going to be struggling and making up the numbers

But Australia have more international quality players than 30. Its just that half are overseas. Ostensibly the Force have the money to bring them back? Or if not the Force then we need to find a way as a nation.

Setting aside the likes of MK, Kerevi, Arnold etc even the older blokes like Foley, Simmons, Phipps (yeah Tah bias) etc would add heaps to this Force team. You could easily build a strong Super side out of foreign based players.

I do not believe we lack the quality or the depth - we just lack the money.

 

[RugbyReg]

Just because we have players playing overseas doesn’t mean they are international quality.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Just because we have players playing overseas doesn’t mean they are international quality.

Or that they want to play Super Rugby/rugby in Australia

 

[dru]

Just because we have players playing overseas doesn’t mean they are international quality.

Or that they want to play Super Rugby/rugby in Australia

Sure to both of these. Still, there are successful Super and Wallaby players who have moved overseas to cash in at the tail end of their careers. There are successful Super [;layers who have headed to the money (and other opportunities to be fair) when for some reason they were good enough for international but were blocked by still better players. And now would be useful back in Aus.

If there was a cashed up team, able to flight some money, that might either hold here, or bring back some of the above players.

If Force were able to make a case for an increase in spending cap, without impacting their commercial success (such as a wealthy benefactor) I'd be happy to see the rules changed.

 

[RugbyReg]

Any Aussie eligible player who returns for overseas should be excluded from the salary cap. Although in fairness the cap is less about evening then talent and more about protecting the clubs from themselves.

 

[Adam84]

Dispensation for returning players perhaps, but then theres the question why a player returning could have higher earnings potential due to salary cap dispensation then a player who remained.

Lets use the hypothetical example of Harry Wilson, under the salary cap the Reds might be only able to afford $400k, but if he goes overseas for 12months then they can pay him $600k because his salary is excluded from the salary cap.

It’s a juggling act for sure.

 

[dru]

Dispensation for returning players perhaps, but then theres the question why a player returning could have higher earnings potential due to salary cap dispensation then a player who remained.

Lets use the hypothetical example of Harry Wilson, under the salary cap the Reds might be only able to afford $400k, but if he goes overseas for 12months then they can pay him $600k because his salary is excluded from the salary cap.

It’s a juggling act for sure.

To make that comparison closer to "apples for apples", the Wilson who stays at home and in this discussion is theoretically WB bound, picks up RA top up. If that is $100K it's getting closer.

 

[RugbyReg]

Dispensation for returning players perhaps, but then theres the question why a player returning could have higher earnings potential due to salary cap dispensation then a player who remained.

Lets use the hypothetical example of Harry Wilson, under the salary cap the Reds might be only able to afford $400k, but if he goes overseas for 12months then they can pay him $600k because his salary is excluded from the salary cap.

It’s a juggling act for sure.

compensation too for players who have come through 'the system'. Don't know what the system is but, rewards home grown?

 

[farva]

But there are a few Wallaby quality players developed through the WA system currently playing overseas - think Curtis Rona or Oli Hoskins. Then there are guys like Luke Burton and Zach Holmes who we would love to have back in Oz given the depth issues at 10 in Aus rugby.

And I’m not convinced that the Force will forever be the weaker cousin. There is a strengthening local comp, and as has been said with ex players staying in Perth the quality of the local comp will increase with improved coaching, etc. As that improves the quality of the Force will improve. There are already some good guys coming through bd that will only improve. Just before they were cut, around a third of the team was WA products and there were plenty of Wallaby quality players there. The Rebels are getting to that point now too with a half dozen local players in their squad and three or four of them capped.

Give it another decade and the Force could conceivably be filling their squad with locally produced super quality players.

 

[Wilson]

Force should be making a play to bring back Hoskins for the end of his career, London Irish look to be in a bit of financial strife right now.

Not sure Burton or Holmes would be anywhere near the conversation for wallabies though. Burton in particular hasn't played in a top tier league since leaving and has most recently been in MLR. Holmes could've been in the past but I think he's missed his window

 

[ForceFan]

2023 Western Force Fortescue Academy​

Fantastic mix of young rugby talent.
12 developed through WA club rugby and 9 from elsewhere.

 

[ForceFan]

Homegrown talent PEARCE’S his way onto the Super scene ​

Video

 

[kiap]

Homegrown talent PEARCE’S his way onto the Super scene ​

Video

Clocked up 45 minutes of soup. Early start for a 19 y.o. prop.

 

[Caputo]

2023 Western Force Fortescue Academy​

Fantastic mix of young rugby talent.
12 developed through WA club rugby and 9 from elsewhere.

Do you have a list of positions for the 21 in the Academy