Matt Gitteau

[mezza]

I heard yesterday morning on ABC radio that Matt Gitteau's manager was going "door to door" in Canberra pimping for sponsors!!

This was in todays West Australian. Sigh...... I think we have lost him. :'(


Force put $1.6m deal on the table for Giteau

28th October 2008, 8:00 WST


Matt Giteau has until Friday to decide whether to accept a $1.6 million deal to stay with the Western Force until 2011.

The deadline was set by a sponsor willing to compensate Giteau for an $800,000 shortfall in 2008-09 payments from collapsed fuel technology company Firepower, plus extend the agreement for the 2010 and 2011 Super 14 seasons.

Giteau travelled to Hong Kong with the Wallabies yesterday.

The Force will also further ratchet tensions in the increasingly fragile SANZAR rugby alliance by pitching for two up-and-coming New Zealand players.

Last month, the Australian Rugby Union opted to allow the four domestic Super 14 clubs to recruit for 2009 two foreign players ? a Test-quality drawcard and a development project.

Force general manager of rugby Mitch Hardy has ruled out a marquee player for next year, instead seeking permission from the ARU to bid for two development players.
The Force?s NZ scouts have compiled a shortlist of young talent to be approached if not on the list of contracted Super 14 players which the NZ Rugby Union will release at 6am on Friday.

NZRU chief Steve Tew said the relationship with the ARU was already strained because of Queensland?s acquisition of All Black flanker Daniel Braid. Tew revealed he was aware the Force and other teams were targeting young players.

?That could very well be a twofront war,? he warned. ?We don?t think it?s helpful for Australia and New Zealand to be actively competing for players in our own markets.?

DAVE HUGHES

 

[Spook]

I heard yesterday morning on ABC radio that Matt Gitteau's manager was going "door to door" in Canberra pimping for sponsors!!

This was in todays West Australian. Sigh...... I think we have lost him. :'(

Cry me a farking river

 

[RugbyReg]

THE Brumbies, with the help of a third-party sponsorship, are set to outbid the Western Force for the services of Australia five-eighth Matt Giteau.

Giteau left Canberra two years ago to join the Force in a deal that made him the highest paid player in Australia. But part of the package was a third-party sponsorship with failed fuel technology company Firepower, which did not pay him all he was owed.

The Super 14 teams are not permitted to solicit third-party agreements, but the players' managers are allowed to strike separate sponsorship deals.

Giteau's management is in discussions with companies in Perth to replace the Firepower sponsorship, but there is speculation he is attracting as much, if not more, corporate support for a return to Canberra.

"I don't think his manager will have any difficulty sourcing corporate support for Matt Giteau regardless of what jersey he is wearing," Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan said.

"Matt is one of the best rugby players in the country and one of the highest profile sportsmen in Australia. All I know is after 15 years in the sports management industry, if a player presents value he will find support."

Ok, so its a commercial world and players are entitled (I guess) to maximise their earning potential, etc. But this riles me a bit. Now, as a QLDer I should be anti-Force for the poaching they did to us. But I thought Gits went over there for the opportunity to stretch his wings so to speak? To be a leader? Prove himself as a 10 etc?

Has he really done this? Seems damn disingenuous to me. Now obviously there must be some other factors in this, such as the Mitchell rumours? Isn't Gits's girlfriend a West Aussie?

For someone who has so much potential and has failed to show it consistently as I think he needs to (at least in my opinion), I think I'd prefer him to really just knuckle down and focus on his rugby rather than his contract. Of course I lay a large portion of the blame for this on his Manager. And all footy managers.

I am almost inspired to become a Jerry Maguire type player manager and start trying to influence some young stars far beyond just the number of "0's" on their contract. Gits needs to find his kwan!

 

[brokendown gunfighter]

he was handling himself--oops I mean managing himself, for a while there

 

[disco]

I'm with Noddy I think Gits should stay at the Force & try to make them semi finals regulars rather than go back to the Brumbies.

Wherever Gits goes his boyfriend Drew Mitchell is sure to follow also.

It's good in a way that we would have an Aussie super 14 team capable of winning the super 14 but for the good of the Wallabies I think we'd be better off with senior Wallabies spread out amongst the 4 teams.

Bianca Franklin is a West Aussie.

 

[formeropenside]

I don't really care, but it would serve the Force right if Giteau was re-poached. I tend to feel players should play for their "local" side, and Gits is one of the real Brumbies players, rather than a NSW or Qld poach.

 

[disco]

don't really care, but it would serve the Force right if Giteau was re-poached. I tend to feel players should play for their "local" side, and Gits is one of the real Brumbies players, rather than a NSW or Qld poach.

I hear what your saying but Australian Rugby needs the Western Force for the good of the game & they need some big name players to help grow the game out West.

 

[TOCC]

I don't really care, but it would serve the Force right if Giteau was re-poached. I tend to feel players should play for their "local" side, and Gits is one of the real Brumbies players, rather than a NSW or Qld poach.

i dont think there is anything wrong with the Force's recruiting, they did the best with the parameters in which they were allowed to operate.

I say this grudgingly since i am a Reds fan, but it isnt the Forces fault with what happened in the poaching department, the ARU should really have opened up different avenues for the Force to recruit players.

I mean, why is the marquee player system only being introduced now when it was quite obvious that the Aus S14 teams were in a stronger need for this 2 years ago?

 

[naza]

I hope the Brumbies sign him and bench him for 2 years.

 

[formeropenside]

don't really care, but it would serve the Force right if Giteau was re-poached. I tend to feel players should play for their "local" side, and Gits is one of the real Brumbies players, rather than a NSW or Qld poach.

I hear what your saying but Australian Rugby needs the Western Force for the good of the game & they need some big name players to help grow the game out West.

I disagree; Australian rugby was doing fine without the Force (or a 4th, let alone a 5th team!).

 

[TOCC]

don't really care, but it would serve the Force right if Giteau was re-poached. I tend to feel players should play for their "local" side, and Gits is one of the real Brumbies players, rather than a NSW or Qld poach.

I hear what your saying but Australian Rugby needs the Western Force for the good of the game & they need some big name players to help grow the game out West.

I disagree; Australian rugby was doing fine without the Force (or a 4th, let alone a 5th team!).

ha are you kidding, sometimes you have to look at the broader picture, the Western Force have expanded well into WA, and have helped spread the code well over there.

Not only that, having a extra team has opened up more positions for juniors and academy players to assist in more young players following there dreams of becoming a pro rugby player.

the benefits of the Force are quite exstensive.

 

[Gagger]

For those of us working for corporations that make money - if we get offered jobs with that pay more money are we disloyal to take it? We know our companies would axe us if they needed to.

I reckon this is exactly the same for pro footy players. It's a job (which they can't rely on past their early 30s) and they need to maximise their earnings.

The only extenuating circumstances might be if it's moving away from your home team, but for Giteau in this situation it's the opposite.

As for the 5th team argument; would Pocock, O'Connor and Cross be on this tour without the Force?

 

[Pfitzy]

Well said Gagger. I think if people want to whore themselves around like the rest of us, then they've every right to. Giteau would be a perfect acquisition for the Brumbies given they've lost a couple of hundred S12/14 and Test caps in the last couple of years.

 

[formeropenside]

...

As for the 5th team argument; would Pocock, O'Connor and Cross be on this tour without the Force?

Perhaps, probably not, and probably. Dont forget that in 05 all of Ioane, Houston and TPN were blooded without a S14 cap to their name.

Without the Force, Pocock would have got game time for Qld behind Croft this year (since McVerry left for Japan) and perhaps done enough for OzA; certainly for Oz U-20.

O'Connor probably would not have played S14; then again, how many games did he in fact play? He's a 7's rep and might well have done that from Qld Academy.

Cross would have gone to the Tahs (most likely) if there was no Force, and had a run in the centres there. Since Tah selection automatically qualifies one for a Wallaby jersey, I'd say Cross would have gone on the tour.

 

[TOCC]

...

As for the 5th team argument; would Pocock, O'Connor and Cross be on this tour without the Force?

Perhaps, probably not, and probably. Dont forget that in 05 all of Ioane, Houston and TPN were blooded without a S14 cap to their name.

Without the Force, Pocock would have got game time for Qld behind Croft this year (since McVerry left for Japan) and perhaps done enough for OzA; certainly for Oz U-20.

O'Connor probably would not have played S14; then again, how many games did he in fact play? He's a 7's rep and might well have done that from Qld Academy.

Cross would have gone to the Tahs (most likely) if there was no Force, and had a run in the centres there. Since Tah selection automatically qualifies one for a Wallaby jersey, I'd say Cross would have gone on the tour.

Are you serious?

Imagine how screwed we would be right now in the lock and fullback positions, not to mention that fact the amount of players we would have lost overseas or to the other code.

 

[whocares]

...

As for the 5th team argument; would Pocock, O'Connor and Cross be on this tour without the Force?

Perhaps, probably not, and probably. Dont forget that in 05 all of Ioane, Houston and TPN were blooded without a S14 cap to their name.

Without the Force, Pocock would have got game time for Qld behind Croft this year (since McVerry left for Japan) and perhaps done enough for OzA; certainly for Oz U-20.

O'Connor probably would not have played S14; then again, how many games did he in fact play? He's a 7's rep and might well have done that from Qld Academy.

Cross would have gone to the Tahs (most likely) if there was no Force, and had a run in the centres there. Since Tah selection automatically qualifies one for a Wallaby jersey, I'd say Cross would have gone on the tour.

Bit of sting there fos...... I like it

But in terms of Pocock, I dont think he would have made it. next year definatly but not this year. Mainly because playing behind someone for two years is not as good as starting and im not sure he would have develped as much without the gametime that he got.

 

[disco]

I disagree; Australian rugby was doing fine without the Force (or a 4th, let alone a 5th team!).

Australian Rugby is yet to receive the full benefits of the 4th team yet but it will start to show over the next 5 years when the Wallabies are able to produce year in year out which is something we've struggled to do as a rugby nation.

We've usually been good in cycles & been able to produce good teams every 3 or 4 years with about 3 or 4 years of kak in between.

If you look at the pro Era we were shit from 96-98 good from 99-2001 2002 was ok but we were on the decline. 2003 was pretty shit except for a certain semi final.

In 2004 we actually played some very good rugby but had that ability to fall short at the last hurdle.

2005/06/07 were basically very poor except 1 or 2 good games but all in all it was 3 years of shit.

2008 has been an improvement except two horrible hidings from SA in JoBurg & NZ in Brotown but we still don't have a major trophy in the cabinet so it's probably similar to 2002 but I feel we are on the way up.

With the Force giving players like Richard Brown, Pocock & O'Conner plenty of gametime it's helped build a little bit of depth which was so badly needed.

 

[Ash]

Giteau threatens to walk if Force don't pay $1m

Dave Hughes | October 30, 2008

WALLABIES star Matt Giteau has threatened to walk out on the Western Force before the next season if he is not paid more than $1 million owed him by failed sponsor Firepower.

Such action would require him to take legal action against both Rugby WA and the Australian Rugby Union, with which he has a separate contract to play for the Force until the end of next year.

Giteau, 26, joined the Force last year after securing a personal three-year deal with Firepower, worth an estimated $2m, to supplement his rugby earnings. He has only received money for 2007. The Force has facilitated a compromise arrangement in which Giteau would receive $800,000 in compensation for this year and the next, plus the same again for a further two seasons - but only if he commits to the Perth club until the 2011 World Cup. The offer expires tomorrow afternoon.

Negotiations between Giteau and the Force are at an impasse, with the five-eighth asking to be paid in full the amount due him from Firepower before he considers extending his stay.

A source close to the discussions revealed Giteau felt the Force have an obligation to make good on the promises that lured him to Perth from his hometown of Canberra and had warned possible courses of action included seeking an immediate release if his requirements were not met.

The suggestion horrified the Force, who cannot do more than they have achieved in arranging partial compensation for Giteau and other players for the deals they did with elusive Firepower founder Tim Johnston.

"I'd be surprised and disappointed if it came to that," Force chief executive Greg Harris said yesterday. "We consider him integral to our viability."

Giteau is in Hong Kong with the Wallabies and could not be contacted.

 

[formeropenside]

Go Gits go!

If the Force have not honoured his contract, he should get out ASAP.

 

[RugbyReg]

Well if the 4s guaranteed the money from firepower then, they are dumb, and should pay it.