With the finals upon us and the Force now out of the running, it’s time to look back with the official G&GR 2013 Western Force Season Review
Final ladder position: 13th
Overall season vibe
For long suffering Force fans, it was a case of “oh no, not again”. Apart from a couple of games where they were beaten comprehensively, many games left us all wondering what might have been.
So many games were decided by only a few points that overall 2013 feels like an opportunity missed more than anything. Sitting among the army of blue, as I have done for the last five seasons, you could sense an air of frustration from the fans as the team got themselves close enough to win and yet couldn’t pull it off. Whether it was poor option taking at the wrong moment, running out of gas or giving away penalties, there was a constant theme of “if we’d just done this or that then we might have won”.
There were definitely improvements in general play and the team appears to be inching in the right direction, but there are still issues with attacking patterns and composure in crucial moments. The pack fronted up manfully in nearly every game and the Force 
boasts one of the competitions better back rows, but there were too many times when possession was either too static or kicked away. The defence was a worry early in the season too, but that did improve markedly towards the end.
If the Force 2013 season was a movie it would be.
Groundhog Day. Every week you could just feel in almost every game the same thing was about to happen, especially late in the piece. There were a couple of notable exceptions, but overall it felt like history repeating itself constantly.
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Key moment
Probably the first game of the season when two Force players were binned and the wheels fell off late in the game. Start as you mean to continue!
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Best Match
The win against the Crusaders. That was as courageous a defensive effort as you’d want to see, against a team who could go all the way this year.
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Worst Match
The loss to the Brumbies. That was an absolute flogging and a football lesson from the Ponies.
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Player of the season
Kyle Godwin. In a backline that still struggled to find its rhythm this season, he was a shining light. If he’s not a future Wallaby, I’ll eat my hat.
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Star on the rise
Godwin again.
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Player movement
There has been a clean out of the squad and some key signings for next year. Dane Haylett-Petty is returning from France, Luke Morahan has been signed from the Reds, Ian Prior from the Brumbies and Wilhelm Steenkamp from the Bulls. Local product Zack Holmes will be returning, after playing for the Brumbies and there is also the chance James O’Connor could also be coming back West.
Richard Brown is leaving to take up a well earned opportunity in Japan and Brett Sheehan looks like retiring from rugby altogether. Both were great stalwarts in their time at the club and will be missed by Force fans.
Stat of the Year
Goalkicking. The Force only converted 62% of their opportunities into points (the worst in the competition) with the boot and their opposition shot 75%. In a season with a good proportion of tight games, accurate goal kicking would have won the Force more games.
