John Mitchell won't extend contract with Force
Western Force coach John Mitchell has confirmed he will step down after serving out his current Super 14 contract.
Mitchell, who coached New Zealand for two years before taking over at the Force in time for their debut season of 2006, is contracted to the Perth-based franchise until the end of the 2011 season but won't seek reappointment when that deal expires.
The Force are yet to win a game this year and are rooted to the bottom of the table with just one bonus point to show from five games.
But Mitchell's management, The Fordham Company, claim their client made the decision before the season started.
"Because of the circumstances of the Force's injury-plagued start to the year, John's focus recently has been squarely on the team and not on himself,'' the agency's chief executive John Fordham said in a statement.
"But because Vern (Force chief executive Vern Reid) has been keen for some time to have a chat about John's future plans, I decided this morning to be totally transparent with him.
"The Force now has ample time to recruit a replacement and John always wanted to give them the courtesy of a long window.''
Mitchell said he remained committed to seeing out his current contract.
"Admittedly, the club has had a tough time this year, having lost a number of current Wallabies and a marquee Springbok international through injury,'' Mitchell said.
"But I must say the resolve and commitment of the players remains particularly strong, as they comprehensively demonstrated in our gutsy narrow loss to the Waratahs last weekend.
"The Force has achieved a lot in the short time it's been competing in one of the toughest rugby tournaments in the world.''
Mitchell's time in the sun over long ago
Mitchell's time in the sun over long ago
TIM CLARKE
March 24, 2010 - 7:24PM
John Mitchell's departure will be the longest farewell tour since Frank Sinatra - but Tim Clarke has suspicion it will not last until 2011.
It will be the longest farewell tour since Frank Sinatra, or Elvis, or John Farnham.
But that is what John Mitchell and the Western Force have apparently agreed to, with the announcement the former All Black coach will leave the club at the end of his current contract.
That deal, brokered before the team launched a mutiny in the build up to last season, runs out in 2011.
So that gives the team the rest of this year, and the whole of next year's Super Rugby season, to impress a bloke who is not going to be there.
A strange situation indeed.
Mitchell's time in Perth should be remembered fondly for the immediate boost he gave WA rugby and the Force by choosing to take on a new franchise.
Anyone who has coached the All Blacks, particularly with significant success, is a big rugby name. And for him to come to Perth without an established culture, or any players, was a brave and forward thinking move.
He arrived in WA with a reputation of being single-minded, at times ruthless, and not universally well liked in his home country.
Given the fervour New Zealand rugby operates under, it is understandable how he might have rubbed some people up the wrong way.
But as Mitchell's tenure has gone on, his communication with fellow coaches, fans, WA rugby staff and the media has deteriorated, and those following rugby closely in WA saw some of the traits so disliked across the Tasman.
That reached its nadir in the build up to last season, when the relationship between players and coach got so bad Mitchell was told to take some gardening leave and let his offsiders do the hard yards before Christmas.
Thirteen games later Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell were gone.
The communication issue was evident again today, when the announcement that the only coach the Force has ever had was leaving came not from the club, but from Mitchell's manager John Fordham – and the club had no-one immediately available to comment.
Where Mitchell will go next will not be the greatest concern of the Force support, although a role in South Africa would look the likeliest.
Where the Force go in the meantime, with a coach leaving and a team in transition, is anyone's guess.
But the best move might be to suggest to Mitchell his departure happens a lot sooner than the end of next season, so both parties can plan for the future rather than draw out the finish.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...0324-qwl1.html