Looking ahead to the 2010 Super 14: Western Force

[travelling_gerry]

http://www.blogspotrugby.com/looking...western-force/

Out of South Afrtica


Looking ahead to the 2010 Super 14: Western Force

01 February 2010 in Super 14 by Dooley
comments (0)



The Western Force have displayed some exciting rugby since joining the Super 14 competition in 2006, but have failed to achieved the desired results overall. 2010 will be a good year for them to prove that they can be real contenders for the play off rounds. You will notice I don’t mention anything further than the play-offs in this segment, because, as we saw in the 2009 Currie Cup, anything can happen in the final four, so getting to the semi-finals should be what each team is looking for at this point.


The controversy surrounding coach, John Mitchell’s fallout with some senior players, namely Matt Giteau, should be put to rest this season, with Giteau and fellow Wallaby, Drew Mitchell deciding to leave the force.
Not everyone within the team has the same mindset about Mitchell. Young Wallaby star, James O’ Connor , when asked about his decisionto stay with the Perth based franchise, in a recent Exclusive Q&A Sesh with BlogSpotRugby, had this to say:

“I always wanted to stay in Perth, it’s a great environment to play rugby and I’m very much enjoying being coached by John Mitchel and playing for the Force!…”

The force gained a total of 4 bonus points for losing by 7 or less points in 2009, two of them by one point. Had one of those results gone the way of the Force, they would have made it to the top four.

Players to watch:

• David “Bam Bam” Pockock and his biceps
• New recruit, Andre Pretorius should allow for some exciting rugby in the #10 jumper.
• James O’ Connor will be looking to continue on his impressive season in 2009.
• Ryan Cross will be looking to put his hand up for more regular selection in the Wallaby team.
• Front rowers, Pek Cowan and Matt Dunning, will want to stamp some king of authority up front.
• Cameron Shepard can be a try scoring machine for the Force.

These are the kind of tries they can score:

[YOUTUBE]YB43N4JLOs4[/YOUTUBE]

Possible concerns:

• A miss is as good as a mile, they will want to put their close loss habit behind them.
• Their home win record at Subiaco Oval desperately needs improvement.
• Possible lack of experienced depth, depending on injuries

BSR’s prediction for the Force’s best possible finish: 5th

[tragic]

Well, their home win record at Spewbie isn't going to improve, but I'm certain that their home win record at MES is going to be excellent!

[Burgs]

Shame you have to cross the ocean to get a bit of positive press, plus I'm always a sucker for a colourful map...

[zimeric]

never get tired watching that clip... Sheps the try scoring machine.. Digby's show & step and Boofs two awesome tries! brings back memories and makes me even more excited to see what they dish up this year!

[blueandblack]

Article needs a few corrections (spelling, force -> Force, etc)

[normie]

Interesting map; What is the name of the state in between of Victoria and NSW?

[Burgs]

Brumtopia...

[WF2006]

The Kingdom of Muddie?

[Burgs]

The Longyard

[James]

I think you guys have uncovered South Africa's plot to take over part of Australia.

[Tazzmania]

Not sure if any of you saw Sportsline on Sky News this morning, some idiot guest saying how useless union is now that the ELV are gone, and The Reds and Force are absolute losers and will come know where and the Brumbies and Warratahs are the best we have in the "second tier" teams with a chance, but unlikely to do anything.

I wonder if he realised that Fox actually presents all Super 14 live and that a good many of us only buy fox for the rugby.

[tragic]

Probably not, Tazz, but he does sound a bit stupid.

[jargan83]

I wonder if he realised that Fox actually presents all Super 14 live and that a good many of us only buy fox for the rugby.

I'm sure a good many people who subscribe to Foxtel don't just do it for the Super 14