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Hapless Force sink deeper into the quicksand they're built on
John Connolly | January 18, 2009
THE uneasiness at the Western Force is not a great way for any team to start a season. Although coaching restrictions were lifted on January 5, you have to wonder what on earth is going on at Perth when 30 of 36 players and 10 staff sign a petition to complain about their coach, John Mitchell. It is a sad first for Australian sport.
The Western Force board has a tough decision to make. Mitchell has a contract with the club until 2011, though it is my understanding he's sent out feelers to Britain to see what jobs are available there.
Mitchell finds himself in a tough place because it's easier for the board to sack one coach rather than over 30 players and staff. It may only be in time that we find out how the situation at the Force has got to this, and the part, if any, played by Mitchell's approach to coaching. But the situation again highlights the pressure a coach lives with.
To be a coach in any sport, you need man-management skills, you must be able to work with the players to get a result and you obviously need an in-depth knowledge of the game. You don't have to be the greatest coach in the world to get results, but you do need the players' respect, and that is normally gained by showing mutual respect and displaying fairness.
We saw at the Brumbies a few years ago the situation arise where the players reacted to an issue they had with their coach by running the show themselves, but they were a more experienced playing group than the Force.
The Force find themselves on the defensive at a time their Super 14 rivals are talking up their own chances to win the title. The Western Force have world-class players, including Matt Giteau, Ryan Cross, Nathan Sharpe, David Pocock and Drew Mitchell, and I thought they were going to be realistic semi-finals chances this season. However, the issue will surface again in the future, and it'll affect their form. I'm afraid they're more likely to finish closer to 14th than first.
It's a fact of sporting life that boards can make the wrong choice when appointing a coach - that happens through a lack of knowledge. It has occurred a few times over the past few years and it will continue in the years to come.
The situation at the Force is different. Professional team sport is about living in each others' pockets, and rugby is different in that regard to football where they have a director of coaching and a multitude of coaches; American football has teams within teams. We've just witnessed in cricket the Kevin Pietersen-Peter Moores fiasco in England.
However, because a rugby team lives in each others' pockets, flaws in a player's or coach's character are eventually exposed. You quickly learn if a player or coach is selfish, whether it is all about him or whether he has a poor work ethic.
While most international sports teams have large numbers of support staff - for instance, the South African cricket team in Australia has a team of 11 support staff looking after 14 players - the buck stops with the coach.
It is tough, and how the coach handles the pressure is the key to how he survives. Pressure is what changes people. It affects your reasoning, your moods and how you handle your staff and players - all of whom require the personal touch, and in rugby that can mean up to 40 people.
We've seen AFL and rugby league coaches stressing out and snapping in their box. All top-line coaches have been there, and it isn't fun.
Mitchell left the All Blacks under a cloud because of the way he supposedly handled issues. He joined the Western Force, and they enjoyed outstanding success under the direction of former chief executive Peter O'Meara, who understood the ins and outs of Australian rugby. A good operator, he was on top of most issues.
The new chief, Greg Harris, is finding the going tough. Membership has decreased 20 per cent a year over the past two years and their ground at Subiaco is unsuitable for rugby.
The Force have been marred by many problems. Their biggest one has been the tyranny of distance and competing with NSW, Queensland and the ACT for players.
They also endured the Firepower fiasco, the sacking of star halfback Matt Henjak after he broke teammate Haig Sare's jaw in a bar-room brawl, the quokka episode and now perceived problems with the coach have surfaced.
I've always said the Force are, to an extent, built on quicksand because of the distance from the eastern seaboard and the fierce competition they face from AFL.
A month before a match ball is even inflated, it's obvious the Force face a tough year ahead.
Under O'Meara, the Western Force drew huge crowds, managed to recruit international-class players and, at their best, it took 18 months for them to match what it took Queensland 100 years to achieve.
However, Queensland have the foundations to support the sport through the lean times.
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...e#contentSwap1
Well......isn't that a quality piece of journalism!
I just can't figure out the point of that story...it brings nothing to the table that's not a month old...It says that Peter O'Meara was a good operator who knew rugby but then goes on to lambast virtually every big decision he made and says Greg Harris is a lightweight but accepts without question, his view that Subiaco is unsuitable for playing rugby....John, before you take a job in the future, I'd suggest some sort of aptitude test. You've proven you're not a write, and I'd suggest your time at the Wallabies suggest you weren't much better at coaching rugby.
wanker
C'mon the![]()
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Knuckles Connolly backing his old QLD mate Peter O'Meara... what a load of rubbish... the good (CEO) operator who recommended firepower to the Force board, that’s laughable... Connolly was the worst Wallabies coach of all time...
Knuckles banging the QLDRU drum once again…![]()
john connolly has gone wacko jacko. no wait.. he always has been.
Be There. Be Heard. Be The Force Behind The Force
Yes, the buck stops with the Coach- the first person who will get fired if there's a crap season in the offing (it's never the 15 blokes actually on the field who get blame for losing- it's true of most sports).However, because a rugby team lives in each others' pockets, flaws in a player's or coach's character are eventually exposed. You quickly learn if a player or coach is selfish, whether it is all about him or whether he has a poor work ethic.
While most international sports teams have large numbers of support staff - for instance, the South African cricket team in Australia has a team of 11 support staff looking after 14 players - the buck stops with the coach.
They also pulled themselves up from finishing last in 2006 to become genuine contenders, who can mix it with the best teams in the comp on thier day. They also have unearthed and developed talents that have gone through to the Wallabies (Brown, Pocock). They've seen local talent, in the form of Haylett-Petty and Longbottom rise to S14 level despite the "fierce competition they face from AFL. " Guess it didn't gel with the rest of his thesis to point any of that out.They also endured the Firepower fiasco, the sacking of star halfback Matt Henjak after he broke teammate Haig Sare's jaw in a bar-room brawl, the quokka episode and now perceived problems with the coach have surfaced.
What's with slagging off Greg Harris- that membership decline happened on O'Meara's watch and was was partly inevitable (novelty factor /honeymoon period wearing off) and alot of the rest is directly attributable to the latter point- which Harris and the board are making moves towards rectifying. Maybe Knuckles has something against a NSWelshman in the job.He joined the Western Force, and they enjoyed outstanding success under the direction of former chief executive Peter O'Meara, who understood the ins and outs of Australian rugby. A good operator, he was on top of most issues.
The new chief, Greg Harris, is finding the going tough. Membership has decreased 20 per cent a year over the past two years and their ground at Subiaco is unsuitable for rugby.
I'd argue Queensland dont have the 'foundations'- they have 'the establishment' that will prop them up. Left to their own devices they'd dissapear under the NRL. There's a difference.Under O'Meara, the Western Force drew huge crowds, managed to recruit international-class players and, at their best, it took 18 months for them to match what it took Queensland 100 years to achieve.
However, Queensland have the foundations to support the sport through the lean times.
Apologies for the essay- I don't enjoy waking up to utter crap like this on a Sunday morning
What a load.
Last edited by Swee_82; 18-01-09 at 09:32.
What a load of shit. Just someone else trying to cash in with a negative article about the Force, nothing new that I read.
That started over Kevin Pieterson wanting Michael Vaugh selected for a tour and it went downhill from when he wasn't selected. How is this applicable to the Force?
Last edited by jargan83; 18-01-09 at 09:45. Reason: I spell like a retard
knuckles seems to be writing an artivle for the sake of writing an atricle...
apart from that fact that he is a complete and utter twat. does his article actually bring anything else to the table that wasnt already brought there by god knows how many other articles?
was there ever a point to his article that does nothing but to point out as many perceived negativities in the force as he could imagine? i mean honestly. when is the eastern states going to grow up and get over the fact hat melbourne didnt get the 4th team in australia? so what SANZAR ruined youtake your monopoly. why not take your frustration out on them? wouldnt that be the prudent measure?
knuckles IQ must be making way for all that extra weight he is putting on...
Even with the dropping membership we still outnumber all the other Australian Super 14teams don't we? Last I heard we were over 10,000 which is what the Brumbies usually get and they're the next best and they've been a highly successful team.
Have John's beloved Reds not been hapless for the last few years? Had he not left of his own volition would Eddie Jones have not been in a similar situation as John Mitchell?
Taking cheap shots at someone/something while they are down just makes you look cheap.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.