VALENTINE FEELS THE FORCE

[robyn <3]

so we have o'young, stannard, mcgrath, clarke AND valentine now... hmm...

[jargan83]

i assume that Adam Clarke is still contracted??

[jazza93]

who told you

[benny]

clarke's still contracted till the end of 2009. suppose Valentie would be a good asset for a local club. can't see him getting a run in front of chuckie and COY, i would love to see clarkey getting a start in 2009. has a good resume .

[benny]

any news on Stephen moore talking about signing players ??

[BLR]

Valentine will DEFENITELY get a start ahead of Stannard, that's the reality....as for ahead of O'Young, we'll have to see what Mitchell goes with, Valentine will probably get a guarantee of certain playing time...

[Burgs]

He's just not a very good Scumhalf anyway I'm sorry, if he was he wouldn't be available.
We should be focusing on developing new ones, whether the current ones or newies, but Valentine is a has been or never was with a showbag Test Cap.

[gotheforce]

IMHO, Valentine will get ahead of Chucky at scrumhalf, though maybe not COY. Valentine though not the best scrumhalf in Australia, is still up there ahead of Chucky. But COY's consistency will earn him the starting spot.

[jargan83]

I might have to agree with Burgs, if he was any good he would probably be playing for NSW alot more instead of club rugby in Sydney. How old is Valentine anyway??

[BLR]

I might have to agree with Burgs, if he was any good he would probably be playing for NSW alot more instead of club rugby in Sydney. How old is Valentine anyway??

Not neccessarily, can I point you towards the example of a one Mr Staniforth. NSW are known for thier shocking player management. Valentine I am iffy about, I don't really know much about him but if he has a half decent pass and some physicality he will be a good asset. And who knows, maybe he will surprise us and use the chance to become a very solid scrum half. It wouldn't be the first time we saw an outcast go above and beyond and excel at the Force.

[Burgs]

He'll be 26 at the start of the '09 season Jargs.

[James]

clarke's still contracted till the end of 2009. suppose Valentie would be a good asset for a local club. can't see him getting a run in front of chuckie and COY, i would love to see clarkey getting a start in 2009. has a good resume .

Are you certain Benny? I thought all he got offered was a one year deal for this year. Or have their extended it?

[jargan83]

at 26 he's definately not over the hill i guess, if he got signed competition for spots never hurt

[Jess]

I thought Clarke was contracted til 09 as well... but I'm not 100% sure.

His neck injury was potentially career ending so I think it will be a wait-and-see case with him. Keep him around because he's a talented little bloke and see if his injury won't stop him from playing again. But if when he recovers, the doctors say he still shouldn't ever play again (lets hope it doesn't come to this) then I guess the Force just want to have some more options.

But look to within WA first guys before you go abroad looking for halfbacks the other super 14 franchises don't want.

[KenyaQuin]

I've no problems with Valentine coming over. Sometimes a move to a different club with a different philosophy and culture will do wonders to a player. The recruiting team obviously see some potential in Valentine, a short one year contract to see how he fits will probably be the way to go with an option for an extension.