2015 Squad Contract Renewals

[SNOB]

Looks a good signing for us.
Leister Tigers have picked up Brad Thorn for a year! Not a bad replacement.

[G_Beard]

I like the cut of his jib!

Great jib!

[valzc]

It's a wonderful jib!

[GIGS20]

I don't give a crap about his jib, I want to see him hurting people

[Timbo]

I don't give a crap about his jib, I want to see him hurting people

So you're more interested in the size of his boom?

[Alison]

Maybe it's just a 'Genia' at this stage.

I did notice that the Force used the words "has agreed to terms" in their article. That sounds very Genia-like to me. Hopefully Mafi is more of a gentleman than Genia and the hold up is just ARU bureaucracy!

[valzc]

I don't give a crap about his jib, I want to see him hurting people

That's what the jib's for!

[wholetruth]

This has some interesting points. It seems we have permission for a third marquee with Mafi and maybe more to come. Good on you Sinderberry.

Force snares Tongan ace
Nick Taylor The West Australian
August 16, 2014, 10:58 am

Western Force have scored a crucial off-field victory to snare bullocking Tongan international forward Steve Mafi from English powerhouses, Leicester Tigers, for two years.

They successfully negotiated with the Australian Rugby Union to increase their overseas player quota and sign Mafi as their third marquee player.

_The West Australian _ revealed on Monday the Force had opened talks with the ARU about increasing their dispensation for two marquee and six development players.

Further overseas signings are on the cards and the Force are understood to be talking to a New Zealand winger. They have already re-signed marquee scrum-half Alby Mathewson, a Kiwi, for two more seasons when, under ARU rules, he would normally have been forced to leave this year.

South African second- rower Wilhelm Steenkamp is their other marquee player.

Blindside flanker Mafi, 118kg and 201cm, can also play second row and will fill the hole left by Hugh McMeniman who has gone to Japan.

He had one year left on his contract with Tigers, who he joined in 2010, but an agreement was reached during a recent visit to Perth.

Mafi, 24, born and bred in Sydney, represented Australia at schoolboy and under-20 level before being chosen for Tonga.

He was keen to return to Australia from Leicester when his first child was born in Sydney last year.

"It's great to have the opportunity to come back to Australia to play with the Force and be closer to my family," Mafi said.

"I've always had an eye on coming back. I played under Foles (coach Michael Foley) and it's always good to know the coach wherever you're playing.

"I've played with guys like Wykesy (Sam Wykes), Ben McCalman and Nathan Charles in the Australian under-20 squad, so it'll be great to play with them again as well as against a lot of others that I know."

Foley, who coached Mafi at the Waratahs, said he would add potency to the pack.

"Steve's growth, both physically and technically, has been tremendous," he said.

How the story broke yesterday

·Perth Bayswater utility back Dylan Timu has won the 2014 RugbyWA's player of the year award. He beat Wests Scarborough's Chance Bunce and Kalamunda's Ryan Black to take the PG Hampshire trophy.

[jargan83]

I did notice that the Force used the words "has agreed to terms" in their article. That sounds very Genia-like to me. Hopefully Mafi is more of a gentleman than Genia and the hold up is just ARU bureaucracy!

Your chip is showing

[shasta]

the hold up is just ARU bureaucracy!

Surely not. What on Earth could lead you to such a thought?

[wholetruth]

From The West story
He had one year left on his contract with Tigers, who he joined in 2010, but an agreement was reached during a recent visit to Perth.
He was keen to return to Australia from Leicester when his first child was born in Sydney last year.
"It's great to have the opportunity to come back to Australia to play with the Force and be closer to my family," Mafi said.
I'm happy reading that and confident all is in order. The Force would not have issued their statement unless they were confident, unlike Geniagate when they didn't confirm anything.

[Herbasimplex]

Looks like a very able replacement for MMM. Don't buy the want to play in Perth to be closer to my family line though, he might as well be in the UK

Still got some good years left in him as well.

[AndyS]

I have no doubt he'll be closer to his folks than Britain, but would worry that if that is his big motivation there are at least four other places that would be closer still and happy to poach should he make a successful return.

[UNCLE BOOG]

thats where the Culture and fans come into it Andy. If he is looking for a soft landing strip into Australian Rugby, then it is upto the club and its family to show that "yes, you could now go off to Sydney, but look at how well we have treated you during your short contract here, and wouldnt you much prefer to be a part of this club culture?"
Something that Foley has often stated is a priority of the club, to build that culture that attracts and retains players.

[AndyS]

Which I'm sure his club in Europe did, for all the good it apparently did them. I'm just conscious that we've lost lots of players singing that tune, and sometimes it may even have been true. If his family is genuinely a consideration, it is the sort of thing that takes precedence regardless. I would be pretty sure the Badger was happy enough here, but family is family.