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Giteau and Rona as a centre-pairing?! Who would have thought?!
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Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
if they are going to hold more of these forums would it be possible to move them around as its a long way for some people
Can't say any of that would mean much. All those things from the HPU would be equally available to the other teams for the asking, and from the sounds of it the "eyes on the ground" may even be theirs. Certainly none of it says that they would be prepared to bid for a player against the other teams, or do any of the things that might get up their noses to our benefit. And the last is just meaningless when we (and the ARU) have singularly failed to figure out what the current standard is, let alone the future. All in all though, it just sounds like same old, same old - better stats and more recruiting over east is going to do nothing; we'll still be fifth choice of five.
This on the other hand is potentially interesting. Not the last bit - frankly that is just cringeable s***. They'll encourage players who can't get any interest from closer to home to move, the implication being that they'll still be better than anyone here...well thanks so much! But the idea of an actual commitment to developing local players would be great if real. We get first choice of local players, fifth of imports, so I'd rather have a local player developing his game than some import even if he initially begins 20% behind. But...I would have much preferred to hear that there was actually a material commitment from the ARU to fund that development structure and the underlying systems well into the future. After all, we are starting decades behind in the money spent on rugby, if not a century. Words and plans are fine, but show us something where the rubber hits the road.
The ARU, especially with Billy involved, are not as stupid as people make them out to be.
I expect they have recognized that the depth of players in Australian rugby is lacking and that the east coast centric rugby development has had a hand in that. With The history of the Force developing Wallabies that the east coast either didn't want or ignored and with the new 'home grown' Wallabies the Force are providing it would be stupid to ignore the depth of talent that the West has to offer. Melbourne and Canberra don't offer the same pool of players (I'm assuming) as Perth does.
What does it hurt the ARU to continue to fund a 'Future Force' program?
It has been, as far as I'm concerned, a great success.
The Future Force program is exactly what everyone is calling for to solve the issues long term. From my understanding it is funded both locally, ARU and donors. A separate members forum evening will be held on this topic alone as it is the crux of our survival. I believe that it will be both informative as to the hard work that is going on behind the scenes and an encouragement to get more of us involved.
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
I keep wondering about that. Unless he's putting in a proviso or Kearney has told him he's not "in the mix", he is giving up an almost certain end of the season trip to the NH with the Kiwi squad. He either misses Rugby big time or he/his wife are terribly homesick for Perth.
P.S. Wouldn't it be interesting if he signs for the Force but his first game back in WA is the Test at NIB in October.
Last edited by shasta; 05-08-16 at 07:34.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David