John Mitchel quits Force

[WF1964]

Ok, the Force finished 13th, the Lions finished 14th in 2010.
We had him, they've now got him - if nothing else, it will be interesting to see where both teams finish next year.

I will be narky if the Lions finish ahead of us on the ladder, that's for sure.

[CunnamullaFulla]

Certainly no surprise, though definitely a level of disappointment.
It has dropped him slightly in my eyes, but that is starting from a very high base level I might add.
Mitch has had to put up with incredible levels of bullshit on many fronts while doggedly building the Force from scratch, far more than most coaches would come across.
Perhaps he shares responsibility for some of that however, he had to work through it nonetheless.
In his tenure there has been no shortage of off field and off season drama and a player group that is probably over estimated by many of the loyal punters and a poor injury rate. 71 players in 65 matches pays testament to that! However, in the same time he has played a part in producing at least ten Wallabies with more still to come in the next couple of years.
I believe he has laid a fantastic platform for Richard Graham to work from in continuing the story of the Western Force.
Thanks for everything Mitch, you will always be part of fabric of Rugby in WA

Well said
He had nothing to work with in the beginning. It's remarkable that he had the team in semi final contention on a few occasions. He built an indomitable spirit that made players play above themselves and built a great team not necessarily group of great players.
He has moulded many teenagers into wallabies
I doubt anybody else would have done as well. He was the right man at the right time.There is a fundamental difference in the rugby cultures between NZ and Oz. The absence of the Bledisloe cup from our cabinet for 8 seasons suggests which culture is more successful. I think he had trouble dealing with a few limp d1cks.

Watch the Lions rise. That place is a sleeping giant. The bok admire hard rugby. he will be outstanding for them

[Garfiep]

Well said
He had nothing to work with in the beginning. It's remarkable that he had the team in semi final contention on a few occasions. He built an indomitable spirit that made players play above themselves and built a great team not necessarily group of great players.
He has moulded many teenagers into wallabies
I doubt anybody else would have done as well. He was the right man at the right time.There is a fundamental difference in the rugby cultures between NZ and Oz. The absence of the Bledisloe cup from our cabinet for 8 seasons suggests which culture is more successful. I think he had trouble dealing with a few limp d1cks.

Watch the Lions rise. That place is a sleeping giant. The bok admire hard rugby. he will be outstanding for them

You don't have to look to far to the east (well Victoria) to find a coach who had nothing and won and is now giving it a go second time round. Mitchell has been a disappointment for the Force and really should have achieved more considering he was given a blank canvas to start with. Thank you Mr Mitchell, good luck in SA

[The InnFORCEr]

Question: Did Rugby WA have to pay the magic million to buy out his contract?

He was "released" from his contract at his request, not "paid out" to leave by RugbyWA.

[GIGS20]

Question: Did Rugby WA have to pay the magic million to buy out his contract?

bloody hope not. The only positive that could possibly have come from this is the saving in not paying two coaches' salaries next year. He surely would have come cap in hand to the Force, the Lions begging for some compassion and the board should have done what was fair in their own eyes.

A harsher man than I would suggest they should have stopped payments forthwith and ask for backpay of his holday pay......or at least got the Lions to pay out his contract for them.....I would suggest though that a little gratitude should have been shown and a reasonable offer of a payout, commensurate with the impact he's had on the organisation. I still reckon the Force would have made a saving, and there's nothing wrong with grooming friendships on the dark continent.

[Burgs]

"and ask for backpay of his holday pay"
Wonder what Union reps Rugby Coaches...

[GIGS20]

"and ask for backpay of his holday pay"
Wonder what Union reps Rugby Coaches...

I did say a harsher man than I.

There are people out there that will be crucifying him for advancing a rival corporation when he is a leader of ours. I'm not one of them, but I guarantee at least one of the Mitchell haters has had the thought cross the mind......"Why are we paying for him to scout for another club?"

[normie]

Question: Did Rugby WA have to pay the magic million to buy out his contract?

Likely to have been divorce by mutual consent. Both parties may have decided there was more to gain by agreeing to end it all.

[Thequeerone]

Comment from today's West is telling

"There is the very public face, a confident, smiling, sometimes emotional Mitchell who can turn on the charm.

But there is another side, a ruthless, single-minded Mitchell who harbours conspiracy theories and trusts very few.

So much so that the Force players had two names for him: "Mitch" and "Kenny" depending on which one turned up on the day."

full article here

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...-big-surprise/

personally I still wish him well - he did what he could and left us with a team - ok prehaps not the coach to take us forward now but certainly what we achieved under him will still hold a place in history. Wish he had had a major win or a final's spot for us to really remember us by.

[jono]

cheers mitch, all the best.

[MI5_Dog]

Sounds like a man with bi-polar disorder

[brokendown gunfighter]

I wonder who they are going to lineup as an assistant coach?

[Cowboy]

Sounds like a man with bi-polar disorder

Actually dissosiative identity disorder would be a better discription, more than one identity rather than viscious mood swings.

[blueandblack]

By DALE GRANGER From: PerthNow September 03, 2010 1:41PM

FORMER Emirates Western Force coach John Mitchell still regards Perth as home and says he will be keeping a close eye on the club, despite signing for rival Super 15 franchise the Lions of South Africa.
In his first interview since severing ties with the Force, Mitchell told PerthNow broadcast partner Sport FM 91.3’s Corbin Middlemas today that it was a privilege to have coached the Force, but his heart was "in a new place" and it was time to let new coach Richard Graham take the reins.

"I enjoyed my time at the Force, but now I am enjoying coaching in the off-season and that is something I was not able to do for the last six years," Mitchell said of his premature exit from Perth to Johannesburg.

"As a coach I really must be able to continue to coach in competition.

"I've been really enthused and enjoyed the experience of coaching at this time of year and I think over time that became the critical part of the decision (to sign for the Lions)."

He described his move to Perth as coming into an "AFL culture where there was obviously an amateur rugby base that had a very limited knowledge of professionalism and an administration that was always going to be challenged."

On the lows with the Force, Mitchell said: "We lost momentum when we were basically in commercial boom times and unfortunately one major sponsor (Firepower) set the club back in ways that a few players were affected.

"Looking back on that situation control was well out of my hands and culturally it was a poor time for us as a club."

At the time, he said the club was at a critical point, with young fresh players maturing and playing an exciting style that had them were one win away from the semi-finals.

He described beating all Australian Super 14 rivals in 2009 as the "equivalent of winning the 'Triple Crown', a special moment and knocking off every other province (from 2006-2010) was a good starting pont for the club and Richard going forward to build upon the milestone that has been set".

He said the Wallabies, coached by Kiwi compatriot Robbie Deans, showed some naïveté at times but were "playing good football".

"They have a lot of young boys and time between now and the next World Cup," he said.

etc

[farva]

He has had some pretty big set backs to deal with that were well out of his control - the Firepower debacle and the player power issues. Thankfully both of those are out of the picture, and if you look at last season, while we finished 2nd to last, we proved we could match it with the best by beating the Stormers and Crusaders, and getting within a whisker of the Tahs, Brumbies and Bulls.
And the legacy that Mitchell has left Graham is pretty impressive. We now have 5 players in the starting 22 for the Wallabies, including an all Wallaby backrow. We have another 4 that are on the fringes. We have a group of young players that form the backbone of the team that, short of something going wrong, could be together for the next 10 years (Pocock, OConnor, Inman, McCalman, Turner, Hocking, Wykes, Cowen, Charles, Whittaker, Cummins - all proven at S14 level, and all young enough to stay together for a while). Not to mention Cruze Ah-Nau, Siliva Siliva, Kyle Godwin, Battye, PAE, etc that are all newly signed or in the academy.
Managed well, the Force could well become a dominant team in the S14s for a number of years yet.

Thankyou JM, the Force are in a good spot.