Force centre Inman to join Rebels

[tdevil]

Western Force centre Mitch Inman will join the Melbourne Rebels next season after turning down an offer to extend his contract in Perth.

The move comes as a surprise as Inman has cemented the Force No.13 spot and will be behind Stirling Mortlock at the Rebels.

The Rebels used their links to Inman's Sydney University club - his brother Dane has club connections and Rebels assistant Damien Hill coached there - along with Inman's eastern seaboard family ties, to woo him.

However the Force have signed former Australian under-19 playmaker Matt Brandon on a four- week contract.

He will back up James O'Connor on the bench against the Blues on Saturday and Kiwi signing Willie Ripia when he recovers from his foot injury.

Ripia will travel to South Africa for the games against the Lions and Stormers.

A former Queensland Premier Rugby player of the year, Brandon, 24, played for the Reds second XV in the Pacific Rugby Cup this season after returning from Japanese club Yokogawa when it collapsed last year.

Force coach Richard Graham has boosted his back line, where seven players are unavailable.

"With a relatively small squad of 36, including four academy players, the seven injuries have put pressure on our back-line playing stocks and left us with relatively little room to manoeuvre," he said.

The call-up surprised Brandon.

"It has all happened really quickly," he said.

"It has always been my goal to play Super Rugby and I'm looking forward to the opportunity."

Meanwhile the incident in Saturday's clash with the Sharks that left star flanker David Pocock sidelined for up to six weeks is not the only one that angered Force officials, who are unhappy about at least one other incident involving O'Connor.

While it is not unusual for a team to target opposition danger men, it is the manner in which Pocock and O'Connor were dealt with that has caused friction.

Pocock suffered medial ligament damage to his right knee at a ruck as Sharks prop Jannie du Plessis grabbed his head and pulled him backwards.

Super Rugby's governing body SANZAR has refused to take any action over the incident because there was no official Force complaint.

A war of words blew up over the incident with Pocock tweeting after the game: "Next time, I'll break your f*cking neck. Jannie du Plessis, Sharks prop and all-round nice guy. Ha ha, what a good bloke...."

He tried to pour oil on stormy waters by tweeting yesterday: "Got a call from Jannie du Plessis last night - ended up having a good chat. No hard feelings. All sorted."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...o-join-rebels/

[tdevil]

Sorry didn't see it was already posted here:
http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=28391&page=2

[WF1964]

You know, I wish they wouldn't do this - we have enough to be down-hearted about without beginning to read about (in round two) who's leaving.

Combine the bad parts of 2009 and 2010 and that's what we have for 2011 so far.

I need some positive news.

[palitu]

bugger

[Happy]

bloody turn coat lol

[shasta]

Someone will step up and he'll see out 2011 getting splinters in his arse.

[Lonzy]

hmmf ...

[Burgs]

You know, I wish they wouldn't do this - we have enough to be down-hearted about without beginning to read about (in round two) who's leaving.

Combine the bad parts of 2009 and 2010 and that's what we have for 2011 so far.

I need some positive news.

We seem to come around to this every year, where supporters are dead keen to hear of the players that have re-signed but don't want to know of those who are leaving, especially to other franchises.
The hypothetical solution is to wait until the week following the finals for a trade week/fortnight, before Wallaby match commitments start. However, players talk of needing time to have clear thought on the matter, one of the reasons often cited for signatures during the Bye week.
To be honest, I would have thought players and especially agents would be professional enough to be able to dwell on the permutations of competing contracts in a window between Provincial and National commitments.
There is, however, also the impact of the two seasons (NH v SH) for those preferring to head north, one of the main drivers for the seemingly impossible task of a global season.
Bottom line is, sadly I think we are going to keep seeing this type of announcement at inopportune times for a few years yet.

[Tazzmania]

Time for cummings to step up as outside centre and he looks the goods and is committed

[BDAVEY]

I hope who ever plays centre this wek has a cracker and he gets benched for the seaon.. poetic justice... this sort of announcemnet is not necessary mid term. ARU should have a date from which contracts can be neg.

[Ecky]

This is a real shame.
He is a top bloke and did some very good things in the first 2 games this year.
I guess he can see that Mortlock won't be at the Rebels all that long, with his advancing years & all, and can see some future there.
I thought he'd sewn up the 13 spot with but.
Never mind

[Burgs]

I'm clutching at straws I know, but has there actually been a media conference or any quotes on this?
Everything I have read so far is just "statement of fact" by journo's rather than quoted statements.

[James]

Pretty sure I heard Richard Graham on 10 news saying that he had rejected the offer the Force had made for him.

[GIGS20]

I guess the confirmation is, the force have said nothing and it's been reported as a done deal for two days now. It'd be hard to believe they're gunna sit on their hands with a position where we're so shallow.

[Burgs]

Maybe they "have a cunning plan"...


Yeah, ok, a whole bundle of straws...