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Source: ABC
Friday, September 1, 2006. 3:39pm AEST
By ABC Sport Online's Luke Pentony
No challenge too great for rugby's new kid on the block
As far as initiations in professional sport go, the Western Force's entry into the Super 14 would rank as one of the toughest.
Establishing a rugby union franchise in an AFL-mad city while having to recruit a playing roster almost entirely from the eastern states was always going to create challenges.
Add the fact that the Super 14 is played across three countries on a week-by-week basis and it is little wonder head coach John Mitchell trotted out the line "Rome wasn't built in a day" on more than one occasion.
Nevertheless, the Force are not complaining and despite winning just one of 13 matches in their inaugural season, they remain upbeat about their prospects in 2007.
Their preparations are in full swing and are set to step up a gear when the Australian Provincial Championship (APC) gets under way this month.
Assistant coach John Mulvihill will lead the Force in the APC, a competition he regards as crucial to next season's campaign.
The Force do not consider the 2006 Super 14 as a failure, but rather have chosen to view the tournament as a learning experience.
Their youthful squad was competitive in several of their 10 defeats and came agonisingly close to causing the boilover of the season when they drew 23-23 with eventual champions, the Crusaders, at Subiaco Oval.
Mulvihill maintains the Force were under no illusions as the new kids on the block, knowing what they learned will have long-term benefits.
"We knew we had a very young playing group with a very small training aim, so we knew that and we sort of learned along the way," he said.
"That's probably to the detriment of our season that we didn't get across the line probably because we lacked a little bit of experience.
"The experience those guys have learnt in the Super 14 in 2006 will be invaluable for them. I think we're going to learn to keep it quite simple but be really effective in everything we do."
Forward thinking
Since the completion of the Super 14, and even during the tournament, 2007 has been firmly in the focus of the Force.
Wallabies Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell were announced as high-profile recruits, as was Sydney Roosters rugby league player Ryan Cross.
The squad's non-internationals were kept active, taking part in a three-match tour of South Africa in addition to home fixtures against Manu Samoa and Japanese clubs, Toshiba and Yamaha (twice).
Under the guise of the Western Force Gold, 35 players appeared in the seven post-Super 14 matches with 17 drawn from the local Perth club competition.
The results were mixed with three defeats in South Africa followed by a four-point loss to Manu Samoa before victories were recorded over the Japanese tourists.
According to Mulvihill, the use of such a large playing group and the busy match schedule has been a necessity in the build-up to the APC, which will act as the Force's dress rehearsal for the Super 14.
"Some of them have made the transition and probably will go on and others have fallen away," he said.
"The first group was developmental and then we used the focus of Samoa and the Japanese games for building combinations and momentum going into APC and I'll be probably quite happy where we are at the moment."
In his initial 32-man squad for the APC, Mulvihill has selected two local club players - Kiti Fuluna and Garth Ziegler - while including eight current or former Wallabies.
The naming of Mitchell, Cameron Shepherd and Scott Staniforth in the Wallabies squad for South Africa means the trio will miss the opening APC clash against Queensland at Ballymore on September 9, although Mulvihill does not see their absence as a disadvantage
"Lucky enough for us we've got a number of guys who were selected to go into the Wallaby group," he said.
"That doesn't strengthen us but it's good that those guys get a chance so someone else has got to step up, and someone who might not have got a game will probably get game time in the APC."
The Force are on the road for the entire APC and following the Reds encounter, they meet the Brumbies in Canberra on September 15 before travelling to Bathurst to face New South Wales eight days later.
But in keeping with the nature of the still-embryonic rugby province, the Force have again found positives in the challenge ahead of them.
"I think we have travelled a fair bit over the last season and particularly since the Super 14 finished, so the boys are used to it," Mulvihill said.
"We'll prepare really well. The travelling and staying together on the east coast really builds our culture and our momentum and our sort of mateship, so I think it will work to our favour."
Visit the ABC for a sound bite of Pentony speaking with Mulvihill
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Originally Posted by John Mullvihill
) really gelled the side and in fact we were joint premiers in our first season.
