Not A Quokka In Sight As Perth Go Conceptual

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday April 20, 2005

Ben Kimber

Australia's newest rugby franchise has been nothing if not brave in its decision-making to date, and that trend continued yesterday when it revealed the team would be known as the Western Force in next season's inaugural Super 14 competition.

In a move likely to polarise the rugby public, the Perth-based side selected a conceptual name in line with a more American style usually associated with sports such as basketball.

After narrowing approximately 600 suggestions from the public to five finalists, the team's chief executive, Peter O'Meara, yesterday said the winning name had been a unanimous selection for the WA Rugby committee.

O'Meara said the name encapsulated the raw energy WA Rugby saw as being a key component for the team to be a success, while also representing the natural elements of Western Australia.

"I'm not sure everybody will love the name but, by and large, the response we've got is pretty good," he said. "It's a strong name and the idea behind it was we were looking for something to unite and inspire rugby supporters and the community.

"We were looking to tap this concept of energy, and raw energy specifically. There was an underlying theme of something that was unique to the Western Australian environment that represented something strong, and that's what came out."

In tune with the environmental theme, the team's colours will be predominantly blue, for the sea, and gold, for the desert and sun, while the established WA Rugby emblem of the black swan has been reworked to incorporate those colours and the feeling of force in a new shape of a breaking wave.

The jersey design will not be revealed for at least six weeks, with O'Meara promising a fashionable, modern look, and by then the team will have announced more players who will wear it. Of the 15 players considering contracts, the team hopes to have secured up to seven by the end of this week, with the likes of Clyde Rathbone, who heads to Perth on reconnaissance today, and Matt Henjak, who flies over tomorrow, among the chief targets.

Coach John Mitchell was in Canberra yesterday and is recruiting on the east coast this week. After evaluating their success in attracting key signings, the team will move more firmly on the next tier of players.

But the overall aims announced at the team's inception seem to have weakened from the original target of securing five to 10 Wallabies to establishing a core of players with Super 12 experience.

"The response we're getting so far has been pretty positive," Mitchell said. "We're still sticking to our original philosophy of trying to get a core team of 10 to 12 experienced Super 12/Wallaby players. We think we're on track."

Exactly who ends up in Perth with Nathan Sharpe and Brendan Cannon will go a long way to determining whether the team's name is a success, with the bold selection likely to become a misnomer if the Force are a weak addition to the tournament.

However, the move does continue the defiant stance WA Rugby has taken in structuring the side so far, firstly ignoring an ARU preference for an Australian coach by signing Mitchell, and more recently indicating it will go it alone by snubbing Sydney's strong clubs and not allowing signed players to return to the Tooheys New Cup.

But all its decisions, including the name, will seem good ones if results on the field are positive.

With several wins under their belts, the Force will stamp themselves as just that. But with a few early losses, the name might seem more farce than force. Like the name? Vote on it at rugbyheaven.com.au.

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