Western Force admits it is sounding out NZ

Rugby Australia appears to have been blindsided by the move, which could cause huge problems for the Super competition.

Former Western Force skipper Matt Hodgson with club owner Andrew Forrest.

The Western Force have acknowledged the possibility that they could be based in New Zealand next year as part of Super Rugby Aotearoa, even as reports filter across the Tasman that there will be some cross-over fixtures against Kiwi sides at the end of the domestic competitions.

Matt Hodgson, the former Force skipper who has become head of Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby, told The Australian on Monday that the Perth club was anxiously awaiting some formal decisions about what the 2021 season and beyond would look like before deciding which path to take.

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“There are many things to go through,” Hodgson said. “Obviously if we are in NZ we’ve probably got to be based in there because the trans-Tasman travel budget will be up by the time you start planning these things. It’s an interesting one.”

Rugby Australia appears to have only the vaguest idea that the Force is even considering relocating to NZ but clearly, if that was to happen, it would have immense ramifications for Australian rugby. For starters, it would mean there would be only four professional franchises remaining here – the NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds, the Brumbies and the Melbourne Rebels – which would leave the Super Rugby AU competition next year light one team, possibly two.

Aaron Smith of the Highlanders makes a break during the Super Rugby Aotearoa match against the Hurricanes last month. Picture: Getty Images

There have been reports of the Sunwolves returning to play in Australia but there are a staggering amount of logistical problems to be overcome before that happens. It has not even been decided yet whether a Japanese side is even needed; and if it is, would it need to relocate to Australia or might it be possible for them to play some matches at home.

It might seem ingratitude by the Force to even be contemplating a trans-Tasman move after they have just been invited back into the Australian rugby fold. Yet it was not charity behind RA’s invitation but a crass need for a fifth team to give the Super Rugby AU competition credibility. After being unceremoniously culled from Super Rugby in 2017, the Force does not owe RA anything.

“Whatever we are presented with, we will take the best option for the Western Force, that’s for sure,” Hodgson said. “We can’t just look at what 2021 is going to present but what does the future hold. That’s where we need to look at it. Align ourselves to make sure that the Western Force is secure in whatever path we take.”

There seems no malice in the Force sounding out the NZ Rugby. But after spending three traumatic years on the outer, they can hardly be blamed for now using Forrest’s considerable financial might to their own advantage.

“I just think we have to weigh up everything. I think we were very pleased to be back this year and playing football. At the start of the year there might have been the option of not playing any football. We are just waiting to be presented with what it looks like from multiple different avenues. I think everyone is waiting to see what the proposal from Rugby Australia is and the like.”

The Rebels-Western Force game at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium at the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

One of the options is for the leading teams in the NZ and Australian competitions to play cross-over finals at the end of the 2021 season, an idea the Kiwis appear to be now embracing. Indeed, resistance to a full trans-Tasman competition in 2022, with all five Australian teams and a Pasifika side, appears to have faded away.

A NZ-based Force would thoroughly test the loyalty of the famed Sea of Blue, the ferociously-dedicated organisation of club fans. It would mean a second season in which the Force would not play a serious competition match on WA soil. And yet even if that disappointment could be overcome, the time difference between NZ and Perth presents fundamental problems. A 7pm kick-off in Auckland on a Friday night converts to 3pm on a working day in Perth. And even if the Force could arrange for all their matches to be played on a Saturday, a 3pm kick-off would still cut directly across WA club rugby fixtures.

The upside, however, would be that the Force would be exposed to a full year of NZ competition ahead of the 2022 season when, as reported in The Australian, the domestic competitions will give way to a trans-Tasman series.

The Force finished the Super Rugby AU competition unluckily without a win, eight straight losses, and there is no question that they would need to bolster their playing strength immeasurably to survive against the likes of the Crusaders and the Blues. As it happens, though, they look like being immeasurably stronger next year.

Coach Tim Sampson admitted they had attempted to recruit disgruntled Wallabies second-rower Izack Rodda for this year’s domestic competition and while they failed, they would be pursuing him for next season. “Matt and I have put a list together,” Sampson said.

Hodgson acknowledged the club would indeed be pursuing Rodda, but a whole lot of other players beside. “You only have to look at the ability of the player and the status of that position in Australia at the moment, we’d be silly not to look at someone like him,” said Hodgson, adding that the two other Queensland “defectors”, Harry Hocking and Isaac Lucas, were also likely to be approached.

“Yeah and you’d look at Will Skelton, you’d look at multiple players over there. We are definitely in the market for those kinds of players and we would work closely with Rugby Australia if they wanted those players to come back and play for the Wallabies.”

Certainly RA is excited by the prospect of using Force funds to bring home such overseas-based players as Rory Arnold, Adam Coleman, Sean McMahon and Liam Gill, but they also need to be wary that because the Forrest-owned club does not have any financial constraints on it, they could be creating a superclub in Perth.