Western Force set to return to action in 2018
A Western Force team could be back in action by as early as April after RugbyWA was handed back the franchise’s licence and intellectual property.
RugbyWA came out of voluntary administration on Friday after Rugby Australia (RA) waived a legal debt of more than $1 million.
RA spent about $1.7 million (NZ$1.86m) in legal costs after RugbyWA battled to save the Force through arbitration and then a Supreme Court appeal.
RugbyWA entered into voluntary administration last month, saying the axing of the Force from Super Rugby meant it simply didn’t have the revenue stream to pay back RA’s legal costs.
But RA has now forgiven that debt after billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest promised to pump more than $2 million into grassroots and women’s rugby in WA. Lavan Legal, who represented the Force during their battles with RA, has waived a debt of almost $800,000 (NZ$877,000).
However, RugbyWA still owes the WA government $1.14m ($NZ1.86m) a debt the government has agreed to put on hold for two years.
As part of RugbyWA’s relaunch, the Future Force Academy will be resurrected to help convert amateur athletes to professional players, and will be open to women for the first time. RugbyWA will fund three professional women players in 2018, with that number to expand in the future.
The Force are set to be back in action next year against some invitational sides. They will then compete in the National Rugby Championship in 2018, replacing the Perth Spirit.