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'United the group': Club legend to coach Western Force in Super W
By Finn Morton
The Western Force have revealed some exciting news ahead of this year’s Super W campaign, with club legend Matt Hodgson set to take over as head coach.
Former Wallaby Hodgson, who was with the Force when they were kicked out of Super Rugby, has been working as the General Manager of Rugby at the club.
After making his debut in the Force’s first-ever Super Rugby match against the Brumbies 17 years ago, the former flanker went on to make 140 appearances for the Western Australian franchise.
But a new opportunity beckons for the club’s inspirational leader, with the Force announcing on Thursday that he’ll take over the head coaching reigns for the 2023 Super W season.
“Hodgo has brought a lot of energy and positivity to the group. He has united the group and grown the culture from the get-go,” Female High Performance Manager Claudia Bell said in a statement.
“The girls greatly respect Hodgo; I see it in their commitment to training and their changes to better themselves and the team.
“He is very much a conversationalist. He makes an effort to form bonds with the players, and with that respect follows. When he speaks at training, 100% of the squad if all ears; this is vital in any rugby team.
“As General Manager, eh has brought a lot of connections back to the club, the girls now understand what they stand for and the values they must uphold.”
Both the men’s and women’s Western Force teams will play crucial matches late next month, as they look to usher in a new era of greatness for the club.
While the men are set to kick-off their Super Rugby Pacific campaign on February 25 against the Melbourne Rebels, the women will also run out for their first pre-season hit out on the same night.
“There is a biz of a buzz around HQ at the moment with men’s teams,” Bell added. “We can all feel that the Force is turning into a powerhouse.
“The two teams feel very united, which comes down to Hodgo’s ongoing instillment of being one club.”
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Latest Comments
Look there are a few unarguable facts here that are very clear. SARU was close to bankruptcy with SR, bailed out by the Lions and they need the URC and EPCR. Inclusion of SA teams in URC has been a great for for ALL concerned, from a rugby perspective and financially, moreover there is massive growth yet to come. The GP is in financial trouble and this will be the catalyst for EPCR change to further cement the Boks.
If this all plays out with even greater rewards for the urc AND the Top14 & GP via EPCR, the 6N will become 7N. Nz and Aus NEED to get their version firing with Japan & the PI’s, otherwise they will find themselves increasingly regressing…
Go to commentsPerofeta came back and was available for the eoyt right? Or was that why Love was in the squad (but got injured in the last week)?
It was such a frustrating year. Perofeta looked a service stop gap until Jordan was fit, but then got injured. Plummer was selected because of Pero's injury and dmac shat the bed in the second half in Australia but Clarke (?) got himself binned at the 65 min mark so Plummer couldn't come on (at least with the risk adverse Razors thinking) when he was planned to.
So many other exciting opportunities that could have happened without injuries, but then theyre probably balanced by knowing Sititi probably wouldn't have been given a chance without multiple injuries happened.
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