The fake news that’s actually fake.
The Western Force – axed from Super Rugby – will play in the NRL from 2018.
Rebranded the Perth Force, their inclusion finally addresses the constant rumours of a new Perth NRL team.
The Force will adopt the Western Reds’ old colours (red, yellow, black) combined with their blue Super Rugby colour.
‘The colour change is designed to differentiate from the Force rugby team and pay homage to the old Western Reds,’ said NRL CEO Todd Greenberg. ‘While it’ll create an odd number, we’ll work around that by merging a couple of the horrible Sydney teams. Watch this space.’
Western Force coach Dave Wessels is excited by the move. ‘We can’t wait to play in the NRL. Super Rugby is great for curing insomnia but not much else. At least the boys won’t get flogged by kiwi teams every other week. I’ve heard the NZ Warriors are worse than the Melbourne Rebels.’
The WA time difference allows Channel Nine to bring back the Friday night double header, while Fox League will broadcast Saturday and Sunday Force games.
‘We’ll have our compulsory Broncos game at 7:30pm Friday, followed by a live Perth game at 9:30-ish. It works beautifully,’ said Nine CEO Hugh Marks.
The Forward Pass is a fictional and deliberately ridiculous look at the NRL. References to real people is for satirical purposes only.
Check it out on Twitter @thefwdpass
