50,000 kms: Cron lashes out at zig-zag Force fixtures

Western Force coach Simon Cron has hit out at his side’s unfair travel fixture, calling upon the “smart” organisers at Super Rugby to ensure the zig-zag “beast” never happens again.

Given Perth’s isolation, the Force are always going to be the most travelled side in the competition.vBut their schedule hit ridiculous new heights this season due.

By the end of the regular-season campaign, the Force will have travelled 49,050km.

Adding in the pre-season trip to take on the Brumbies in Canberra, the Force would have travelled 55,250km since February.

Only twice this season have the Force had a mini block of games on the road – in rounds four and five when they faced the Waratahs in Sydney and Crusaders in Christchurch, and in rounds 11 and 12 when they faced the Chiefs and Blues in New Zealand.

Adding further salt to the wound is the fact that their second bye of the season falls in the last round – making it utterly useless unless the team reaches the finals.

A finals berth looks unlikely given the Force sit four points adrift of sixth spot with only games against Fijian Drua and NSW to come.

Fixture

Super Rugby Pacific

Fijian Drua

38 - 7

Full-time

Force

All Stats and Data

The fatiguing nature of the travel load played a big role in Cron deciding to rest star trio Harry Potter, Hamish Stewart and Nic White for Saturday’s clash in Fiji – despite the Force needing to win to stay in the finals hunt.

Wallabies scrumhalf White raised concerns about the Force’s fixture even before the season started, saying the team had been “stitched up”.

Cron has been feeling the same all season.

He let Super Rugby organisers know his opinion before their campaign started – when it was already too late to change anything – and he finally got his thoughts off his chest publicly on Friday when asked about the issue.

“Now don’t get me wrong, we all travel. And from Perth, we’re going to travel more – good as gold,” Cron said.

“But the zig-zag nature of home and away, and getting a bye at the end of the season for the highest travelled team probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

“I think Super Rugby organisers need to have a look at how they do that and be smarter around those decisions.

“I’ve been here three years now, and this year in terms of the zig zagging, it was definitely a different beast for us.”

Cron has a simple solution – give the Force more blocks of away games, ideally in blocks of three.

“I think we can decrease our travel by 40 per cent if we do a draw slightly differently, where we have a few home games and a few away games in blocks,” Cron said.

“As a coach, I’m fine. I can fly no problem.

“But when I look at Darcy Swain hop on a flight after he’s done what he’s done for us this year and hop off again, I feel like I’ve got to pick that fight where I can and look after my boys.

“It’s no excuse for outcomes. We can handle everything. But we can be smarter and brighter.

“And as an organisation, (the) Super Rugby board – I know there’s some really smart people on that.

“They’ll look at it and surely come up with a better way of doing it.”