Andrew Deegan is a rugby nomad. From the Shute Shield, to the fringes of Super Rugby, the National Rugby Championship, a short stint with Irish club Connacht and, now, in spearheading Western Force in Global Rapid Rugby, Deegan’s rugby resume belies his 24 years of age.
But he also understands that his time as a professional rugby player is probably already half done, which in itself reflects the transitional period that not just Australian rugby finds itself in, but the global game, too.
And with Australian rugby about to experience a post-World Cup exodus of talent, particularly through the key playmaking positions, time at Western Force is ensuring Deegan remains on the radar of local Super clubs and, along with the rest of his Force ‘family’, keeps the rugby pathway open in Western Australia.
“I think it was an opportunity that my manager presented to me,” Deegan told ESPN. “He was like ‘there is this new competition starting in W.A, would you be interested?’ So I threw my name in the hat and thought we’ll see what comes back from it…since being in W.A, I’ve loved it; the fans over there, there’s a massive rugby culture in W.A and they’ll support the Western Force for as long as they can.”
Deegan’s glowing appraisal of his two years at the Force comes at a time when Australian rugby is still adjusting to the global player market and its impact on the country’s talent pool.
The Perth-based club was axed by Rugby Australia in a Super Rugby cull at the end of 2017 while just last week former Wallabies back-rower Stephen Hoiles suggested a further Australian team should be chopped after only the Brumbies made the Super Rugby finals.
However, as a collective unit, the cross-conference results of Australia’s four remaining franchises have improved by roughly 20 percent since the Force was axed, a figure Rugby Australia has used to help justify that decision.
But it’s worth noting that this year’s Junior Wallabies squad, who suffered a heartbreaking 24-23 loss in the final of the Junior World Championship, included West Australian scrum-half Michael McDonald.
Originally from Sydney, Deegan says it was vital Global Rapid Rugby was established, otherwise youngsters like McDonald could likely be lost to the game. He also believes that when compared with his early years as a professional, Australian rugby now has a better handle on its development pathways.
“How’s this not going to be controversial,” Deegan joked when asked about whether he felt he’d had adequate resources and the right framework to succeed as a young professional player.
“I came through that system of schoolboys and then into the Under 20s at NSW and then the Australia Under 20s. But I think from looking at this year’s Under 20s as an outsider, it looks like they’ve nailed down the program a lot more, they started with a big squad of players and condensed the competitions. And it looks like they, and I don’t know exactly how it worked, but they got a big squad of players, got 50 or 60 blokes on the same page and then they fine-tuned that.
“And it looks like they got a lot more preparation, camp and games, instead of going straight into the World Under 20s, and that has reaped the rewards as they ended up coming second. I think they could still condense that development and show kids guys coming out of school that there is that development and there are the opportunities to play rugby in Australia. And I think that’s why you have to have the Western Force as another professional team as well otherwise you’ll see blokes, the extra 30 or 40 contracts in Australia, heading overseas.”
The Force players, and rugby fans in Western Australia, have mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest to thank for the club’s survival. The billionaire businessman last year set up an Exhibition series that saw the Force play seven games at nib Stadium while this year’s “Showcase Series” featured five teams – Asia Pacific Dragons, South-China Tigers, Fijian Latui, Kagifa Samoa and the Force – and was played across Asia and the Pacific as well.
Forrest hopes to expand that into a formal competition next year. With the Sunwolves exiting Super Rugby, despite strong crowd support, at the end of next year, it would hardly be a surprise to see Forrest find a footing for his rugby revolution in Japan, too.
“I’ve met him quite a few times, everyone in W.A. and everyone at the Force owe him a debt of gratitude, so too his wife Nicola,” Deegan said of Forrest. “But he’s just so passionate about rugby in W.A. and W.A. people having the same opportunity [as everyone on the east coast], and he provided that.
“Without a professional rugby team in W.A, I think a lot of kids would switch codes and look at other teams that are on TV. So for him to keep Rapid Rugby alive and the Western Force alive, he’s gone above and beyond.”
With Christian Leali’ifano heading overseas and the likes of Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley, and Kurtley Beale tipped to follow suit, the latter two for one season at least, Australian rugby fans should prepare for a new-look range of playmakers in their Super Rugby squads next year.
Bryce Hegarty and Matt McGahan remain unsigned at Queensland Reds while Matt Toomua could easily slot into No. 10 at the Rebels; Mack Mason, meanwhile, has been biding his time behind Foley at the Waratahs.
Toomua aside, there is genuine uncertainty as to the list of fly-half candidates Australia’s franchises will be working with next year.
Deegan impressed as part of a Super Rugby selection XV that gave the Wallabies a pre-Bledisloe Cup hit-out last year, and would certainly add playmaking depth for any of Australia’s four franchises for 2020 or beyond.
“It’s not a bad position [fly-half] to be at in Australia at the moment, but there’s a long way to go,” he said. “It’s an interesting prospect and an exciting one.”
But he is also keen to see what Forrest can continue to deliver with Global Rapid Rugby.
“It’s a tough question but I definitely want to play rugby professionally for as long as it will allow me, because I know in life you probably only get a short window of 10 years, if you’re lucky, to play professional rugby,” he said.
“I’d like to see Rapid Rugby kick on because there is definitely a gap in the market in that Asia-Pacific region; so how they can make the most of that in the coming years will be exciting. And there is obviously a lot of change around in rugby at the moment worldwide, so it’s an exciting prospect for rugby players and it will be an interesting to see what happens.”