Force centre Inman to join Rebels
Western Force centre Mitch Inman will join the Melbourne Rebels next season after turning down an offer to extend his contract in Perth.
The move comes as a surprise as Inman has cemented the Force No.13 spot and will be behind Stirling Mortlock at the Rebels.
The Rebels used their links to Inman's Sydney University club - his brother Dane has club connections and Rebels assistant Damien Hill coached there - along with Inman's eastern seaboard family ties, to woo him.
However the Force have signed former Australian under-19 playmaker Matt Brandon on a four- week contract.
He will back up James O'Connor on the bench against the Blues on Saturday and Kiwi signing Willie Ripia when he recovers from his foot injury.
Ripia will travel to South Africa for the games against the Lions and Stormers.
A former Queensland Premier Rugby player of the year, Brandon, 24, played for the Reds second XV in the Pacific Rugby Cup this season after returning from Japanese club Yokogawa when it collapsed last year.
Force coach Richard Graham has boosted his back line, where seven players are unavailable.
"With a relatively small squad of 36, including four academy players, the seven injuries have put pressure on our back-line playing stocks and left us with relatively little room to manoeuvre," he said.
The call-up surprised Brandon.
"It has all happened really quickly," he said.
"It has always been my goal to play Super Rugby and I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
Meanwhile the incident in Saturday's clash with the Sharks that left star flanker David Pocock sidelined for up to six weeks is not the only one that angered Force officials, who are unhappy about at least one other incident involving O'Connor.
While it is not unusual for a team to target opposition danger men, it is the manner in which Pocock and O'Connor were dealt with that has caused friction.
Pocock suffered medial ligament damage to his right knee at a ruck as Sharks prop Jannie du Plessis grabbed his head and pulled him backwards.
Super Rugby's governing body SANZAR has refused to take any action over the incident because there was no official Force complaint.
A war of words blew up over the incident with Pocock tweeting after the game: "Next time, I'll break your f*cking neck. Jannie du Plessis, Sharks prop and all-round nice guy. Ha ha, what a good bloke...."
He tried to pour oil on stormy waters by tweeting yesterday: "Got a call from Jannie du Plessis last night - ended up having a good chat. No hard feelings. All sorted."
