Australian Rugby boss fears player exodus

Australian Rugby Union's high performance manager, David Nucifora, is concerned by the threat of a mass player exodus at the Western Force following Matt Giteau's decision to leave the club.

Giteau confirmed the inevitable on Saturday by announcing his intention to return to the Brumbies in 2010, fuelling speculation a number of the Force's remaining stars will also flee the troubled franchise.

Nucifora said: "The health of Australian rugby I think depends on all of our teams being strong and competitive so we wouldn't want that to happen."

While hopeful the Force can retain the bulk of their big names, the former Blues and Brumbies mentor is confident there is enough depth within the Australian ranks to ensure all sides remain competitive.

"I think the system at the moment enables people to go where opportunity is and everyone's not going to congregate in the one area because there won't be opportunity," Nucifora explained.

"Having the (fourth Australian-based) team provides opportunity and players will go searching for that. And there's lots of young guys who are searching for that opportunity and are good enough.

"If people leave, other people take their places and the whole world will just keep moving forward."

While his main focus is on bringing the new breed through the ranks, Nucifora admits the ARU will continue to consider all options including the recruitment of NRL stars.

However, amid speculation over Benji Marshall's possible dash-for-cash in Japan, Nucifora was quick to warn off rugby league mercenaries looking to cash in on the 15-man code.

"We're not going to talk with people who want to come to our game for any reason other than the fact they're chasing money," he said.

"We want people who are committed to the long-term future of it and if those guys are prepared to come to us on that basis that's great."

Nucifora, however, says the door remains open for former St George Illawarra centre Mark Gasnier, who is in the first year of a two-year stint at French club Stade Francais.

"Mark's made a commitment to go over there and play the game and depending on how he goes, and how he feels about it and what he wants to do," he said.

"If he wants to have a crack at Super 14 football and he's playing well over there then we'll get together and have a chat about that.

"I've seen a little bit of him play, he'd be lucky to have played 10 games of rugby by now I'd say, so it's way too early to make a call.

"Mark, I think, has given himself two years to see how he makes the transition so time will tell."