SYDNEY - Fijian back-rower Isi Naisarani became one of the first players to leave the Western Force following their axing from Super Rugby, signing a one-year deal with the ACT Brumbies on Tuesday.
Force players are facing a tough decision on whether to abandon the club or join a proposed new Indo-Pacific league championed by billionaire Andrew Forrest.
"I am hoping to be able to make my mark and be a part of a team that will challenge for Super Rugby honours," said Naisarani, the Perth-based team's player of the year in 2017.
It's fantastic that the Brumbies have faith in me as a player and have brought me to Canberra, and I am now looking to repay that faith and show what I can do on the field in front of the loyal Brumbies fan-base."
The Force have been culled from Super Rugby after governing body SANZAAR decided to reduce the competition to 15 teams from the unwieldy four-conference 18-team model. Two South African clubs, the Cheetahs and Southern Kings, were also axed.
Naisarani, 22, follows former Wallaby prop Ben Daley out the door after he signed a two-year deal with the Melbourne Rebels last week.
Forrest's Indo-Pacific league plans to initially feature six teams, with Force one of them.
The other five would come from either Singapore, Hong Kong, Samoa, Fiji, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Tonga or Kuala Lumpur.