An emotional Matt Hodgson has fought back tears after learning his Western Force now face the stark reality of the Super Rugby scrapheap after SANZAAR confirmed the competition would revert to 15 teams in 2018.
And Australia's Rugby Union Players Association has come out swinging, slamming the decision as "short-sighted".
Hodgson was forced to deal with the news shortly after his Western Force had edged Southern Kings, who look destined for the axe in South Africa, 45-41 at nib Stadium in Perth on Sunday.
While the Force may yet survive, it is believed the Australian Rugby Union will decide either to cut the Perth-based franchise or Melbourne Rebels to meet the demands of the 15-team format which will begin next year.
Clearly rocked by the news, Hodgson said he would never have had the chance to play Super Rugby had it not been the Force and now wondered about the game's long-term future in Western Australia should the team in fact be cut.
"When I first came over [from Sydney], doing rugby clinics for young kids, and now I'm playing alongside them, now they don't have that opportunity, if we're gone," a rattled Hodgson said.
"So it's going to be disappointing that, one, they're either gonna go east coast or overseas earlier, or pick up another code and I think that's the worst thing. Like [Force coach] Dave [Wessels] said, if it's not us we won't be celebrating because it's bad for Australian rugby full-stop. We call rugby the global game and if we can't get it throughout all of Australia it becomes frustrating.
"I've been quite vocal on it and I know the boys love playing here, and want rugby to be successful here, and I think we're seeing what we did 10 years ago come through now. So you've got Ross, Dane [Haylett-Petty], Kane Koteka, Richard Hardwick all playing Western Force and them in the Wallabies squads as well.
"So you think if the Western Force weren't around, do they get an opportunity or do they pick up a different code or do they go overseas? I think it's a bad sign for Australian rugby full-stop."
Still fighting back tears, Hodgson nearly broke down completely when contemplating the fact his own kids may not not have the Force to aspire to.
"Being a parent myself, yeah you don't know where to put your kid now," he said. "Do I put him in rugby or do I put him in to stay in Western Australia playing AFL? So it's frustrating.
"I think the way it's been done is probably the most annoying thing...I've done four press conferences this week and I've had one rugby question and that's annoying. For kids to turn up here is great but now they don't know if Western Force is going to be their future."
RUPA, meanwhile, reacted swiftly to SANZAAR's decision, and by extension the actions of the ARU, in opting for a return to a 15-team Super Rugby competition.
RUPA had recently started a petition, Stronger As Five, calling for support of all five Australian franchises - a position reaffirmed by chief executive Ross Xenos last week when he joined ESPN's Scrum5 podcast.
"Australia's professional rugby players are incredibly frustrated and deeply disappointed by today's confirmation that the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has voted to axe an Australian team from Super Rugby in 2018 and beyond," Xenos said Sunday night.
"Having signed Australian rugby up to a competition which reduced local content, diluted tribalism and disrespected fans with its lack of integrity, ARU have now agreed to a new model which has protected the expansion teams in Argentina and Japan at the cost of one of our own.
"Despite receiving $30 million of additional annual broadcast revenue from 2016, the financial challenges of Australian rugby will likely be used to justify today's short-sighted and ill-conceived decision which will limit the growth of rugby in Australia for generations to come.
"It is tomorrow's players, coaches and fans who will now pay the price for this strategic mismanagement.
"This decision will be the catalyst for an irresponsible human cost without any genuine remedies to the real strategic issues that the game faces."