pythagoras wrote:
Easy one Russ. We'd just do what we did in the noughties, provide the bulk of the irish side.
Remember Pythagoras this is Russ you are interacting with. Normal rules are out the window. Just keep that clip from Billy Madison in mind when dealing with him.
It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
pythagoras wrote:Fair enough, OAK.
Well done on the financial front, better than we're doing anyway!
If it's true that player power did for Anscombe then that could be about the biggest problem ye have.
Not sure what you're talking about Russ (as usual). Ye've bought in as many foreign imports as anyone else I'd say.
I reckon that there was far more than player power involved in the binning of Anscombe.
“That made me feel very special and underlined to me that Ulster is more than a team, it is a community and a rugby family" Rory Best
pythagoras wrote:Fair enough, OAK.
Well done on the financial front, better than we're doing anyway!
If it's true that player power did for Anscombe then that could be about the biggest problem ye have.
Not sure what you're talking about Russ (as usual). Ye've bought in as many foreign imports as anyone else I'd say.
I reckon that there was far more than player power involved in the binning of Anscombe.
The man was a liability and as soon as his minder was gone.........
The more money that flows into France especially the harder it will be to compete. Time for the IRFU to have an effective review with input from all the stakeholders in Irish Rugby. I suspect that one learning which would / should come out of that is our policy in relation to NIQ's. The standard in that space currently is dreadful. Only Pienaar could be considered international standard and we really need every one of them to be. The IRFU have dollars. It would be in everyone's interest to ensure those dollars are being spent on a double strategy of boosting our own academies and locking in on top class NIQ talent....while ensuring that talent meets with our actual needs rather than bringing in guys in positions we are already well catered for.
This, very much this.
I was going to make a point about starting to positively discriminate in terms of NIQs ie if they aren't genuinely international class or starting to peak over that hill (Brad Thorn even now for example) they should not sign for a province.
I personally wouldn't have signed any of Ulster's current NIQs at the moment bar obvious Ruan. The rest are decent but their not really good, or better sill great.
Worth noting beyond the issue of NIQs-Ulster still hadn't produced a decent back five forward since Henderson and before him Pollock/Faloon. That's bloody pathetic folks....
Agree with some of the sentiments here, clearly the coaches at the 'big 3' provinces so far aren't impressing which is a big factor this year, injuries certainly at Ulster has been another.
I think we are having a problem with getting enough quality Irish qualified players either through our academies or from overseas and the only realistic way of addressing that is through the academies. Even when we are producing players they struggle to get game time at a sufficient level, the Ravens up here appears to be almost treated with contempt by the senior coaches rather than giving the team adequate preparation. I think we either need to work out how to give the Ravens more meaningful games that young players get exposed to a higher level of rugby, rejig the AIL into some sort of provincial teams to increase it's quality, or team up with say tier 2 teams in England or France where we send young players to develop.
We have had the golden generation with BOD and POC and unfortunately we aren't getting enough players of sufficient quality coming through.
As for the NIQ spots, they need to be top quality or not at all, the likes of Ludik up here who is clearly a good player I don't think is sufficiently better than the next best local player to be considered a good signing imo.
pythagoras wrote:
Easy one Russ. We'd just do what we did in the noughties, provide the bulk of the irish side.
Remember Pythagoras this is Russ you are interacting with. Normal rules are out the window. Just keep that clip from Billy Madison in mind when dealing with him.
I had to look up Billy Madison but now I'll never think of Russ as anyone else, it's imprinted.
Ah shur god love him!
pythagoras wrote:Fair enough, OAK.
Well done on the financial front, better than we're doing anyway!
If it's true that player power did for Anscombe then that could be about the biggest problem ye have.
Not sure what you're talking about Russ (as usual). Ye've bought in as many foreign imports as anyone else I'd say.
Consider
Leinster being on a solid financial footing, so being allowed 7 niqs.
Munter, who can't afford the water charges, can only have 2
Carnage
Easy one Russ. We'd just do what we did in the noughties, provide the bulk of the irish side.
Kidney would never be allowed back
BRING OUR BOYS HOME #BOBH
THROWN UNDER THE BUS AND EXILED 14/04/18
I remember saying years ago that our NIQs needed to be top class and not just squad fillers. No problem with fillers everyone needs them but if you are bringing in players they need to be top drawer and ones that will at least help try to bridge the gap to competing in Europe. We will never sign the McCaws of this world but we managed to get Ruan and haven't built on that yet..
Once a Knight wrote: a loose cannon on the fringes of the NZ system with a fondness for the sauce and a predisposition to losing his mobile at key times.
pythagoras wrote:Fair enough, OAK.
Well done on the financial front, better than we're doing anyway!
If it's true that player power did for Anscombe then that could be about the biggest problem ye have.
Not sure what you're talking about Russ (as usual). Ye've bought in as many foreign imports as anyone else I'd say.
Consider
Leinster being on a solid financial footing, so being allowed 7 niqs.
Munter, who can't afford the water charges, can only have 2
Carnage
Easy one Russ. We'd just do what we did in the noughties, provide the bulk of the irish side.
