Dragons Pre Match Q&A with Jonny Petrie

[RuPi]

Heard he didn’t get that but had also gone for the Scottish Sports Council.

[ding dong2u]

If he's applying for other jobs then his commitment to us must be pretty suspect ...

[TheBoat]

He'll not get another high profile job given his track record

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[Columbo]

My theory on Petrie is that the IRFU are keeping him about until the end of the season as a kind of emergency swab, in case the Murphy inter-regnum is an absolute fiasco. If it all works out and Ulster have a strong finish to the season then it’ll be ‘Jonny has made a great contribution to Ulster Rugby and has now decided to move on to pursue other opportunities’

If it’s a disaster it will be ‘Also departing is CEO Jonny Petrie. Ulster Rugby wishes him the best for the future. The IRFU has embarked upon a search for a replacement who is capable of overseeing a period of cultural and strategic change at Ulster’

Either way I don’t think he’s here at the start of the next season.

Maybe in just a hopeless cynic, and I’ve seen lots of good questions floating about on Twitter etc, but I honestly don’t believe that his answers are worth a great deal, because it looks to me like he has resurfaced with a clear directive from D4 to ‘change the narrative’. Unfortunately he is kind of part of the ‘narrative’ that needs changing, and short of coming out and categorically saying that for example Stu is not leaving, or giving specific new signings that we are making (to back up the talk of ‘refreshment’) - which I will be very surprised if he is able to do - it will just sound like Logan-esque cheap talk

[MightyRearranger]

Nobody got tickets for this yet?

At this point I'm assuming if I haven't heard I'm not going, suspect it'd be a load of nauseating guff anyway, best to keep my dinner down before watching the Ulster game.

[Hans Indaruck]

Nobody got tickets for this yet?

At this point I'm assuming if I haven't heard I'm not going, suspect it'd be a load of nauseating guff anyway, best to keep my dinner down before watching the Ulster game.

No response at all! Presumably anyone going was informed by email on Tuesday, but others who applied don’t even get the courtesy of a ‘Dear John’ reply!! Typical of the standards currently adopted at Ulster Rugby!

[MightyRearranger]

Wonder if the allocation was random, priority given to the posh seats to keep the great unwashed out, or someone was given the task of frantically checking names to see if people have said anything uncomplementary about Petrie on twitter. The deranged spin is making me nostalgic for Logans last days. Wonder what he's up to now, no doubt running some huge multinational...

[MightyRearranger]

Slogan now CEO of a charity called Bryson it seems. Not entirely sure what they do, my condolences to anyone that works there or relies on them.

[Kanbei]

I got one, so it's definitely going ahead. Not expecting much mind.

[solidarity]

Slogan now CEO of a charity called Bryson it seems. Not entirely sure what they do, my condolences to anyone that works there or relies on them.

If it's this one https://www.brysongroup.org/ it's very reputable.

[big mervyn]

Slogan now CEO of a charity called Bryson it seems. Not entirely sure what they do, my condolences to anyone that works there or relies on them.

If it's this one https://www.brysongroup.org/ it's very reputable.

Kerbside recycling is their most visible presence although they provide a wide range of social services to those in need.

Shane is a highly motivated professional with extensive experience of leading exceptional change. He is very interested in leadership, building effective teams and getting the best out of people.

[rumncoke]

logan had to go because he had firstly left two of his players swinging by ropes by inaction which give the momentum to evil twitter and social media a field day and left the IRFU with jam in their face and with a Province full of promise in a deep holeand Ireland going into the world cup with an injury prone out half with no back up.

Petrie is not in the same boat but basically in the same boat as McFarland his job is done and both he and Ulster need a change.

[richardt84]

I went to the Q & A earlier and about 30/40 turned up so I assume the majority of those who did secure tickets didn’t turn up. A few key points, some of which may have been down to my interpretation of answers I would add:

‘looks forward to see’ McCloskey being part of our squad next year.
Confirmed Burns will be leaving with Flannery and more of Doak at 10 cited as being part of the plan going forward.
Cited VAT applicable to Ulster that is not applicable to other provinces as a £750k challenge that others didn’t face.
The squad next year will be as strong, if not stronger than this year.
Commercial revenues have increased but inflationary pressures have contributed to a challenging environment.
Signings to be announced in next couple of weeks.

He received a few robust questions, one in particular on his leadership and visibility (or lack of) and he committed to addressing that going forward but also cited the impact of some social media engagement.

If everything that was said is correct I’m not as despondent as I was before the event. The point was made to him that in the absence of any PR from Ulster that a negative perception had been created around the club. There were other questions/issues discussed so I wouldn’t say the above is a total reflection on the event.

[justinr73]

Thanks for the report.

Onwards and upwards.

[Columbo]

Thanks Richard.

As McCloskey is still under contract, then unless the IRFU were countenancing letting him leave for a transfer fee, I’d have thought he could have been a bit more categorical about him being around next year. I’d be a bit surprised if he left, now that he’s right in the Ireland mix. There has been interest in him from French sides before, I think Toulouse among others were sniffing around him when his contract was last up.

No surprise on the Burns and Flannery front then - Flannery is a strange one, in that he signed a 3 year extension last season. I wonder if Billy is gojng somewhere other than Munster after all, and Flannery back to Munster? It all has the feel of a bit of quid pro quo, so I assume we can expect a proper 10 to come in (because under any interpretation a squad with Doak and Humphreys as out-half options is unequivocally not ‘as strong as’ this years) I really don’t fancy Doak at 10, and am annoyed if we’re now going to waste our time and his time sticking him there to struggle, when he should be focusing on 9 (where I think he’s actually better than Casey who is massively over-rated)

On VAT I would very much like to know what he’s talking about - apart from anything VAT is levied in Ireland as well. I’m not an expert on VAT in the south but struggle to see why Ulster should be at any meaningful disadvantage.