Contract Situation

[CIMANFOREVER]

It will be Harry Byrne I reckon

...who is tom kite squared. Also, his joints, ligaments and tendons appear to be made out of meringue and ice cream wafers. He's likely to dislocate himself putting on his boots.

Unbreakable...

[CIMANFOREVER]

Thornley has the Burns move now; it’s in the Irish Times. Hes usually not far from the mark.

Says we aren’t renewing him.

The non renewal was the interesting bit. At long last the realisation he's not up to it. Hope this is the start of a clear out of the mediocre; EOS, Jones, Rea the lesser etc

[CIMANFOREVER]

IIRC the 5 outhalves who have probably played most for Ulster in the past 25 years are :-

Davy Humph
Ian Humph
Niall O'connor
Paddy Jackson
Billy Burns

Based on their performances for Ulster, how would you rank them from 1(best) to 5?

Pop Larkin may have had more than NOC and was a better player, albeit out of position.

Anyhoo,

DHumph
PJ
BB
iHumph
NOC

Leifano third. Great gutsy player

[Lurgan Lad]

Well let’s see, Jackman does get transfer rumours wrong a fair bit. I’m a fan of Billy, but this could only happen in the context of an IRFU-orchestrated shuffle you’d imagine, in order to get the front-line tens from an international pov getting regular starts at the provinces

Could this be the 1st fingerprint of a DHumph orchestrated move? It would be hard to argue that an outhalf with a different style from BB could get more out of what is a talented backline on paper....

I'm hoping so, pity we don't have any good prospects on our books at present unless you count Doak.

Another interesting thought I had (well interesting to me!) is that, on paper it is good to have four provinces/professional teams as in theory it should mean the top four at each position would be playing regularly, apart from where there are NIQs. If 2nd and 3rd choice players for Leinster are going to get picked for an Ireland squad ahead of starters for other provinces (which happens at multiple positions) it does make me question what is the point in limiting the number of NIQs to 3 or whatever it is now. So either a quality player on the edges of the Ireland squad should be heading north, or DHumph should be looking to see if there is a quality alternative somewhere in the world. No point in having a Leinster reject starting for Ulster as it would benefit nobody.

[Sir Ivor]

I’m all for replacing Ulster mediocrity with Leinster mediocrity.

[So It Is]

IIRC the 5 outhalves who have probably played most for Ulster in the past 25 years are :-

Davy Humph
Ian Humph
Niall O'connor
Paddy Jackson
Billy Burns

Based on their performances for Ulster, how would you rank them from 1(best) to 5?

Pop Larkin may have had more than NOC and was a better player, albeit out of position.

Anyhoo,

DHumph
PJ
BB
iHumph
NOC

Leifano third. Great gutsy player

Steinmetz must have played a fair bit at 10.
Now there was a quality import

[Neill_M]

From the Belfast Telegraph this morning.

Although there would appear to be surplus in the position at Leinster, rather than bringing in a like-for-like replacement, Nathan Doak could see more time in the 10 jersey.

Burns is not expected to be the only player capped by Ireland to depart either with a few more senior players thought to be in their last months at Ravenhill.

While Burns could yet be calling Thomond Park home next year, it is not expected however that Tom O’Toole will be making a similar inter-provincial switch.

The Belfast Telegraph understands that Leinster had looked at the Irish international tighthead but IRFU rules dictate that a province cannot outbid their neighbours for their own player.

Article suggests Ulster are doing another budgeting exercise....

[thecrouch]

If we plan on using Doak as Burns replacement we are in big, big trouble.

[Big-al]

If we plan on using Doak as Burns replacement we are in big, big trouble.

Why?

[justinr73]

We’ve already got Flannery as cast-off stand-off so we don’t need another.

Some or all of Luke, Eric, Marty and Will on their way out too then, by the sound of it.

[Horse15]

If we plan on using Doak as Burns replacement we are in big, big trouble.

Totally agree, no other club/province would think about giving a contract to an unproven 10, never mind moving one from 9. We need someone fresh. If that happens and I believe it’s will another example of ulster nepotism at work.

[thecrouch]

If we plan on using Doak as Burns replacement we are in big, big trouble.

Why?

Because Doak has almost no experience as a professional 10 and our other 10 is Flannery. If Ulster do see Doak as a 10 why haven't they invested more time in him there? Playing there for the last few mins of games after the subs are made is not going to cut it.

If Burns does leave we simply have to sign another 10, it's too important a position to mess around with.

[So It Is]

What we really need is a mid-20s Kiwi 10 that has been playing NPC/Super Rugby for 4+ years. Never going to trouble the NZ squad but is a good operator, that will seriously elevate standards. Like a young Jimmy G or Steinmetz (I know Steiner got 2mins off the bench, once, for NZ . . ). But of that ilk, a committed lad with ability. Get him in, build the team around him.

I haven't watched Soup Rugby in years. Is therr anyone like that floating about?

[SUFTUM_19]

What we really need is a mid-20s Kiwi 10 that has been playing NPC/Super Rugby for 4+ years. Never going to trouble the NZ squad but is a good operator, that will seriously elevate standards. Like a young Jimmy G or Steinmetz (I know Steiner got 2mins off the bench, once, for NZ . . ). But of that ilk, a committed lad with ability. Get him in, build the team around him.

I haven't watched Soup Rugby in years. Is therr anyone like that floating about?

Fergus Burke would be ideal from the Crusaders. Possibly Irish qualified but unsure, also rumoured that Townsend is trying to get him to Glasgow so he must be Scottish qualified too. Not sure he’d leave though, with Mo’unga leaving for Japan, he seems to be in a strong position for the 10 jersey over there.

[Big-al]

If we plan on using Doak as Burns replacement we are in big, big trouble.

Why?

Because Doak has almost no experience as a professional 10 and our other 10 is Flannery. If Ulster do see Doak as a 10 why haven't they invested more time in him there? Playing there for the last few mins of games after the subs are made is not going to cut it.

If Burns does leave we simply have to sign another 10, it's too important a position to mess around with.

I think Doak has more than enough ability, but I agree, if he is deemed good enough to be a 10 next season, then he should be the 10 this season.

Burns needs to be on the bench.