Dragons Pre Match Q&A with Jonny Petrie

[UlsterNo9]

Are we allowed to call Kitshoff "the Pleasure Boy" and how p**sed off is he at being duped into signing for us?

He's £1.2 million over two years p**sed off.

[justinr73]

I mean it can only be Ulster fans that can be drunk off about signing a dual WC winner in their prime right?

[Lurgan Lad]

I mean it can only be Ulster fans that can be drunk off about signing a dual WC winner in their prime right?

If it leads to having to dump players all over the place as a result then yeah! If there had have been any medium term financial planning we would never have signed him.

[Dave]

I mean it can only be Ulster fans that can be drunk off about signing a dual WC winner in their prime right?

I believe he's the one peed off.

[Neill_M]

Are we allowed to call Kitshoff "the Pleasure Boy" and how p**sed off is he at being duped into signing for us?

He's £1.2 million over two years p**sed off.

3 year deal so £1.8 million IF he is getting £600k / year.

[justinr73]

I mean it can only be Ulster fans that can be drunk off about signing a dual WC winner in their prime right?

If it leads to having to dump players all over the place as a result then yeah! If there had have been any medium term financial planning we would never have signed him.

I’m all for dumping bang average players and hasbeens.

[UlsterNo9]

It’s all a fairly unsophisticated load of smoke and mirrors as Ulster, like pretty much every sports team, is, in isolation, an unsustainable business.

Ticket income was down 180k to about 3 million which is not great but relatively insignificant.

The key swing in the accounts was professional game expenses going up by 2.5 million which was apparently due to the IRFU going back to charging us what they should have been.

No more money coming our way from the investment in the URC so that’s another hole that the IRFU will have to fill (by reducing our squad size…)

Let's also not forget that Ulster enjoyed a sell out knock out game versus Leinster at Lansdowne Road. I believe away team gets 25% at knock out stage, of which tickets were sold at premium rate. We also had an additional home game in the form of league knockout game versus Connacht. These two non guaranteed revenue streams would more than have offset La Rochelle.

As we didn't have a case to claim compensation for La Rochelle, then it's quite obvious we were the masters of our own misfortune.

Again La Rochelle losses a pile of bunkum. Smoke and mirrors.

[UlsterNo9]

I mean it can only be Ulster fans that can be drunk off about signing a dual WC winner in their prime right?

If it leads to having to dump players all over the place as a result then yeah! If there had have been any medium term financial planning we would never have signed him.

I’m all for dumping bang average players and hasbeens.

But when another province can take your 1st choice "bang average" out half and afford to pay his wages as a 2nd choice back up there's something seriously wrong. Leaving us with Flannery as 1st choice who was said provinces 4th choice out half two seasons ago.

Munster also reducing their wage bill as they'll have gotten Burns on less money than they were paying Carberry.

[justinr73]

Funny how Burns suddenly becomes everybody’s favourite just as he’s emptying out his locker.

You’re forgetting that Munster couldn’t afford to offer their WC winner a contract.

Until this week, they couldn’t even afford to offer the Ireland captain a contract.

[Big-al]

They couldn’t re-sign Snyman because they already had an NIQ lock in Kleyn.

[UlsterNo9]

Funny how Burns suddenly becomes everybody’s favourite just as he’s emptying out his locker.

You’re forgetting that Munster couldn’t afford to offer their WC winner a contract.

Until this week, they couldn’t even afford to offer the Ireland captain a contract.

Whatever your opinion on Burns, even Stevie Wonder on a galloping horse would recognise he is a level or two above Flannery. Burns is a fantastic no.2 option for anyone with ambition to challenge for the league.

Couldn't afford? or didnt want to resign a player that has made 11 club appearances in 4 seasons - 319 minutes, never played a full game? £450k per season multiplyed by 4...... Snyman was never staying as Kleyn is now NIQ, no chance of having two NIQs in the same position. Given Snymans injury profile and most likely the more expensive of the two I'd of kept Kleyn also.

I believe Munster just play the game better, crying poverty is one thing. Staving off any hint that they would in any way accept POM coming off a central IRFU contract is absolutely something they should be screaming from the roof tops and holding the begging bowl out. Even Ulster would be smart enough to do that, and did with Henderson. Believing the IRFU were not going to pay for the current Ireland captains contract is not something I was believing.

[justinr73]

Munster aren’t even paying Snyman anyway - outside funding.

Don’t publish their accounts either so far as I know.

There’s nothing unusual about Ulster losing money.

Ask fans of Wasps, LI and Worcester.

[Lurgan Lad]

I mean it can only be Ulster fans that can be drunk off about signing a dual WC winner in their prime right?

If it leads to having to dump players all over the place as a result then yeah! If there had have been any medium term financial planning we would never have signed him.

I’m all for dumping bang average players and hasbeens.

The starting point on the financial side is making something like a 5 year budget, make reasonably assumptions as to how often you will make the knockout stages of the different competitions, ideally building in a contingency for one off shocks to produce the player budget.
The starting point on the player side is then how many players at what salary level do we want in our squad, then matching that against what players we have, who is coming through, giving us what is left for recruiting players outside the province. There should be little movement in the number of full time players we have year to year.
I get the impression that neither of these basic steps has been followed to any degree of competence, or else the IRFU has pulled the rug out from us financially to lead to so many players getting the boot. I suspect both of these has happened.
If we are dumping bang average players and hasbeens, is the size of our full time squad going to be much smaller ongoing, or where are all these players being replaced from? To dump so many players the year after signing a world cup winner to a massive contract does not suggest any level of competence in UR.

[Neill_M]

Munster aren’t even paying Snyman anyway - outside funding.

Don’t publish their accounts either so far as I know.

There’s nothing unusual about Ulster losing money.

Ask fans of Wasps, LI and Worcester.

Indeed, the 1014 group are covering Snyman's salary as they did for big name NIQ signings in the past.

[Jetstream]

Munster aren’t even paying Snyman anyway - outside funding.

Don’t publish their accounts either so far as I know.

There’s nothing unusual about Ulster losing money.

Ask fans of Wasps, LI and Worcester.

Indeed, the 1014 group are covering Snyman's salary as they did for big name NIQ signings in the past.

Munster published their accounts up to about 5 years ago. They have stopped doing so. Their 2018 financials showed a cash flow deficit of 920k euro and they were projecting a higher figure for 2019.
They were hoping to break even by 2022/23.
With a number of players being paid by the 1014 group, I would feel their position has improved.
People condemn Saracens for the way they pumped money into the club.