The UAFC

Rarely finishes a game when we’re taking a good beating either!!!

The old injury crops up again.

jean valjean wrote: ↑Sun Apr 02, 2023 10:59 am

justinr73 wrote:

solidarity wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:48 pm Any idea why he's not starting for Ulster? Surely they can't be saying Doak is better.

As stated previously, he’s nursing an injury.

We should have started him today though.

I don't get this nursing an injury line. I understand that overall fitness may be lacking if you haven't trained properly but in that case you start them and take them off when gassed. If doak pulled up after 5 mins would we not have had to play cooney for 75?
To me if anyone is fit to be on the bench they should be fit to play 79 minutes. His injury doesn't appear to stop him kicking or passing.

Maybe Dan was miffed that he was going and wanted to play in Scotland to enhance his RWC claims for Scotland only for him to find out Scotland didn’t want or need him..

Is this the same Dan who wanted to leave and join Leicester only to find he was neither wanted or needed there?

jean valjean wrote: ↑Sun Apr 02, 2023 10:59 am

justinr73 wrote:

solidarity wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:48 pm Any idea why he's not starting for Ulster? Surely they can't be saying Doak is better.

As stated previously, he’s nursing an injury.

We should have started him today though.

I don't get this nursing an injury line. I understand that overall fitness may be lacking if you haven't trained properly but in that case you start them and take them off when gassed. If doak pulled up after 5 mins would we not have had to play cooney for 75?
To me if anyone is fit to be on the bench they should be fit to play 79 minutes. His injury doesn't appear to stop him kicking or passing.

Nagging injuries are like that.

The source was someone who would have a very good idea.

Depends on which player's injury he is nursing. If it's Addison, he will be busy.

StandUp wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:43 pm Is this the same Dan who wanted to leave and join Leicester only to find he was neither wanted or needed there?

Both partners in crime then both wanted away but weren’t wanted

Cockatrice wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 9:27 pm

StandUp wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:43 pm Is this the same Dan who wanted to leave and join Leicester only to find he was neither wanted or needed there?

Both partners in crime then both wanted away but weren’t wanted

Why would Dan have signed a new contract if he wanted away, did things turn a bit sour since he signed it?

Lurgan Lad wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:38 am

Cockatrice wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 9:27 pm

StandUp wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:43 pm Is this the same Dan who wanted to leave and join Leicester only to find he was neither wanted or needed there?

Both partners in crime then both wanted away but weren’t wanted

Why would Dan have signed a new contract if he wanted away, did things turn a bit sour since he signed it?

Seems to be an open secret that he put himself forward for interview for the Tigers

To be fair to DMcF he took over UR when it was a right shitshow.
There was steady squad change, technically the pack certainly improved…the ship was righted.
There has been some brilliant euro results, and a rare league double over Leinster.

For his own personal development we are at the winning something stage…..and that means at some point likely beating a well rested / prepared, superior Leinster 23. Potentially another very strong team, having had to go fully loaded to get to that stage.

Are UR at full maximum-no. DMcF probably realises he doesn’t have the players to get the job done and the system doesn’t allow him to bridge the gap. Maybe he’s effectively gone as far as he can, this new perceived pathway may take 10 yrs to bear fruit.

Personally, I don’t think we are at the winning something stage.
Dan did improve things when he came but we have hit a plateau.
I don’t think we have the squad or coaches to properly challenge the big boys in a final.
We occasionally pull out a big result during the season but doing so in a final is a different prospect entirely and imo, we aren’t at that level.

StandUp wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 9:45 am Personally, I don’t think we are at the winning something stage.
Dan did improve things when he came but we have hit a plateau.
I don’t think we have the squad or coaches to properly challenge the big boys in a final.
We occasionally pull out a big result during the season but doing so in a final is a different prospect entirely and imo, we aren’t at that level.

This.

We won't win the Champions Cup due to the French, Leinster, Sarries and the Saffers.
We won't win the URC due to Leinster and the Saffers being involved.
We MIGHT have a chance in the Parker Pen but that is our ceiling.

To have delusions beyond the above is utter madness, and will be for the next 4 or 5 years until Bryn's super duper pathway bares fruit.

Irrespective of the financial argument surrounding rich benefactors subsidising private schools, or that we lose 50% of youngsters to GAA etc., rugby is an incredibly popular sport in Ulster. The raw materials are there to have a decent team. It has just been utterly mismanaged. Whether that is down to the clownshow in charge or the lack of resources to throw at the problem, I don't know (some of you will know much better than I do about the constraints in youth development).

But we simply must do better.

It’s difficult to argue that we’ve hit a plateau when we’ve already got the same points as last season with two home games against poorly placed opponents to go.

Not to mention the clean sweep against the Saffers, more tries, bonus points etc

I’d fancy us in a final against anyone other than Leinster who, having lost five in the league last year, have had the temerity to get better too!

justinr73 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 10:08 am It’s difficult to argue that we’ve hit a plateau when we’ve already got the same points as last season with two home games against poorly placed opponents to go.

Not to mention the clean sweep against the Saffers, more tries, bonus points etc

I’d fancy us in a final against anyone other than Leinster who, having lost five in the league last year, have had the temerity to get better too!

Lies, damn lies and statistics.
Imo we are no nearer to winning a competition than last year or the year before, which for me is more important than how many points we’ve scored to date.

Yes, we're not close to winning a trophy.

McFarland has righted a sinking ship, and steadied us. But he has consistently failed to bring us to the next level, the level where we cause the big teams concern in the big matches.

We are a team that's near the top of the best-of-the-rest list. We will beat all the dross in the URC (usually). We'll cause the likes of Leinster problems in the regular league fixtures. We'll get scalps at home in European pool games.

But at the business end of things, when we are coming up against highly motivated teams fielding their first choice teams we struggle, we just can't make that step up.

IMO we could play Leinster 5 weeks in a row with the same teams that were fielded last week and they'd beat us all 5 times.

I can see how you’d be in great demand as a CEO/Managing Partner Stand Up.

Meetings would be just as frustrating but considerably shorter.