Contract situation

[Jackie Brown]

If McPhillips is off is that a sign the 2 wabs are staying put with Olding as back up 10 to PJ. McPhillips doesn’t see where he’ll get game time or fit in.

Or another signing.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[Loki]

disappointed to see Hall go - I thought he might have something about him.

[Russ]

Hall to Edinburgh.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Who?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[kingofthehill]

disappointed to see Hall go - I thought he might have something about him.

Rumours


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dave]

Keep the daves and clear out the nippers.

[Setanta]

Aaron Hall - Flanker - one of those positions we don't need.

[therealspratt]

What the hell? How the heck can that be allowed to happen?

[scrum5]

What the hell? How the heck can that be allowed to happen?

have you not been watching Ulster Rugby over the last few seasons, it is standard fare, a youngster gets 15 minutes, does well and is let go, sure it's the Ulster Way

[therealspratt]

What the hell? How the heck can that be allowed to happen?

have you not been watching Ulster Rugby over the last few seasons, it is standard fare, a youngster gets 15 minutes, does well and is let go, sure it's the Ulster Way

This is particularly odd considering he's still only 2 years into his academy contract.

[Dave]

What the hell? How the heck can that be allowed to happen?

have you not been watching Ulster Rugby over the last few seasons, it is standard fare, a youngster gets 15 minutes, does well and is let go, sure it's the Ulster Way

This is particularly odd considering he's still only 2 years into his academy contract.

If true, sounds like a better offer with a better team.

[Big-al]

If the likes of Hall leaves and Ross and treadwell (different position, still a Dave) stays then heads should roll.

[BaggyTrousers]

May I remind people that players are not tied serfs and enjoy the same rights of freedom of movement that any European person from within the EU does. I've seen nothing much of him, have no idea if he'll be great or shyte, so if Embra are happy to take a punt and offer him a lot more than Ulster, there is really very little to be done.

I would also remind you that very very few of those who have left have prospered, I think of young Scholes and the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Did he come back a better player? What would have happened to Stockdale if Scholes had stayed?

Point in time decisions are made, occasionally they make people look stupid but damned seldom.

[thecrouch]

May I remind people that players are not tied serfs and enjoy the same rights of freedom of movement that any European person from within the EU does. I've seen nothing much of him, have no idea if he'll be great or shyte, so if Embra are happy to take a punt and offer him a lot more than Ulster, there is really very little to be done.

I would also remind you that very very few of those who have left have prospered, I think of young Scholes and the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Did he come back a better player? What would have happened to Stockdale if Scholes had stayed?

Point in time decisions are made, occasionally they make people look stupid but damned seldom.

Baggy baby, young Hall is a flanker. Ulster have been crying out for man-bating, baby-eating forwards who'd take you up the wrong'un sans-lube if you turned their back on them.

Is Hall a tough as nails, mexican-smashing forward? Who knows at this stage. But he is at least a forward and deserves more of a shot. It would be a disgrace to lose him before he even gets a proper go at Ulster.

[BaggyTrousers]

May I remind people that players are not tied serfs and enjoy the same rights of freedom of movement that any European person from within the EU does. I've seen nothing much of him, have no idea if he'll be great or shyte, so if Embra are happy to take a punt and offer him a lot more than Ulster, there is really very little to be done.

I would also remind you that very very few of those who have left have prospered, I think of young Scholes and the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Did he come back a better player? What would have happened to Stockdale if Scholes had stayed?

Point in time decisions are made, occasionally they make people look stupid but damned seldom.

Baggy baby, young Hall is a flanker. Ulster have been crying out for man-bating, baby-eating forwards who'd take you up the wrong'un sans-lube if you turned their back on them.

Is Hall a tough as nails, mexican-smashing forward? Who knows at this stage. But he is at least a forward and deserves more of a shot. It would be a disgrace to lose him before he even gets a proper go at Ulster.

My point Crouchie is that I don't know if he's good enough and the wider point is that we cannot afford to jack up the incomes of the entire academy in the hope that they will come through in vast numbers. Judgement calls on young players are bloody tough and if he has been made an offer that pays him a living wage good luck to him.

Ulster are not the financial behemoth people fondly consider, we are becoming established as loss-makers and cloth must be cut, however, I agree in principle that you would be as well gassing saft saffers by the wheen and pay a bit more to nippers, but make no mistake these calls require the wisdom of Solly.

Perhaps when these issues arise it might be good if we had some idea of what sort of contract are academy lads on? Are they tied down to any extent? Is it open season for any club to come poaching or has the likes of Hall been offered something that Ulster will not match? Was there ever a conversation with him putting his cards on the table and saying that's my offer, what are you offering or I'm off.

It would be galling of course to see him line out in Scottish colours.

Just one of the many things we pontificate on here with a dearth of knowledge..............but sure that is where we get a bit of craic.

[Snipe Watson]

Players with potential are not simply cast aside by UR.
It makes me laugh how uafc sages are able to declare a learned assessment of a player's worth based on a 15 minute cameo at the end of a game and the guys who have watched said player, in training week in week out, studied their stats, observed their attitude, etc, etc, for a couple of years know nothing. It's stupidity of the first order.

The depth chart is an actual thing, it's a fact of life in a modern rugby team. Players are assessed within an inch of their lives, with all kinds of mumbo jumbo being assessed and quantified. Real data, cold hard facts. I've seen the UR depth chart. There were no names on it at the time, so I didn't glean much of an insight. What I did discover is that the door is kept locked and only the coaching team are allowed into the depth chart room.
Farrell and Seymour both rightly believed they were good enough for first team rugby and left to build their careers because they were behind a number of top players on the depth chart. Others have tried the same trick, but with considerably less success. So as Baggy says, "very few of those who have left have prospered".

So back to young Hall. Maybe he doesn't fancy his chances when he looks at those ahead of him and is jumping ship of his own free will. Maybe UR have done their homework and haven't tried overly hard to keep him, because he shows less potential than others. For years we kept no-hopers (Taggert, Joyce and Dow) on the off chance that they would come good only for them to be duds. I'm pleased to see a ruthless attitude of focusing on those with potential.
Similarly, if McPhillips is away, he mustn't fancy his chances with Curtis and Lowry. Or else UR think he is going to be behind them, long term. If he wants to build a career, he should suit himself and go to where his chances are better.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that I'm a less capable judge of a rugby player that Willie Anderson or Jono Gibbes with a bank of computers pouring data into the mix.