Brains Trust to-do list

[darkside lightside]

Just having a gander at my geekily maintained squad lists, updated for next year (NOC & McCrea gone) and assuming Caldwell and BJ go.

We look ok at hooker, back row (although if McLaughlin replaced TJ it would definitely look better, no disrespect to TJ), scrum-half (assuming the half-rumours of Marshall leaving are unfounded) and in the centre. What we will need are:

* THP - replacement for BJ (if necessary??) Possibilities mentioned: Andress, Brookes, Hagan
* Second row - unless we're happy that McComb/Henderson could regularly come into matchday squads.. Possibilities mentioned: Stevenson
* Out-half - at present we have only one senior contracted 10 for next year. Unless we are comfortable with Jackson/McKinney stepping into matchday squads next year, or relying on Pienaar to cover, we need reinforcements. Possibilities: ????
* Wing - only 2 senior contracted wings for next year, plus Gilroy in the academy. I am not convinced by Seymour unfortunately... Possibilities: Carr (advanced stage??)
* FB - weak spot for a number of years now. Assuming D'Arcy secures a new contract, and Smith sticks around (albeit not sure it's his best position), McIlwaine provides further cover. Possibility: 'high-profile' NIQ??? (or low-profile Irish development player from other province??)

If BJ were to stay, we would have no space for another NIQ, without letting one of the others go -although we can bring in another project player, as Diack is now a Paddy! As regards lads from the academy, well the Ravens results this year have been a little chastening by all accounts... The ones that I have seen play, and had the feeling that they could realistically step up this year or next year are Luke Marshall & Gilroy. I would say in fairness that I have seen very little of any of the rest of them, so couldn't say for sure..

Tricky enough task if you ask me.. hopefully DH has things under control..

[mikerob]

Of the Ravens games I saw against English Championship teams, Jackson didn't look physically up to it yet, Marshall didn't do much in either game so it was difficult to say and Gilroy was good which is stating the obvious given he already had ML starts anyway . Have Jackson & Marshall gone through a full professional pre-season yet ? I think the physicality aspect may be less important for a back 3 player, particularly if they are fast & elusive like Gilroy.

[ColinM]

Diack project completed, therefore ANother project to come in. Ireland squad not awash with quality 10s or back 3 players either, I expect a project FH/fullback.

[Big-al]

Of the Ravens games I saw against English Championship teams, Jackson didn't look physically up to it yet, Marshall didn't do much in either game so it was difficult to say and Gilroy was good which is stating the obvious given he already had ML starts anyway . Have Jackson & Marshall gone through a full professional pre-season yet ? I think the physicality aspect may be less important for a back 3 player, particularly if they are fast & elusive like Gilroy.

Luke Marshall has proved in his caps for Ulster he is physically up to pro rugby

[darkside lightside]

The other thing which should be very near the top of the list, which has been brought into very sharp focus for me over the last few days, is: SELL MORE SEASON TICKETS. Saints, with a similar sized ground, have 9,500 (?) STs, i.e. somewhere in the region of 75% of the capacity. We have 3,700, about 30% of capacity... Leinster I believe have north of 10,000... Another example of just how quickly you can get left behind in this business if you're not on your game - hopefully there'll be less talk (of world domination...) and more trouser for next season..

[lovesthehardground]

The other thing which should be very near the top of the list, which has been brought into very sharp focus for me over the last few days, is: SELL MORE SEASON TICKETS. Saints, with a similar sized ground, have 9,500 (?) STs, i.e. somewhere in the region of 75% of the capacity. We have 3,700, about 30% of capacity... Leinster I believe have north of 10,000... Another example of just how quickly you can get left behind in this business if you're not on your game - hopefully there'll be less talk (of world domination...) and more trouser for next season..

I agree that we need to sell more season tickets. But I think the numbers fell this season if anything. Higher prices and poor performances were probably to blame. The latter is hopefully being reversed this year but I can only see the cost continuing to go up. This will always restrict the number of STs sold.

However one initiative that certainly did not help ST sales this year and will continue to have a detrimental effect is the screening of home matches live. This is absolutely incredible. When you know that all Ulster home games are going to be on TV then why buy a season ticket. Much easier to sit in the warmth of your house and watch the game there.

I accept that there is a good income to be made from TV rights, but surely more income would be secured with the sale of more season tickets. A compromise would be a "delayed" screening of home matches at a later time slot on a Froday evening. This would encourage more people to come and watch the game "live" and also secure the TV rights income.

[ColinM]

Nah, no one would watch it, result already announced etc. Only a highlights programme would work in that manner.

I am firmly of the opinion that screening games increases profile and boosts attendance of casual fans who watch at home a few weeks, get to know whos who, maybe better knowledge of the laws etc and then actually enjoy it more. In time it will increase STs but not overnight

[TinPig]

IMO Luke Marshall is good enough and certainly big enough to hold his at top level.
Gilroy is good enough and big enough.
Jackson/McKinney are both good enough (if a little light).
Conor Gaston is good enough and big enough .

I have heard they have tried Gilroy at Fullback for Ireland U20 and although having little experience he apparently took to it like a duck to water, by running everything from everywhere.
Also from Dungannon Conor Gaston (fullback) should by all accounts get a run beside Gilroy.
Ulster lose players to the Ireland squad, the Wolfhounds squad and the Ireland U20 squads so the youth miss their chance due to these games all played at the one time (nothing Ulster can really do about that).
I am not saying they will all make an impact like Gilroy has but how will anyone know without playing them?
I guess if Munster had done a job on us in Cork we may have seen the youth blooded the last 15 mins.
What Ulster lack is real squad depth (compared to the real top level clubs) but we have amazing talent coming through.
IMO the up and coming players need to get blooded now in the Magners so that when called on they have acquired experience, rather than getting thrown in the deep end.

Another problem I have over selection is this David McIlwaine for example, from what I can gather has not played for the Ravens or even his club for the best part of 2 months prior to Saturday. He was on the bench in the Heineken as the only credible cover and to be fair to him, he has done nothing wrong to warrant being dropped. For me by not playing and so doing nothing wrong should not be an option.
I would like to see more players inter-changed around the Ravens team to see who is stepping up to the mark and let very few become comfortable as to who owns the starting jersey.
I am not going to go on about what they do in Australia, S.Africa etc......... BUT, anyone who watched the Luster Vs Cunster game know that our talented young players are the envy of most of the top teams in Europe, they are our future let them flourish to their true potential sooner rather than later and by doing so show the true depth of the Ulster squad.

[darkside lightside]

I agree that we need to sell more season tickets. But I think the numbers fell this season if anything. Higher prices and poor performances were probably to blame. The latter is hopefully being reversed this year but I can only see the cost continuing to go up. This will always restrict the number of STs sold.

However one initiative that certainly did not help ST sales this year and will continue to have a detrimental effect is the screening of home matches live. This is absolutely incredible. When you know that all Ulster home games are going to be on TV then why buy a season ticket. Much easier to sit in the warmth of your house and watch the game there.

I don't know about ST sales, but my clear impression has been that crowds have been noticeably smaller this season in the (admittedly few) matches I've attended..

I don't agree about TV rights - Leinster & Saints (to stick with the sides I mentioned before) have at least as many games televised, but have managed to sell impressive amounts of STs. IMO the simple truth is that for the last decade, UR has not been worked to anywhere near the level it should have been, and we're paying the price now - this is what Logan was brought in to do (over a couple of pretty strong candidates as I recall), he needs to deliver on the big talk.

[lovesthehardground]

Nah, no one would watch it, result already announced etc. Only a highlights programme would work in that manner.

I am firmly of the opinion that screening games increases profile and boosts attendance of casual fans who watch at home a few weeks, get to know whos who, maybe better knowledge of the laws etc and then actually enjoy it more. In time it will increase STs but not overnight

No can't agree with you here. Attendances this season have seemed a lot lower than previous years and I think that screening live "home" games has contributed to this demise. NO probs with the away games but not the home matches. If it would be better screening highlights games than ok, but don't know how that affects TV rights.

[promsandwich]

I don't agree that televised matches automatically lead to declining attendances. Some people I know who are not ST holders have on occasion this year chosen to watch a match on tv rather than attend at the ground. However such a drop in what might be described as "casual" attenders has to be offset by the broadening of availability for fans who cannot attend every game ( for geographic or financial reasons for example ) to continue to follow the team thereby creating more interest in general and perhaps an increase in merchandising.

The reality is that even during the lean years of results attendances were reasonably stable even though the product ( ie rugby/results ) was becoming poorer. With the onset of the present recession numbers were bound to decline as they have in almost every sport. At least with the product having improved this season there is the prospect of stabilising numbers at the present level and increasing them as we move out of recession. It is always difficult to make comparisons with Leinster and Munster for different reasons. Leinster have much higher urban numbers with probably more disposable income to call on and therefore ought to be able to maintain higher attendances. Munster have been the most consistently successful club in Europe for the past 12 years ( not now lol! ) so they will always have been more likely to attract a larger following.

Prices for UR season tickets and tickets in general together with tv availability will undoubtedly reduce attendance. However prices are still relatively low and if UR continue to improve in the manner that they have this season ( in terms of playing results and of making match days an experience ), the economic climate improves and UR manage to build a stadium with much better facilities, one would hope that numbers could be increased back up towards a 12,000 average attendance.

[ColinM]

And its hard to get a decent view of the cheerleaders on the telly

[OneMore]

Nah, no one would watch it, result already announced etc. Only a highlights programme would work in that manner.

I am firmly of the opinion that screening games increases profile and boosts attendance of casual fans who watch at home a few weeks, get to know whos who, maybe better knowledge of the laws etc and then actually enjoy it more. In time it will increase STs but not overnight

No can't agree with you here. Attendances this season have seemed a lot lower than previous years and I think that screening live "home" games has contributed to this demise. NO probs with the away games but not the home matches. If it would be better screening highlights games than ok, but don't know how that affects TV rights.

I don't think BBC would pay big bucks for showing a delayed game any more than they would pay big bucks for a highlights show - I'd imagine it's live or forget about it.

I agree with hardground - we need to take a long term view of this; perhaps this season the TV coverage did contribute to a dip in attendances, but we'll recoup that with interest in the years to come.

I think pricing strategy may have something to answer for in terms of season tickets, and I think if those in the know took a long hard look at themselves, which I'm sure they will, they may well conclude that £175 per standing adult might just have been a bit steep. I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly feel we were sold a bit of a fairy tale - a sharp price rise was dressed up in the clothing of 2 extra games and tickets to the Ravens. I think we paid over the odds. It was £350 for my household of 2. Dear help anyone with a family, furthermore if they wanted to get seated season tickets (translate as "my kid wants to be able to see").

OM

[bootlaced]

Does anybody know the situation with Scott Lavalla?,he seems to be getting game time with the Ravens but never seems to get mentioned,would he not be blocking one of the Ulster players?,or his he gonna be offered a full time contract when he finishes university in may of this year

[lovesthehardground]

I don't agree that televised matches automatically lead to declining attendances. Some people I know who are not ST holders have on occasion this year chosen to watch a match on tv rather than attend at the ground. However such a drop in what might be described as "casual" attenders has to be offset by the broadening of availability for fans who cannot attend every game ( for geographic or financial reasons for example ) to continue to follow the team thereby creating more interest in general and perhaps an increase in merchandising.

The reality is that even during the lean years of results attendances were reasonably stable even though the product ( ie rugby/results ) was becoming poorer. With the onset of the present recession numbers were bound to decline as they have in almost every sport. At least with the product having improved this season there is the prospect of stabilising numbers at the present level and increasing them as we move out of recession. It is always difficult to make comparisons with Leinster and Munster for different reasons. Leinster have much higher urban numbers with probably more disposable income to call on and therefore ought to be able to maintain higher attendances. Munster have been the most consistently successful club in Europe for the past 12 years ( not now lol! ) so they will always have been more likely to attract a larger following.

Prices for UR season tickets and tickets in general together with tv availability will undoubtedly reduce attendance. However prices are still relatively low and if UR continue to improve in the manner that they have this season ( in terms of playing results and of making match days an experience ), the economic climate improves and UR manage to build a stadium with much better facilities, one would hope that numbers could be increased back up towards a 12,000 average attendance.

I'd be interested to know what ideas you have to get the average attendance up to 12000, an increase of around 2-3k at least. You state the declining numbers are due more to economic reasons than TV coverage, yet I can't see the economy getting much better in the next year or so. Therefore your reasoning would result in numbers dwindling further rather than increasing

We can't all afford "prawn sandwiches"!!!