Australian Rugby / RA

[Slim 293]

If it's in fact true that the players cite the tahs as a pretty unattractive destination then they are unfortunately a bunch of massive hypocrites.

Not really...

 

[Braveheart81]

Well RA definitely has a conflict of interest. The own the worst team in Aus and want to make them competitive ASAP.

I don't know that it's really a conflict of interest. RA has a contractual obligation to a number of players signed for 2025 already and the only team they had influence over in terms of ongoing contracts was the Waratahs at that point.

 

[Rebel man]

Once their current deals with RA expire next year, it certainly will...

No it won’t. International clubs will still come and make them good offers. Not playing the year won’t hurt them, I mean it’s not like Quade Cooper had no offers and is earning more than he could in Aus

 

[Slim 293]

No it won’t. International clubs will still come and make them good offers. Not playing the year won’t hurt them, I mean it’s not like Quade Cooper had no offers and is earning more than he could in Aus

They'll make them good offers, but it would be much lower than if they were having to compete with RA to sign them.

Quade finished his rugby in Australia playing at a professional level with the Rebels.

 

[Rebel man]

I don't know that it's really a conflict of interest. RA has a contractual obligation to a number of players signed for 2025 already and the only team they had influence over in terms of ongoing contracts was the Waratahs at that point.

So a clear conflict. Would they prefer them to go to the Tahs and take them to finals or the Force?

 

[Rebel man]

They'll make them good offers, but it would be much lower than if they were having to compete with RA to sign them.

There will be no shortage of competition in the market for capped test players. All the fringe players would want to be bending over backwards to get a game or seeking an early release to play pro footy elsewhere.

 

[Wilson]

As a professional athlete, playing club rugby doesn't really help with offers on future earnings in the next contract either

For some of the guys lower on the list it honestly might - how much time would Dobbins expect with Porecki, Vailanu, Heaven and Fourie fit? Arguably he's going to have a better chance showing what he's got playing for a Wests side he's familiar with than with a Shute Shield club he's never played for, occasionally getting held back as injury cover. Potentially some of those guys won't be resigned at the tahs, but he's going to be coming in on the bottom rung.

Admittedly Dobbins is probably a special case - BPA and Dolly joining the Force means hooking stocks are looking pretty deep across the country now, but as @Highlander35 mentioned a few more of those guys will struggle for any meaningful game time with the tahs squad fully fit. Better to be playing at the club they know best while being agile enough to take any opportunity (overseas, injury cover in super) on a club only contract. That changes a bit for some of them if the Brumbies/Force/Reds are an option, but if it's presented as tahs or club then there are very real potential career benefits for just playing club for quite a few of them.

 

[Strewthcobber]

For some of the guys lower on the list it honestly might - how much time would Dobbins expect with Porecki, Vailanu, Heaven and Fourie fit? Arguably he's going to have a better chance showing what he's got playing for a Wests side he's familiar with than with a Shute Shield club he's never played for, occasionally getting held back as injury cover. Potentially some of those guys won't be resigned at the tahs, but he's going to be coming in on the bottom rung.

Admittedly Dobbins is probably a special case - BPA and Dolly joining the Force means hooking stocks are looking pretty deep across the country now, but as @Highlander35 mentioned a few more of those guys will struggle for any meaningful game time with the tahs squad fully fit. Better to be playing at the club they know best while being agile enough to take any opportunity (overseas, injury cover in super) on a club only contract. That changes a bit for some of them if the Brumbies/Force/Reds are an option, but if it's presented as tahs or club then there are very real potential career benefits for just playing club for quite a few of them.

They don't get the benefit of pro level training, fitness, weights programs, injury recovery, physios dieticians etc etc.

QC (Quade Cooper) could afford to pay for all of this when BT threw him out. Your average reserve Super Rugby player won't be able to

 

[Adam84]

In the case of someone like Dobbins, yeh he may not play much but I'd say there's value to been in a proffesional environment; been around other players learning, and with coaches and S&C staff helping them develop. Even if paid full-time, it's pretty hard to train for a team sport if you've got no one else to train with.

 

[Wilson]

They don't get the benefit of pro level training, fitness, weights programs, injury recovery, physios dieticians etc etc.

QC (Quade Cooper) (Quade Cooper) could afford to pay for all of this when BT threw him out. Your average reserve Super Rugby player won't be able to

To some degree, though taking a full contract with only club commitments does make this a bit easier than it might otherwise be, particularly if there's a group of them doing it in the one city (and ideally at the one club). Overall though the goal probably wouldn't be a whole season of club rugby, it'd be keeping yourself available to take a contract elsewhere in short order. Once they agree to the variation and head to the tahs (or any other aus super side) they can't take an early exit anymore.

The other side of that is you might be a skeptical as a front rower heading to the tahs right now, certainly I'd be asking a lot of questions about what went wrong this year and what they're doing to ensure it doesn't happen again. Not sure I'd chance my career on "it was bad luck" as the response.

 

[Adam84]

If there weren't a clean-out of the Director of Rugby(who publicly criticised Tahs S&C midseason) and Head Coach, then I'd certainly be sceptical

 

[Rebel man]

They don't get the benefit of pro level training, fitness, weights programs, injury recovery, physios dieticians etc etc.

QC (Quade Cooper) (Quade Cooper) could afford to pay for all of this when BT threw him out. Your average reserve Super Rugby player won't be able to

Sorry but you are just so wrong.

They may elect to take it easy. Yet it would be easy to find private coaches with qualifications that outstrip those at any Super Rugby club.

Pro sports don’t pay well, as a coach you can or anyone who works in athletic development or recovery you can make way more money running a private business.

 

[Wilson]

If there weren't a clean-out of the Director of Rugby(who publicly criticised Tahs S&C midseason) and Head Coach, then I'd certainly be sceptical

I don't know how the tahs are responding to these questions behind closed doors, but I don't think "those guys are all gone so it's not a problem anymore" is a good enough answer. If the problem was the head coach overulling the S&C staff then I'd be looking for an explanation of why they didn't (or couldn't) do more to push back (particularly if they're staying) and systems put in place to prevent that from happening again.

 

[Rebel man]

@Slim 293 its not a hard concept to understand. There is more money to be made running a private business than there is working for a super rugby club.

So your access to high level training and athletic development from choosing to play club footy is not diminished. If anything it is enhanced as you can get your own private coach who will be training you one on one over training a squad of 30.

 

[Braveheart81]

If anything it is enhanced as you can get your own private coach who will be training you one on one over training a squad of 30.

How affordable is that for a player on $200k a year or less?

 

[Wilson]

If these guys are concerned about the cost of living in Sydney I've got some bad news for them about the cost of hiring a "high class" private trainer for a season of one-on-one sessions

Something screwy going on with the quoting there...

 

[Strewthcobber]

@Slim 293 its not a hard concept to understand. There is more money to be made running a private business than there is working for a super rugby club.

So your access to high level training and athletic development from choosing to play club footy is not diminished. If anything it is enhanced as you can get your own private coach who will be training you one on one over training a squad of 30.

If these guys are concerned about the cost of living in Sydney I've got some bad news for them about the cost of hiring a "high class" private trainer for a season of one-on-one sessions

 

[Slim 293]

@Slim 293 its not a hard concept to understand. There is more money to be made running a private business than there is working for a super rugby club.

So your access to high level training and athletic development from choosing to play club footy is not diminished. If anything it is enhanced as you can get your own private coach who will be training you one on one over training a squad of 30.

And who is paying for said private coach?

 

[Highlander35]

It's a complicated issue that I expect will evolve as we start making our way through to mid-late September and (a) Club seasons start wrapping up (b) European teams start finalising their rosters for the upcoming season, (c) we work our way through the Rugby Championship where Schmidt will show exactly who he is interested in and (d) McKellar/Raiwalui have opportunities to spruik their more concrete plans for the next couple of seasons to the core they want.

As it currently stands, particularly without explicit confirmation of which players have said I'll play Club Rugby rather than for the Tahs (the only explicitly stated report is that those 11 named have nominated sides other than the Tahs) I think it's important to keep things in check. The state of play is fundamentally different for the various tiers of player involved.

 

[Rebel man]

And who is paying for said private coach?

Most professional athletes pay for a private coach in there offseason. Most blokes who are half serious at local level sports look to engage these sorts of people