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It's Goodbye for the Fainga'a Twins

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barbarian

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Ignoto said:
From a community point of view, it would be an absolutely shocking loss. They're one of the few professional athletes who actually seem genuinely interested in being involved in everything they can.

Sure the ARU might make a loss from keeping the added "Wallabies" on the payroll, but from a marketing perspective these two would be a huge benefit to get bums on seats.
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Seriously? It would be a 'shocking loss'? The Fainga'a's 'get bums on seats'?

I think not. Both are handy at Super level but neither are proven at test level. Nor are they very well-known outside Queensland rugby circles, and have practically zero marketability.

Nice guys though.
 
Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude

John Solomon (38)
barbarian said:
Seriously? It would be a 'shocking loss'? The Fainga'a's 'get bums on seats'?

I think not. Both are handy at Super level but neither are proven at test level. Nor are they very well-known outside Queensland rugby circles, and have practically zero marketability.

Nice guys though.
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Well the reds have about 27k members, and the tahs have 8k... One of those teams has the Fainga'a brothers - you do the math.

What puts bums on seat in Sydney? Nothing...
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Phil Hardcastle (33)
I think it's definitely true that they've been pretty symbolic/talismanic in the rise of the Reds, and used heavily in a lot of the marketing as a result. The rest of the debate aside, I think you'd have to admit that's true.
 
Ignoto

Ignoto

Peter Sullivan (51)
barbarian said:
Seriously? It would be a 'shocking loss'? The Fainga'a's 'get bums on seats'?

I think not. Both are handy at Super level but neither are proven at test level. Nor are they very well-known outside Queensland rugby circles, and have practically zero marketability.

Nice guys though.
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Never said anything about being spectacular players. I was point out from a community perspective, that is within Queensland rugby they would be a big loss. They engage with the Queensland community, kids look up to them and want to watch them.
 
barbarian

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Ignoto said:
Never said anything about being spectacular players. I was point out from a community perspective, that is within Queensland rugby they would be a big loss. They engage with the Queensland community, kids look up to them and want to watch them.
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Fair enough.

They have been good Queensland servants, sure. But to attribute any of the 27k members directly to them is a bit of a stretch. They are symbolic of the Reds team ethos, and thus if they were to go I'm sure their replacements would fill the breach well.

Look I think this story is just a beatup and to say they will leave purely because the ARU won't give them cash is a bit of a leap. Surely they aren't that money hungry. Although it does say something that they tweeted the article on their account with no commentry. Seems more like a Fainga'a press release than an article.
 
D

daz

Guest
spectator said:
What's the purpose of a manager if he's not trying to get the best deal for his player(s)? I see nothing untoward in what he has done. There is no apparent animosity to the Reds, and he is just doing the right thing by his players, who look to have had some income taken away from them.
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I made no mention of anything untoward. I don't believe for a second that there is anything shady in what he is doing and I hope you are not implying that I did.

Of course the agent should try to get as much money for his/her clients as possible. I just don't think doing it via the court of public perception is the right way to go, and I used the SBW media experience as backup evidence.

On another note, and I realise this may be considered blasphemy, but I actually think Ant and Saia have played well past their potential. I never really thought of them as a Wallaby hooker or 12/13, in the same way I thought of, I dunno, Phil Kearns and Tim Horan.

If pressed though, I would say Ant was much closer than Saia to being a regular Wallaby.

Good and honest provincial clubmen who were just a half-step below international ability.
 
RugbyReg

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
barbarian said:
Seriously? It would be a 'shocking loss'? The Fainga'a's 'get bums on seats'?

I think not. Both are handy at Super level but neither are proven at test level. Nor are they very well-known outside Queensland rugby circles, and have practically zero marketability.

Nice guys though.
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I think you underplay the Fainga'a twins. Big time. They are kid magnets. I am AMAZED at how much they are loved by the kids, and to be fair the wider market too. Sure out of QLD they may not have the profile, but here they are two of our more high profile and popular players. Just listen to the crowd reaction when the announcer reads through the team pre-game, its up there with Digby, Quade and Genia.
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
RugbyReg said:
I think you underplay the Fainga'a twins. Big time. They are kid magnets. I am AMAZED at how much they are loved by the kids, and to be fair the wider market too. Sure out of QLD they may not have the profile, but here they are two of our more high profile and popular players. Just listen to the crowd reaction when the announcer reads through the team pre-game, its up there with Digby, Quade and Genia.
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So they are very valuable to the Reds. The Reds need to find ways to keep them, within the rules.
 
W

What2040

Guest
It would be interesting to see how their individual rugby careers go if they weren't playing together. IMO they feed off each other, as brothers, teammates, personally - they really are a pair
 
W

What2040

Guest
RugbyReg said:
I think you underplay the Fainga'a twins. Big time. They are kid magnets. I am AMAZED at how much they are loved by the kids, and to be fair the wider market too. Sure out of QLD they may not have the profile, but here they are two of our more high profile and popular players. Just listen to the crowd reaction when the announcer reads through the team pre-game, its up there with Digby, Quade and Genia.
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Part of the attraction has to be Saaia's dreadies - shit i wish i had just some (hair) - its a point of difference between him and others - bit like George Smith before he got cut
 
lincoln

lincoln

Bob Loudon (25)
wamberal said:
So they are very valuable to the Reds. The Reds need to find ways to keep them, within the rules.
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Find them part time jobs - it seems they have a certain marketability about them. Has anyone enquired as to their plans post rugby - back to Queanbeyan to raise the next generation?
 
Badger

Badger

Bill McLean (32)
I saw them at a couple of Wallaby fan sessions last year in Sydney and found them very personable so I can understand why they are highly regarded by the fans in Queensland and the Reds.

Pretty crucial to have such players in a team if they can generate positive broad media and public interest. Big loss for the Reds, in the marketing stakes at least, if they do ending up moving on.
 
Cat_A

Cat_A

Arch Winning (36)
I think my biggest issue with this was touched on earlier: why drop the number of top-ups to 26 AND introduce a salary cap to the provinces within an 18 month period? And combine this with the mooted/imminent/who-knows-what-the-fuck-is-going-on slashing of funding to Brisbane and Sydney Premier Rugby? Where is the money going now? We know it's not in development, which has just fallen back to the states' responsibilities, clearly it's not going to the Australia A program (yeah - remember Australia A? They called it Barbarians last year so they didn't have to do full match payments). The ARU National Academies are supposed to be money-saving too. And the ARU are getting those 7s boys at a frickin' steal (you don't have to pay the kids much)

It's common knowledge that the ARU are in financial shit, but that's a shitload of cost-cutting.

Boys, if you or your managers are reading this, I'll start running lamington drives and pie drives, and if we coordinate all the clubs in Brisbane, we might be able to get a few sausage sizzles at the juniors days. God knows with the amount of support you've given to all of these things over the past few years (including when the Reds were shit), and the amount of shit you've copped for having your faces out there, we owe you a couple back.
 
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