USARugger
John Thornett (49)
JJT maybe as an outside back option.
If he can recapture the form he showed in the trials last year it would be a shame not to see him at least on the bench, if not at 14/15.
JJT maybe as an outside back option.
Hey does anyone know what hours of operation the Reds shop has at Ballymore, I am driving to CQ tomorrow and a mate has asked if I can swing past and pick him up some supporter stuff.
Sometimes when a player leaves to go OS it perplexes us all- eg. Alo-Emile, Pyle, Ben Mowen.
From my understanding re Liam
Liam and RG were at serious odds.
Reds retained RG and Liam was filthy.
He stayed in 2016 for only one reason (that being loyalty to some of the senior playing group)
He started to look around at other options - he did not want to play for another Australian franchise.
The money on offer from overseas was good, very good.
The door had closed on him being chosen for the Wallabies (with Pocock and Hooper ahead of him).
I doubt whether we will see Liam playing Super rugby in Australia again because firstly the door is shut at Wallaby level for several years and secondly because he will earn substantially more overseas (than what a Super franchise is prepared to pay him without assistance from the ARU)
I hate seeing blokes like this man leave the State but fully support him in the difficult decision he has had to make.
Sometimes when a player leaves to go OS it perplexes us all- eg. Alo-Emile, Pyle, Ben Mowen.
But then there are times when it makes complete sense. Liam Gill is one of those. The only thing that kept him in the country for this long was loyalty to the Reds, and really that can only last for so long.
It was a no-brainer, for so many reasons.
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Apparently JJT is leaving Reds this year. Not sure where to.
Thought he was on contract for next year??
What you are failing to take into account is the love the ARU have for players who play overseas. Every chance Liam can do a Rocky and come back to QLD and be made Wallaby captain.
He'll be probably 30 - 34 by then, if that happens. There are young guns always popping up every couple of years. Hooper is about 24 and will be around for several years, as will Pocock.
He has only 15 test caps so doesn't have the required test caps (60) to be recalled for test duties. Even if the rules are changed down to 30, he is a long way off.
It is a shame !
Mate. He's signed for two years, not ten.
You're talking through your rear. He could well be back in time for the next RWC. If you have inside info, I'd love to hear it, but you need to wind back the catastrophic predictions. There's nothing to indicate that a) he intends to stay there any longer than his contract; and b), that if he comes back he'd go anywhere other than Ballymore.
He has already played for Australia, does more games make a real differenceYep I understand that. But he Will be O/S for a lot longer than 2.The biggest carrot for Liam was playing for his country.
That has even evaporated and will remain so for most of the balance of his playing career (simply because of Pocock and Hooper and even McMahon )
I hope, for selfish reasons, he comes back to the Reds but IMO it is highly unlikely