Waratahs 2021

[Froggy]

And I would prefer Simmons and Hanigan to Caird and Whetton, however neither of these things are going to happen, so we need to play the cards we've been dealt!
Whetton is a journeyman who has only ever reached the level below Super, while at least Caird is young and looks to have some upside. I thought he and Sinclair was a better performance than we have seen in the past (I know Sinclair is not really a lock, but what showed against the Force is that he is just a better footballer than the other two), while Wykes, also a bit of a journeyman, is at least at Super rugby level.

 

[Hawko]

There seem to be a lot of people on here who have unloaded on Rodda without thinking carefully about it:

1. If the reason he left the Reds was the captaincy issue then he's in exalted company. Some of you are too young to remember, but Mark Ella retired at the height of his powers after Allan Jones stripped the Australian captaincy off him. It was the greatest waste of talent in Australian rugby history. I'll say no more because I'm still so bloody angry. But if the coach tells you he doesn't want you as captain when you are the logical incumbent, which Rodda was, then you might just think the coach thinks you're a dickhead and that its time to get out, contract or no contract.
2. If the reason he left was the refusal to take a massive pay-cut, then he just made his point a whole lot sooner than a very large number of other Australian players. Most of them copped it sweet but sent there agents out looking for better offers. When the offers came they said au revoir or sayonara. A lot of people on here are so quick to blame his selfish behaviour but had their boss walked in to their workplace and said sorry guys, you are all on half pay for the next year but I fully expect you'll work just as hard, it would be a whole different story. Call my lawyer, call my union, get a hearing in the Arbitration Commission tomorrow!

Paying out on Rodda is the sort of knee-jerk reaction you'd expect from leagies. We like to think we are better than that.

 

[Derpus]

Yeah, maybe they sent out agents to look for better deals. Fine.

Still didnt walk out mid pandemic like a slackjawed asshole.

Definitely needed the bloke though.

 

[Derpus]

Drug user and Drug dealer better then leave for more money? Okkkkk

There is a fairly reasonable argument that bailing on your team in the middle of a crisis reflects worse on your character than dabling in drugs.

 

[TSR]

There seem to be a lot of people on here who have unloaded on Rodda without thinking carefully about it:

1. If the reason he left the Reds was the captaincy issue then he's in exalted company. Some of you are too young to remember, but Mark Ella retired at the height of his powers after Allan Jones stripped the Australian captaincy off him. It was the greatest waste of talent in Australian rugby history. I'll say no more because I'm still so bloody angry. But if the coach tells you he doesn't want you as captain when you are the logical incumbent, which Rodda was, then you might just think the coach thinks you're a dickhead and that its time to get out, contract or no contract.
2. If the reason he left was the refusal to take a massive pay-cut, then he just made his point a whole lot sooner than a very large number of other Australian players. Most of them copped it sweet but sent there agents out looking for better offers. When the offers came they said au revoir or sayonara. A lot of people on here are so quick to blame his selfish behaviour but had their boss walked in to their workplace and said sorry guys, you are all on half pay for the next year but I fully expect you'll work just as hard, it would be a whole different story. Call my lawyer, call my union, get a hearing in the Arbitration Commission tomorrow!

Paying out on Rodda is the sort of knee-jerk reaction you'd expect from leagies. We like to think we are better than that.

I think the big difference there is that Ella was the captain and he was stripped of the honour.

That’s a bit different to assuming you are going to be made captain and spitting the dummy when a different candidate gets the gig. Edit : I know you’ve written he was the logical choice and I know that was popular opinion, but Wright was better credentialed. I think a lot of people just assumed he may not be a starter.

Having said that, I just think we should remember he is a very young man and he doesn’t have a wealth of life experience. Unfortunately he also didn’t have his dad to seek guidance from.

And his manager is a prawn.

 

[RugbyReg]

The Ella argument is about the biggest stretch you could make in justifying Rodda’s decision.

 

[Froggy]

The issues between Ella and Jones were way more than just captaincy.
But yes, a tragic loss of a huge talent.

 

[Finsbury Girl]

I saw the Plank on the bus yesterday, still looks fit and healthy. I was going to quip how he should take his boots down to Daceyville, he'd probably get a run!

 

[Finsbury Girl]

re: Rodda there is such a thing as loyalty and individuals making sacrifices for the collective. These things hold a person in good stead their entire lives.

 

[Pfitzy]

I'm loving the naivete over Rodda "getting about the same money" over at the Force as he would have elsewhere.

It is cute and endearing. And completely ignores the Twiggybuck$$$

Ignoring the money, would it be an easy choice over the Tahs? Oh shit yeah - currently the Tahs operate out of a few demountables at UNSW and the back office sounds like a pack of raving gibbons throwing typewriters at each other.

 

[fatprop]

I'm loving the naivete over Rodda "getting about the same money" over at the Force as he would have elsewhere.

It is cute and endearing. And completely ignores the Twiggybuck$$$

Ignoring the money, would it be an easy choice over the Tahs? Oh shit yeah - currently the Tahs operate out of a few demountables at UNSW and the back office sounds like a pack of raving gibbons throwing typewriters at each other.

I think his manager appears to focus on maximising the revenue for his clients, didn't all his reds contracted players leave by breaking their contracts via COVID?

 

[Members Section]

Only the RA clubs, Force are privately owned.

Still a salary cap to adhere to & the top up from RA would be for test matches twiggy would just be paying for his force contract.

The reports did say he option was the same at every club

 

[Blackadder]

Still a salary cap to adhere to & the top up from RA would be for test matches twiggy would just be paying for his force contract.

The reports did say he option was the same at every club

He isn't getting a top up according to RA for this contract. If he plays for the Wallabies he will get match payments

 

[Derpus]

Still a salary cap to adhere to & the top up from RA would be for test matches twiggy would just be paying for his force contract.

The reports did say he option was the same at every club

Third party payments, perhaps.

It'd be pretty easy to arrange for a person to get extra cash & perks on the side. See Saracens, every NRL team.

If he really is dropping his salary by more than two thirds he must be very keen to play for the Wallabies again.

 

[Members Section]

Third party payments, perhaps.

It'd be pretty easy to arrange for a person to get extra cash & perks on the side. See Saracens, every NRL team.

If he really is dropping his salary by more than two thirds he must be very keen to play for the Wallabies again.

The bloke has got more money than almost the entire top 14 owners put together, If he was going to cheat the cap he'd would be signing more than just an handy lock

 

[Derpus]

Yeah true - or he's a little more subtle about it.

 

[Pfitzy]

I think his manager appears to focus on maximising the revenue for his clients,

And therefore maximising money for himself.

And why not? This is professionalism.

It is the bridges you burn that might be of concern for a potential 100-Test Wallaby.

 

[Hawko]

Yeah, maybe they sent out agents to look for better deals. Fine.

Still didnt walk out mid pandemic like a slackjawed asshole.

Definitely needed the bloke though.

This is the professional era, we are not playing amateurs any more. It's their job, just like yours.

Answer me truly. If your boss walks into your office tomorrow and says "OK, the only way I'm keeping you on is if you take a 50% pay cut and you can forget about redundancy despite your years of service", are you really going to say "OK boss, anything you say"? Or are you one of those business owners who think this is a perfectly honest and reasonable thing to do?

 

[Derpus]

This is the professional era, we are not playing amateurs any more. It's their job, just like yours.

Answer me truly. If your boss walks into your office tomorrow and says "OK, the only way I'm keeping you on is if you take a 50% pay cut and you can forget about redundancy despite your years of service", are you really going to say "OK boss, anything you say"? Or are you one of those business owners who think this is a perfectly honest and reasonable thing to do?

If everyone in the country was copping the same or similar, due to a global pandemic, and it was a short term solution to a short term problem. Yes. Yes i would.

No i am not a business owner. Just because it's my job doesn't mean im going to suddenly become a self-serving fluffybunny.

And lets add a little more perspective, of which you seem interested in removing. This wasn't a bloke agreeing to go below the bread-line. He would still have been on many times the average national income.

 

[barbarian]

It's not the same as a regular workplace Hawko, though. Yes we're in the professional era but we are still playing rugby and things like loyalty are important. The Wallaby jersey is something our players are supposed to aspire to, and representing the Wallabies has value beyond the paycheck you get at the end of the day.

Rodda walked out, but as I said above it was the way he did it. He hid behind his manager, ducked his team-mates and fans, and walked out on the Reds and Wallabies when both really needed him to stay.

Now that may be defensible from an economic perspective, as you state, and clearly he was within his rights to do it. But we are certainly entitled to criticise him for that decision, and not be willing to welcome him back with open arms to the Wallabies.
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