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The Welsh eh? The entire nation has Stockholm syndrome. Everytime it's mentioned (possiblilty of joining the english clubs) they swoon. At least play hard to get folks.Angelsea Angst wrote:It seems that the Welsh Regions want to join the breakaway English clubs to form an Anglo Welsh League. This would be devastating for the Pro14.
the welsh were offered £4million (per club) to join the anglo welsh league by BT sports about 8 years ago. that is what they were getting anyway from the pro14 (pro12 back then) and european comps. they didn't bite back then and I think it is unlikely for them to do it anytime soon. Why risk joining a shaky premiership breakaway when the pro14 appears to be growing slowly but solidly.blockhead wrote:The Welsh eh? The entire nation has Stockholm syndrome. Everytime it's mentioned (possiblilty of joining the english clubs) they swoon. At least play hard to get folks.Angelsea Angst wrote:It seems that the Welsh Regions want to join the breakaway English clubs to form an Anglo Welsh League. This would be devastating for the Pro14.
Talk about unrequited love.
The biggest dose of karma and richly deserved.dropkick wrote:I read that BT sport's might be dropping the premiership and the premiership are expecting a lot less TV money with their new contract .........
Some might call it a nice dose of karma. They sabotaged the Heineken cup so the could use it as a sweetner for their last TV deal with BT.
2 things that were as obvious then as they are now;Speaking in an extensive House of Rugby interview, Burgess candidly gave his version of what allegedly happened during those months between him earning selection in Lancaster’s World Cup squad and his hurried departure from Bath back into the arms of the Rabbitohs in Sydney.
“I went into the World Cup and the politics went through the roof,” he said. “You can all read between the lines. I think Mike Ford wanted the England job and George playing ten, and Owen (Farrell) at ten and me twelve, there was a lot going on behind the scenes that people don’t quite understand that influenced a lot of outside opinions.
“England picked me at twelve and that is where the lines started getting murky and the politics were played and I was just right in the middle of it. It doesn’t take a genius to work out. We played the first game against Fiji and Brad Barritt and JJ (Jonathan Joseph) were twelve and 13. JJ got injured and then for game two against Wales they started Owen at ten, me at twelve and Brad at 13 and put George on the bench whereas in game one George was at ten.
“This is where it got interesting because George is on the bench against Wales and George is upset with me during the week thinking I had orchestrated this. I went, ‘How could I orchestrate that?’ Mike’s then done his thing in the press and it just got a bit murky. Then we lose the game against Wales which was bananas, I really don’t know how we lost…
“I just felt that people behind the scenes were playing a deeper game. The biggest thing was that Mike Ford wanted the England coaching job, so his job was to try sabotage Lancaster and his decision making and his coaching methods.
“With George being his son, that infiltrated into the camp. After me starting against Wales, my relationship with George completely changed. He wouldn’t talk to me, he was a bit sulky and Mike was a bit shady in the background. We lost, fell out of the World Cup and that’s when I went back to Bath and I couldn’t sit in the same room as Mike. I had to tell him I couldn’t play for him anymore, I’d lost respect for him.
“I came back from World Cup, went straight into his room and said, ‘Mike, I don’t want to play for you anymore, I don’t trust you. I think you’re playing games around my back. You used me a pawn in your game of chess. I can’t put my boots on and play for you every week’.
“His response was, ‘Take ten days off, come back, maybe you’ll change’. I went to Spain for 10 days… he asked me if I changed my mind and I said, ‘No, I’m, serious here, I’m going. Let’s get the deal done’.
Burgess was contracted with Bath through to the end of 2015, but Rabbitohs owner Russell Crowe secured his release overnight and he was quickly on his way back to Australia. While he was flying, Ford did media in England that was uncomplimentary of Burgess.
“This is probably going to cause a bit of trouble but I’m not trying to cause trouble,” continued Burgess, who retired from NRL at the end of the 2019 season in Australia while the Ford father and son combination has since reunited at Leicester Tigers. “When I left Bath, I left quietly, I didn’t do any media… then when I was in the air, that is when Mike had his couple of jabs in the press.
“I had to laugh because I’ll never forget Mike’s face when I said to him, ‘Mike, I don’t respect you anymore. I don’t. I think you’re a bit of a snake’ and I’ll never forget the quiver I got from him. I had just landed back in Sydney and had to front a press conference which was huge in Australia and that [Ford’s allegation of Burgess not being fully committed] was a question.
“I didn’t realise he had said that and I laughed. ‘Mike Ford said that?’ They said, ‘Yeah’. It’s funny but I didn’t respond to it because what’s the point? He showed his true colours, he showed me who he was and I told Bruce Craig in fact, the owner at Bath. I told Bruce, ‘Mike is not the guy who will take you to glory, he won’t take you to a championship, he is too selfish’. Six months later they sacked him.
“If you look at Mike’s career you will go, there’s a bit of a pattern of what Mike comes in and does. He comes underneath somebody, jumps up and gets the top job after a few years and then goes somewhere else.
“Me saying that to Bruce at the time: we had just made Premiership final the year before (2014/15) but look at the team we had. We had the most amazing team but we still couldn’t get the job done at the time because it wasn’t about winning, it was about individuals’ ego rather than just being successful as a company, a club or a franchise.”
Ford doesn't get picked ahead of Farrell much.blockhead wrote: George Ford is a very good player, but not on the same planet as Owen Farrell.
Unanimous. Owners unanimously voted to pay players less. And they did it for 3 years. If everyone does it then players just don’t get paid so much.blockhead wrote:Premiership Rugby has confirmed clubs unanimously voted to cut the cap on senior wage bills from £6.4m to £5m from the start of the 2021-22 season, before being restored to current levels by the 2024-25 season at the latest.
On top of the new £5m ceiling, clubs are able to nominate two players whose salaries fall outside the total, but this will reduce to one from 2022-23.
Does this mean even more pain for Saracens if they want to get back into the prem? They would have to offload some players at the end of next season to get under the £5m cap, players they dont need for next season, so why keep them now?
I think the wage disparity has greatly increased. I think it's reasonable to suggest the majority of players had far more modest increases in pay and might feel a slash of wages by 20-30% across the board quite acutely.JB1973 wrote:Rugby salaries are going to tumble in the next few years and tbh that's not such a bad thing, it was getting out of hand especially in France. Hopley and co better get their heads around the fact and learn to live with it
Morf wrote:I think the wage disparity has greatly increased. I think it's reasonable to suggest the majority of players had far more modest increases in pay and might feel a slash of wages by 20-30% across the board quite acutely.JB1973 wrote:Rugby salaries are going to tumble in the next few years and tbh that's not such a bad thing, it was getting out of hand especially in France. Hopley and co better get their heads around the fact and learn to live with it
I am not sure there are many roles out there that require you to effectively give up your future mobility for. I don't begrudge them one cent.JB1973 wrote:Morf wrote:I think the wage disparity has greatly increased. I think it's reasonable to suggest the majority of players had far more modest increases in pay and might feel a slash of wages by 20-30% across the board quite acutely.JB1973 wrote:Rugby salaries are going to tumble in the next few years and tbh that's not such a bad thing, it was getting out of hand especially in France. Hopley and co better get their heads around the fact and learn to live with it
We are all going to feel the pain of reduced wages and increased unemployment for the next few years, and that will include professional sports people.
I'm afraid like the rest of us they are going to have to just deal with it, what's the average salary for a first team player in the English prem?
According to the below article it's £120k, so the guys in the prem are going to be in a far better position to carry those cuts than your average man in the street.
https://www.rugbypass.com/news/the-pers ... by-player/
Without being harsh no one is forcing them to be rugby players if it is not financially viable for them to do so they will just have to get part time jobs or even change occupations
Don't get me wrong there are guys on less and I feel for them but it's still a well paid job compared to most
Absolutely. It is going to be tough for some squads to maintain morale and cohesion. Kyle Sinckler signed a deal with Bristol worth somewhere near £500k p.a. [source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/rug ... sh-3626356 ] before the lockdown, and that is what he should be paid, because that's what he's contracted to be paid. But it's very plausible that he could be playing in the front row with team-mates earning 20% or 15% or 10% of what he's on who are playing far more games for the club.ronk wrote: I'd fully sympathize with them seeing oit their contracts in full (post COVID) and then taking a hit on renewal. The owners signed irresponsible contracts and there are clear and strick rules that punish clubs.
Wage disparity definitely increased. There's no cap on the wages of 'franchise players' [two per club] in the Premiership, so somebody like Piutau can earn £900k/£1m p/a [rumoured] without affecting the cap.Morf wrote:I think the wage disparity has greatly increased. I think it's reasonable to suggest the majority of players had far more modest increases in pay and might feel a slash of wages by 20-30% across the board quite acutely.JB1973 wrote:Rugby salaries are going to tumble in the next few years and tbh that's not such a bad thing, it was getting out of hand especially in France. Hopley and co better get their heads around the fact and learn to live with it
