Connacht to meet IRFU over financial plight

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/1207/1224308683471.html

I wonder if anything positive will come out of this?
At least they are up there looking for more, can't get if you don't ask.

I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with the article in equal measure. Yes we need a bigger squad, the numbers comparing us to Leinster indicate that quite clearly.

But comments from the journalist such as...

Of 12 players recruited only two have started more than 50 per cent of the Pro 12 fixtures to date.

ummm, wrote: I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with the article in equal measure.

I agree that we can't keep trotting out the poor relation argument. We need to move on from this. In turn though the IRFU need to support us more in retaining players for longer terms especially home grown and irish players. Players should not be put in a position where they should suffer financial loss by not accepting an offer from another province. Ultimately the arm twisting that goes on where players more or less have no option but to leave needs to stop. We can't expect all players to have done what Muldoon has, he has opportunities to leave and get better exposure and money but he has chosen to stay but only because he is from Connacht. It is very hard for players from outside the province to have the same feelings for the team. This is where the IRFU needs to support us most I feel.

We try what Andy did in the Shawshank Redemption, and write the IRFU a letter every week, until they give us extra money, and then start writing two letters a week

What exactly are the IRFU supposed to do, give us more money than they give to the other provinces? Where's the justification for that? Right now we're showing them just how much such an action would be pissing cash away.

The other provinces have more cash because they have more revenue streams. I have no problem with us looking for more money, but we're not looking in the right places. Now, I'll admit I don't know where those places are either, but I know it's not the IRFU.

That's assuming we went to the IRFU to talk about funding, maybe we went to complain about how we constantly lose players. That's something that Connacht and the IRFU can work together to overcome. I'm hoping that's why we were there.

And while they're at it, maybe the IRFU can explain why they're ok with a hugely experienced, double HEC winning scrum half being loaned out to an English team to help them with their HEC campaign? And maybe the branch can explain why we were unsuccessful in securing him for that loan spell.

I mean, we did ask, didn't we?

If Saracens win the HEC, beating an Irish team in the final, we're all going to lose out.

Couldn't agree more Ummm. I think that's the kind of help the IRFU could be giving to Connacht. I know there were a lot of rumors of Quinlan coming to us for a year before he retired and we see it again now with Stringer. The experience that these players could bring to Connacht would be massive. These are players that are used to winning and getting a game over the line and passing on some of this knowledge to our younger players would improve our game no end. Not to mention having more household names on the pitch could help boost support numbers, it certainly wouldn't hurt them. Getting a scatter of academy players and AIL players to boost the size of the squad isn't the way to go. I think a lot of what we lack is the experience of winning. How many times this season alone have we seen our players panic when we get in to good positions. I think this is something that we should be looking to get more from the IRFU on.

ummm, wrote: maybe the IRFU can explain why they're ok with a hugely experienced, double HEC winning scrum half being loaned out to an English team to help them with their HEC campaign?

ummm, wrote:
And maybe the branch can explain why we were unsuccessful in securing him for that loan spell.

ummm, wrote:
I mean, we did ask, didn't we?

“There is no doubt the losing of four starters – Hagan, Cronin, Keatley and Carr had a huge impact on us,” said Kelly.

He added: “If you look at the first weekend of the Heineken Cup only one of them got a game and that was Seán Cronin [off the bench for Leinster].

“We will be working with the IRFU to make sure that doesn’t happen in future.”

The last few lines of the article there would seem to confirm your right Ummm: rather than the main focus of the meeting being about additional funding it seems more to be about getting the IRFU to address the player loss issue.

It would make a lot of sense if Hago could come back to Connacht again even on a short term non HC non 6N deal until Leinster think he is worth putting in their match day squad. The Kiwi they signed in the summer is obviously their nr 2 behind Ross so why not let us have him back for a few games and build up his confidence and match fitness rather than wilting away in the Leinster A team. I take the point about strings but how can a 9 influence the game in a positive way when his whole pack is constantly on the back foot with the exception of lineout ball which is the only platform we can get off set piece. Would be an interesting stat to see how many meters we have lost at scrum time this season.

Hear har Sea Point

Stringer has to finish his rugby in Ireland. He needs the best ten years tax back as do all of the big earners of the professional era.

As far as I am aware you need to be a professional rugby player for a year. Shane Byrne did this by being paid €1 by Blackrock.

I am not comparing them. Stringer keeps coming out saying he ahs a lot to offer. he obviously was not happy in Munster. Leinster have Boss & reddan. Ulster have Piennar. If he wants starting rugb its on a plate and whether he will sacrifice his pay in order to save his tax is the next question.

I think it is a possibility.

sea_point wrote: Hang on a second guys, we all know damn well that we're caught in a vicious circle. We don't get enough money to entice the calibre of marquee player that would strengthen the squad significantly and certainly not a player anywhere near the calibre that Leinster, Munster and Ulster have been able to sign regulalry over the years on the back of significant IRFU funding.

sea_point wrote: And that's symptomatic of where we find ourselves, so I'm all for getting the hand out to the IRFU. They still bloody owe us for the best par of fifteen years of mismanagement and underinvestment.

salmson wrote:

ummm, wrote: maybe the IRFU can explain why they're ok with a hugely experienced, double HEC winning scrum half being loaned out to an English team to help them with their HEC campaign?

What would the IRFU have to do with it? He's not centrally contracted, so Munster and Munster only say where he goes. Maybe we didn't have the dosh to pay his wages for 3 months and Saracens did? And Munster have not exactly been encouraging players to move to connacht over the years, have they?

There was no way Stringer was coming to Connacht on a short term deal this season. Connacht have three healthy scrumhalves, just because the two Eric has been using are not working out is not justification for bringing in a 4th. It's abuse of the transfer system and wouldn't guarantee Connacht any more wins.

Now when the season is over and he is looking for a new team then Connacht can pursue him and hopefully the IRFU would assist financially or otherwise. This would help Connacht and keep a great servant to Irish rugby in Ireland.

I think others will be looking at this and saying its hard to feel sorry for us. Our recruitment has been very poor in the last couple of seasons and our record in the Southern Hemisphere is appalling.

I never mind us bringing in Irish players and if they prove not to be good enough so be it but the likes of Ezra Taylor, Fa'aili, Vainikolo etc. (might see something yet hopefully) have taken huge chunks from our budget with no return. Lots more like this during Bradley's time as well.

I think the IRFU should provide the assistance required to mean an Irish player isn't losing out financially coming west but with the stipulation that Connacht have a maximum of 2 NIQ's. They should first of all enforce their own agreement whereby we'd get players from the other provinces, rather than last summer where our 10 went to Munster with no-one coming the other way.

Really in the main its up to ourselves, Connacht is a professional outfit, we need to raise more of our own finance, which we are starting to do this season but also we need to start setting down our own targets not waiting for targets from the IRFU. There has to be someone who will hold the management team accountable for results. The PGB are only there to develop revenue streams.

There needs to be proper business decisions made about results on the pitch and not the nonsense we witnessed under Bradley. No-one wants to see it go the way things are in soccer with managers coming and going every few months but at the start and end of every season a real evaluation has to be done on results and where the team is going.