According to the Sunday Times today Gavin Duffy says he might play on for another year with another team. It also confirms Paddy Wallace's retirement which is well worth reading. They asked him had he any tips for young players and he said turn your phone off on holiday and if your asked to play New Zealand after not touching a ball for an entire month say NO! :lol:

Another option may be JOC and he has a years experience as s c coach.

Yes for sure and knows the set up so well.

He holds a degree in strength & conditioning from Setanta College. Obvious choice I would have thought.

On what grounds browser ???

Surely Gavin Duffy will be throwing his hat in for the Academy Strength & Conditioning coaching position. A shoe-in me thinks!

I think what rossie says is fair enough. However, the likes of Butler, O'Mahony etc. are good players and are going to make it. Either player would walk into the Conancht team at present and will get more game time at Munster next season I'd imagine.

However, players like Dineen, Billy Holland etc will never be more than stop gap players for Munster, if they move to Connacht they might get more games but they'd probably be first 23 players but they won't be anywhere remotely near the Irish side no matter where they play, so its a choice of stay with Munster, get a few games and be in the hunt for trophies or play with Connacht, play half a dozen more games but not be in a successful squad.

In relation to the earlier point, Eoin Griffin wanted to move on and experience another environment. Whether there was more behind that I don't know but the market will open up more and I think it'll be harder than ever to keep pretty much every quality Irish player in the system. Who could Connacht realistically have picked up who wouldn't weaken the squad No Irish side is blessed with quality centres at present.

I'd agree there are higher priority areas in the squad. Hopefully there's another couple of signings to come.

salmson wrote:

rossie wrote: They already play for a better team.

If we're talking about the likes of Butler or Holland, strictly speaking they already *don't* play, for a better team.

But I take most of your points. There are any number of reasons a player would not dign for Connacht:

Loyalty to home province (Muldoon refused the option to move away, Holland is "Munster royalty" and probably wouldn't consider playing anywhere else.)

More money as a backup for another province than a starter at Connacht.

We can't offer HEC rugby this year.

It's possible to get picked for Ireland under Schmidt while not starting for Leinster, just as it was possible to get picked for Ireland under Kidney while not starting for Munster.

"Some players are more interested in wearing the kit around town and pointing to the badge than playing rugby" (Jerry Flannery).

Of course this all still means Penney was talking out of his Frankie Sheahan - if Irish players won't come to Connacht we need to (1) make our own, which we have done very well in recent years (2) bring in foreigners.

But as you say Penney got caught on the hop and is probably (and understandably) very pissed off with the IRFU and Munster rugby. If you were hiring a coach and had the pick of Lam, Penney, O'Connor, and Anscombe, which would you pick? Which one has delivered a team that is a genuine contender for the HEC? And yet he's the one his province and the IRFU aren't backing, either in terms of contract or signings (Ulster and Leinster each have more than twice as many foreign born players).

What i meant by " they already play for a better team" is that most times that munster play against connacht players like holland, butler, dineen, ronan o mahony etc usually play and win so in their minds the team that they play for even if it is the B team its better than connacht. Add in the fact that currently cant offer them more money than munster under the current rules then why would they move. Similar applies to ulster and leinster squad players. If connacht could have offered jordi murphy what george gets he might have moved.

Anyone read Liam Toland's article in the I.T. today? Well worth reading as he talks about Connacht. Always nice to see a journalist whose actually done some research. I wonder is he floating this for the IRFU?

Last week I suggested maximisation of indigenous resources. One option is to merging the academies under IRFU performance director David Nucifora, from where they can feed the teams that need them most.

New Zealand, like Ireland, have long had a culture of loyalty to their homeland sides, Auckland, Canterbury etc. The reality became obvious that many of their players were missing out due to the log jam ahead of them and simply wouldn’t countenance moving across to their “enemy” clubs.

This model was changed where players are now directed into the various franchises that need them most and which will give them quality game time.

The net result is more indigenous players playing rugby at higher levels.

Back to the draft system! Manning and Leaf give an insight into how players can be graded in an effort to predict successful careers but the draft system itself is one the IRFU, through Nucifora, can manage.

In the NFL draft, the teams with the worst record get the highest picks, which would punish quality vibrant and successful provincial academies but would redress any imbalance by levelling the playing field.

For instance Brian O’Driscoll could have spent a pre-ordained time in Connacht along with others coming through the system.

Connacht could of course trade him immediately for more players or a transfer fee. If that is unpalatable for the provinces or their followers, then each provincial senior squad should ring-fence their top five picks from their academies, with the remainder managed by Nucifora to maximise resources throughout the other provinces.

I wouldnt describe what penney said as a rant.He gave his opinion, no more no less, irish journalists did the rest.
Porterbelly, its those same journalists that are saying hes on 300k not penney so il take your word on it. Still maintain its a very good signing only if other positions are also filled.

rossie wrote: They already play for a better team.

If we're talking about the likes of Butler or Holland, strictly speaking they already *don't* play, for a better team.

But I take most of your points. There are any number of reasons a player would not dign for Connacht:

Loyalty to home province (Muldoon refused the option to move away, Holland is "Munster royalty" and probably wouldn't consider playing anywhere else.)

More money as a backup for another province than a starter at Connacht.

We can't offer HEC rugby this year.

It's possible to get picked for Ireland under Schmidt while not starting for Leinster, just as it was possible to get picked for Ireland under Kidney while not starting for Munster.

"Some players are more interested in wearing the kit around town and pointing to the badge than playing rugby" (Jerry Flannery).

Of course this all still means Penney was talking out of his Frankie Sheahan - if Irish players won't come to Connacht we need to (1) make our own, which we have done very well in recent years (2) bring in foreigners.

But as you say Penney got caught on the hop and is probably (and understandably) very pissed off with the IRFU and Munster rugby. If you were hiring a coach and had the pick of Lam, Penney, O'Connor, and Anscombe, which would you pick? Which one has delivered a team that is a genuine contender for the HEC? And yet he's the one his province and the IRFU aren't backing, either in terms of contract or signings (Ulster and Leinster each have more than twice as many foreign born players).

You cant force anyone to do anything so its a moot point. The irfu have acknowledged that many times. They can offer a central contract with the proviso of moving to a more competitive province. Afaik that hasnt happened ever though.
Right now there is only one reason to join connacht. You have to be so far down pecking order that the coach doesnt know you exist and noone in england or france do either.This is probably because of the financial restrictions.Even championship and prod2 teams can offer more.
I believe there are players going abroad next season because of this rule.

I agree, there has been a lot of talk from different quarters about divvying up the playing population but I feel a player has to be where they want to be to play their best. Personally I thought the Penney rant was funny more than anything as its clearly an issue that has no impact on his life any longer, unless he honestly believes he would have won a heineken with 2-4 top niq signings, but who were they? There's never been any indication that he missed out on a big signing because of the rules afaik.
If a Munster sixth choice player wants to come to Connacht off his own steam grand although I would not be bothered either way if they are in their mid-twenties and only a peripheral presence for the Munster A team I can't imagine them having the ability to turn a season around for Connacht for instance although they might still add to the squad. If they don't want to move then I really doubt forcing them to move will improve their playing ability.

Thats my point. Wheres the incentive to join connacht? They already play for a better team. In has to be a free market to encourage movement. You cant make a munster player play for connacht.

Eoin Griffin is going to LI because he doesn't want to be behind Henshaw no? I don't think that points to a flaw in the system exactly. Also I'm fairly sure Munster would be allowed match LI's offer, the provinces are not allowed start a bidding war between themselves as its the IRFU that ultimately pays regardless, but I doubt it applies to teams overseas or Irish provinces would never manage to sign big names.

rossie wrote: Firstly this whole penney thing is a storm in a teacup. He was asked his opinion at the end of a press conference and he gave it. His opinion that was most likely formed through the frustration of having to work within the niq guidelines while no suitable iq players were available. He has only been here 2 years so his opinion is based on that experience. When people get over the " how dare he" mentality there is merit to the core part of his arguement. If the role of the provinces is to develop and feed players into the national teams why are we letting eoin griffin go to LI and replacing him with bundee aki or muliana,' why is jack o connell and niall annett going to england when brett wilkinson retired and mccartney is coming to connacht etc. They are valid point of view from the viewpoint of a coach. There is a flaw in our system. Of course players are loyal to their province but the system encourages this loyalty. Would butler leave munster for connacht for 20k pa more than he gets at home? Would griffin have joined munster instead of LI if they could have matched their offer? We dont know because its not allowed. While this remains there is little incentive to go west. Butler was recently motm in a bonus pt win at the sportsground playing in a weakened team. He has never lost to connacht afaik. Jack mc grath, ruddock and jordi murphy all were capped while subbing for leinster. Marmion didnt get a look in while player of season for connacht. Why move west?
The thing that caught my eye most is that muliana is being paid 300k pa. This is on top of connacht paying 40k pa more than munster or leinster offered to aki. As debated here there are some considerable holes in the playing and coaching staff for next season. These are only good investments if those holes are satisfactorily filled. If they are not then you would have to question whether mulianas signing is in the best interests of connacht exciting or not.

He's not going to be on anywhere near 300k

Aki and Mils salaries together are nearer 300k