Rumour Mill

[Dave Cahill]

I would not agree with this.Not always correct..just ask Piers Morgan

Yes, lets..

"Hey Piers, why were you fired by The Mirror"

"I published an unverified story"

[TerenureJim]

But they'd do it without the player's story being verified?

They wouldn't. I'm not saying that agents (or in my belief the players themselves) aren't putting the stories out there, I'm saying that they may well be, but that they aren't just making sh!t up and then dumping it in the press and people should feel all warm and snuggly safe because its just a plant by an agent and the player will be going nowhere. If its in the press there is at least an element of verified truth to it, you can be certain of that.[/quote

I would not agree with this.Not always correct..just ask Piers Morgan

We've moved beyond ROG to Dolphins (Miami not AIL) I'd say most of us do believe these offers SOB, Heaslip to Toulon etc are the real deal. That's not an issue for me, it's a pro sport.

What gets me annoyed is this nonsene of negotiating contracts through the press leaks of acutal offers, I wish to god it'd stop. I'm sick of the articles at this point, and they're invaribly following a similar fashion. I wish whoever whether player or agent is doing it to stop putting it in the press this business should be between the agent, the player, the IRFU and any interested team outside the Union set up.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Or if you want to use another stupid statistic, they lost 100% of players last season! That's ridiculous Dave, you can't say that they've been good at this in the past but that times have changed completely. They are changing but not as dramatically as that that you can discount everything that happened before Sexton.

Were things totally different when Healy, Ross and Kearney signed new deals at the start of last year? Or when Murray signed as recently as the Autumn? Do those players not count for some reason?

I think I can give you some good reasons yeah but you'll probably refute them. By November you can calculate the actual income from the AIs and have a better idea what attendance will be like for the 6N and how likely it is that the provinces will make it through to the knockouts of the Heineken cup and maybe even if any expensive short term signings will be needed/have already been made. I know the international game is the big money spinner but the odd 20/30k can be crucial as regards a contract so every little helps. Renegotiating a contract too early (I.e. 75% of the way through the contract) seems just a bad a practise as waiting until the last minute to me.

If we start bleeding players then fair enough but are they making a mess of things now? Clearly not.

Any chance you'd answer the question you've ignored about the other players who signed Dave? Do they still not count?

I know next to nothing about those players business or their contracts, so it would purely be speculation, but do we know if they had other offers? Were open to other offers? Were interested in playing in other countries? Were given contracts that had reduced or increased salaries in them? Were hose offers in line with their expectations? I don't know. We do know however that Sexton, O'Brien and Heaslip received other offers, were open to those offers, are interested in playing in other countries and were offered contracts that weren't, initially certainly, in line with their expectations.

Okay....playing dumb and being naive for a second to try and see your point of view here...

If there was no interest/offer from France for these guys, would that not mean that you were wrong earlier when you said that everything has changed? So in fact nothing has changed and the IRFU can continue to do what they've always done which led to them being successful in keeping players?

Separating Sexton, SOB and Heaslip from the others is absolute nonsense. Not just because there's no reason to do so and ignore the fact that the union have done well to keep the other guys but also because Heaslip hasn't even left yet. And even if he does go the fact that they've resigned SOB and are still in negotiations with Heaslip's indicates that you're still wrong about them not wanting to keep their best players.

[leinster4life13]

I think people are getting too emotionally invested in the business side of things, agents, like lawyers, are essential so that the player/plaintiff gets a fair deal against the goliath that is the IRFU/Big business. Imagine SOB walking in there with his pud in his paw looking to negotiate? Anything that will help him get compensation for his talents, from the PRIVATE company that is looking to hire him, is on the table. As for the mercenary accusations, well all players ARE mercenaries, you would have to be an idiot not to have that viewpoint, its a business, not a game.
Its professional sports, this moralising is reminiscent of the people who were shocked that Lance and the boys didnt just take a multi.

[Oldschool]

On the basis of not reinventing the wheel.
Is it time for the rugby unions to bring in transfer windows akin to what happens in soccer?
Ergo contract renewals are one thing but other clubs can only talk to players if they are out of contract (not nearing the end of their contract) or during transfer windows.

[Danthefan]

On the basis of not reinventing the wheel.
Is it time for the rugby unions to bring in transfer windows akin to what happens in soccer?
Ergo contract renewals are one thing but other clubs can only talk to players if they are out of contract (not nearing the end of their contract) or during transfer windows.

That would achieve what exactly? It's a totally different situation to soccer, where players often move while under contract, for a fee.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Peter O'Reilly (Sunday Times) tweeting that reports coming from France indicate that Jamie is staying in Ireland.

[Danthefan]

Peter O'Reilly (Sunday Times) tweeting that reports coming from France indicate that Jamie is staying in Ireland.

Midol have said he's staying. Possibly having been tipped off by Toulon.

[[Jackass]]

Great news if true.

Regarding some sort of accord that could potentially be reached, I would love to see an IRB / Union backed proposal that at least 18 of your match day 23 in all competitions must be qualified to play for your home union.

This would encourage the development of young players and counter the strange situation at teams like Toulon, where you'd be lucky to see 5 French qualified players in the 23.

It would strongly protect the integrity of smaller unions and prevent the power play of draining player resources from certain regions of the game due to commercial dominance. Overall I think it would help stabalize the game whilst still allowing top players to move for big bucks if they want, but at a reasonable and sustainable level.

I don't think one or two dominant leagues in the world is good for anybody. I don't think it's good for Super rugby or Pro12 to be so vulnerable to being unable to compete financially and I don't think it's good for the French or English national teams if a massive proportion of top level rugby in their leagues is being occupied by foreign players and not developing French / English ones.

I suspect the really poor quality of the French national team and particularly their youth teams has some sort of corrilation with the growing trend of mass imported players competing at the top teams and less and less French players getting that top level development.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Peter O'Reilly (Sunday Times) tweeting that reports coming from France indicate that Jamie is staying in Ireland.

Hate to burst the bubble but he's definitely going to Toulon.

Unless they move the quarter final to Nice?

[Dave Cahill]

Badoom - tish

[paddyor]

Great news if true.

Regarding some sort of accord that could potentially be reached, I would love to see an IRB / Union backed proposal that at least 18 of your match day 23 in all competitions must be qualified to play for your home union.

This would encourage the development of young players and counter the strange situation at teams like Toulon, where you'd be lucky to see 5 French qualified players in the 23.

It would strongly protect the integrity of smaller unions and prevent the power play of draining player resources from certain regions of the game due to commercial dominance. Overall I think it would help stabalize the game whilst still allowing top players to move for big bucks if they want, but at a reasonable and sustainable level.

I don't think one or two dominant leagues in the world is good for anybody. I don't think it's good for Super rugby or Pro12 to be so vulnerable to being unable to compete financially and I don't think it's good for the French or English national teams if a massive proportion of top level rugby in their leagues is being occupied by foreign players and not developing French / English ones.

I suspect the really poor quality of the French national team and particularly their youth teams has some sort of corrilation with the growing trend of mass imported players competing at the top teams and less and less French players getting that top level development.

That would likely run into trouble with EU law. They could do something to incentivize indigenous talent(they probably do in the new agreement) but demanding that X amount of players come from country A is probably against the law. That's part of the reason I think the IRFU dropped it's strict 4 NIQ rules. It's probably as illegal to even use it as it is now but just difficult to prove for the player.

I think a wage cap would be a good idea but hard to organise across several currencies.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Peter O'Reilly (Sunday Times) tweeting that reports coming from France indicate that Jamie is staying in Ireland.

Hate to burst the bubble but he's definitely going to Toulon.

Unless they move the quarter final to Nice?

Nicely played. You b$&%@#d

[sid]

Peter O'Reilly (Sunday Times) tweeting that reports coming from France indicate that Jamie is staying in Ireland.

Hate to burst the bubble but he's definitely going to Toulon.

Unless they move the quarter final to Nice?

Thanks for the heart attack!

[glenageary]

Peter O'Reilly (Sunday Times) tweeting that reports coming from France indicate that Jamie is staying in Ireland.

Hate to burst the bubble but he's definitely going to Toulon.

Unless they move the quarter final to Nice?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Thank you but I must admit that I stole it from twitter!

[Xanthippe]

Thank you but I must admit that I stole it from twitter!

From our very own Fat Controller too if I'm not mistaken? The reaction of some people on twitter was hilarious - reckon there's a few of them still haven't copped on.

[Slipper1]

I got it from here, I'm amazed at some people still sending me messages all confused.

[johng]

Thank you but I must admit that I stole it from twitter!

I got it from here, I'm amazed at some people still sending me messages all confused.

Circular references? Chicken and Egg?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Thank you but I must admit that I stole it from twitter!

From our very own Fat Controller too if I'm not mistaken? The reaction of some people on twitter was hilarious - reckon there's a few of them still haven't copped on.

I'm not 100% sure but think I stole it from a Billy Byrne? I don't follow whoever said it and can't find it now I'm afraid. Think there were some copycats after him but he was the original one from what I saw.

I can assure everyone that all views on this are my own and I would never copy anyone else.

Au revoir.

SUFTUM.