Money on another back!
Surely the money would be better spent keeping Longbottom or Kane Douglas in Australia? We were smashed in the forwards against the AB's. surely this is the area to invest.
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Money on another back!
Surely the money would be better spent keeping Longbottom or Kane Douglas in Australia? We were smashed in the forwards against the AB's. surely this is the area to invest.
If the ARU is topping him up they're obviously expecting him to play a key role at the World Cup so let's hope he re-adapts to the game quickly like he did last time.
...On the other hand, Fairfax is reporting as follows -
Hunt said he knew a number of Reds players and was already impressed with the professionalism of the franchise, but said it was Graham's pitch that put the issue beyond doubt as rival NRL and rugby offers piled up on his manager's desk.
"I went to the same school as Quade [Cooper] and I've crossed paths with many of the boys. I played with James [Horwill] in Queensland Schoolboys. But I think the thing that probably got me over the line was my dealings with Richard," Hunt told former Wallaby fullback Greg Martin on Brisbane radio station Triple M.
"He's been fantastic. He reached out to me quite a while ago, so that initial interest and our conversations and getting his mindset and outlook in rugby, that probably got me over the line.
"There was quite a bit of interest. I was obviously quite flattered by some of the options put forward to me. But Richard and I had been in constant dialogue from the end of last year. We had a meeting in Brisbane and I told him I'd love to play rugby union. He expressed his keen interest in me as well.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/re...#ixzz3C1jLVtmo
Regarding ARU top up, two things -
1. Contrary to the conspiracy theories here, Qld has only 3 votes on an ARU board of 18, and
2. I see this investment as providing insurance for Australian Rugby beyond 2015 RWC. Hunt is signed for 3 years, and he will provide some cover for the expected exodus at the end of next year.
yes, but we have to fund every cent of our dispensations from our own pockets.......and we haven't been bailed out by the ARU (AFAIK) and we're not the teams providing great swathes of underperforming media personalities to the Wallabies........that is the premise of my argument. The rules aren't equal, I would be happy to have fewer dispensations to go and buy fringe players from Overseas and be actually able to compete on a level playing field with Qld and NSW, but when their players earn more, by living in their home town and walk into the Wallabies without having to prove themselves (yes I'm even talking about Folau here) how the hell can we compete WITHOUT looking for OS based players.
Awwwww - the Graham love-in warms the cockles of my heart ;-p
off topic. Ive actually seen AFL mates of mine STILL posting quotes and photos of Badge. He is not just a sporting loss, as a winger, but as a brilliant promotional tool.
I have people at work, who know NOTHING about rugby, asking me about the Badge (or, should I say past tense, "did have")
Mates who are devout AFL fans, pommy mates who only care about round ball, complete randoms at work, all chatting about the Badge, his quotes, and how much they love him!
I feel sad that the ARU can look at Izzy, and justify various compensations for him as a "good marketing tool", when in my opinion, the Badge had 900% more social following than Izzy.
AFL and league types I know have very little nice to say about Izzy, and his involvement in our game. But the Badge, he was loved by all and sundry.
Well seeing as we've lost the odd outside back, why couldn't we get this ARU top-up for Mr Hunt? It would have been a smart idea to plaster that story over the headlines in an AFL state, talking about how an AFL player made the switch to union, to sign for the re-energized, go-getting Western Force.
"I love the Perth lifestyle"
"The Force are really going places"
"WA is rugby's booming frontier"
etc, etc...
I think we need a bit of wow factor in our signings; something to show off the game a bit. Karmichael would have been a good one I think. I don't think any NRL players have the profile to match him either, in this AFL state.
It's too early to call. Hunt may perform brilliantly under Graham. Despite the visceral condemnation of Graham on this site, I am prepared to give him a bit longer. I don't like what I have seen so far, but am not yet prepared to write the bloke off. The Reds problems this year stem significantly from an appalling pre-season S&C program. It needs to be cleaned out. The Reds were never fit and it showed in all the late fade outs that they suffered.
I think their recruiting for 2015 has been smart and with the right fine tuning in coaching (and a bit of luck) the Reds could challenge for the title.
firstly, welcome back tic, I do feel for you after a hard year.
Great, and of course, I assume that is equal with the representation from Western Australia? Victoria? Even the ACT? Surely, since each of those states have the same number of professional rugby teams you would expect similar representation.
What about Tassie? South Australia?, Northern Territory? Do they have any representation at all?
I remember the days when I was prepared to give him another year....I was innocent then, and really didn't know much about him, other than his complete destruction of any skills in the Wallabies as their skills coach and a whole bunch of nothing as Force assistant coach.
Of course, you also have a couple of years that he spent at the Force on my experience to judge from....does that help?
right fine tuning? Like with a .223?
Surely they indicate a significant stakeholder. Particularly with reference to professional contracting, which is at the heart of this issue. I'll shut up about this when the Western Force use ARU money to sign a high profile code-hopper with limited experience in the game.
Didn't the Force sign Ryan Cross years ago?