The Poaching Merry Go Round has Started

[SBW]

The Associates Club has started the Poaching season with a new Face book page inviting U20 & 18s players from other local club teams to attend a meeting with club officals on October the 11th.
Goose Tucker and Scott Tolmie have set up the page and made contact with local players via facebook to poach players from other clubs, sprooking it is a grass roots club, superior club facilities.
i ask the question how do these people get a hold of the contact details for these young men?
What hope is WA rugby, if this cycle of feeding off each other carries on.
We are also creating a culture of the me, me, me in these players, and making some of these players think they are better than they really are, and club hoping will get me further than working hard on my skills.

[DinkyDi]

Social Media allows unfettered access to mates and mates of mates which lets this sort of thing happen. In all honesty, all clubs will be sprooking for new talent and established players. I just wish there was a small thing called loyalty in the rugby community. Just because a club is hunting does not mean you have to go... don't blame the clubs, blame the "me generation". Shallow, spineless and selfish. Dangle a free tee shirt and and a glass of pop for Mum and woo hoo - we are off. Too easy.

[Rex Messup]

The answer is to build a great club culture so that everybody wants to play for you

Chasing blow ins looking for "perks" does not build a great culture, a social "family" or a high performance "team".

Concentrate in-house

The leaders in the club need to be "people" people

Get the management right, get the coaching right, put in good social and player development systems.......and they will come

[Sheikh]

^^ Also works (to an extent) for Super Rugby teams!

[SBW]

The answer is to build a great club culture so that everybody wants to play for you

Chasing blow ins looking for "perks" does not build a great culture, a social "family" or a high performance "team".

Concentrate in-house

The leaders in the club need to be "people" people

Get the management right, get the coaching right, put in good social and player development systems.......and they will come

What a load of rubbish Rex, this is not about blow ins, this is about local young men 16,17,18,19 years old who are being poached from other clubs in this city now. "build good cultures" i say to you the good cultures are clubs that have a junior feeder system to the senior club.
Don't support the clubs who have no feeder/ junior teams that support the senior club.
the clubs that are poaching these players in general dont have that in place.
To build the cultures and leaders, clubs need to build that over time and if these other clubs rapeing and pilage, those clubs are forever going backed to sq one.
these clubs poach because they want the short term fix because of their own failings.
We are the custodians of club rugby we are the ones making this enviroment that these players are now trading on it.
We have made this enviroment not the players.

[Burgs]

"spruiking"

[blue]

As a manager of an Under 16 team, i can tell you that it has been going on since the regionals this year. Mostly by clubs such as associates who do not have any junior feeder structure.
We are working hard at retaining our players, creating a development structure which will hopefully make it harder for those clubs to pick these young men off.
The biggest problem with all this poaching is that they always look to the better players in each club, but unfortuneatly end up with others coming with them. This means you end with clubs having to many players and then the fringe players are lost to the game.
To build the game we need to keep these young men involved in the game. Too many clubs in WA are so intent on looking after themselves, rather than looking at whats better for the game.

[Ralto]

i say to you the good cultures are clubs that have a junior feeder system to the senior club.
We have made this enviroment not the players.

In terms of these young people who we need to protect from their own decisions, what advice would you offer in:
The case where players are fed to senior grade where there is no Premier team.
Players fed into senior grade where the coach has no qualification, and the team suffers.
Players fed into the senior grade where there's no interest/action to remedy a losing record in one grade over 70% every season for years on end.

I agree we made this system, and if a player believes they are not being supported, and they decide to move based upon what is offered (in totality), they should be free to do so, as adults they make the decision, and they face the consequences. Tolmie etc are doing what we do every day - advertising. To stay in a bad situation and cite "team loyalty" is stupidity, our local club will lose at least 6 from 16's and another 6 from 18s due to the comparison between the pathway that's laid out, and what is available to them. These guys will follow many from previous years, the club just doesn't get it, or maybe doesn't care.

[Rex Messup]

What a load of rubbish Rex

not actually

[westies man]

Soaks ought to be ashamed of themselves ,on another note must remember to get Captain Underpants to start sending out Aranmore scholarships

[Hansie]

SBW, junior feeder into senior does not solely breed club culture. Another aspect of club culture is creating respect for the club and everybody there, not just Premiergrade players. From personal experience it's being able to tell a prima donna, even one who has come through your junior ranks, that there is no guarantee of a Premier position and then losing those Prima donnas to clubs who have made such guarantees. Loyalty is the key in everything and it cuts both ways.

[NTT]

All clubs are always actively recruiting, nothing new about it. People move on for a myriad of reasons eg: location, facilities, opportunity, lack of opportunity, personal issues. Call it dog eat dog if you like but clubs should be always recruiting to build a bigger better Perth comp. I'd rather a player changed club than sport. You also never know, the next rugby star could be the kid who replaces the one who just moved on.

[.X.]

Here in Sydney we have a similar problem.

I am a committee member and assist coach with a club in 3rd Division Subbies Rugby.

Our First grade side lost in the Grand Final to a club (lets call them Club W) that if all the rumours and gossip is true paid their First and Second grade sides 70 Thousand Dollars for the year, this Club W went thru the year undefeated in First Grade. Our Second Grade side lost to the same club in the major semi final.

Our Club spent less then 12 Thousand dollars on players payments. We had 111 registered players for the year over 4 Grades.

On a side note Club W 4 years ago was bordering on folding and after this years efforts will be promoted to second Division Subbies Rugby Next year.