[quote=ādancarterā]cambell is moving from ulster to sit on the bench to connacht to sit on the benck, fool
ya good to see Humps back but hopefully he will be back up to Niall O Connor[/quote]
I remember posting somewhere previously that Connacht have 3 or 4 scrum halves now. They signed a few more this summer didnt they?
Answering my own question here - they brought Frank Murphy back from Leicester and have Conor O Loughlin as well.
Forgot about Murphy, Campbell is an idiot.
Seems like Nick Williams is signing/has signed for Munster. Auckland No. 8 but I know nothing about him. Anyone seen much of him?
Not a clue about this fella, have seen some Blues games in the Supers, but I cant say this fella has ever stood out for me.
Heāll have some doing to fill the boots of the man heās replacing.
dont know much about williams, but in fairness some of our best singings from the Southern Hemisphere havent been big name and more importantly big egoās, if he makes half the impact that Langford, Seamus or Halstead made then we will be ok. The flip side to that is that they have been trying to sign a back row all summer and this is the best they could get after another few turned them down.
Compared to the other provinces things in the transfer market have been very quiet down munster way.
Not really relevant to this thread but sure what harm in posting it here:
I see Sonny Bill Williams has walked out on his NRL contract to join Toulon mid-season (mid NRL season obviously). From what Iāve seen of him heās a sensational player. Massive sidestep, big hits, great hands, cracking player all round. But itās a shite thing to do and it will have to be handled properly by rugby union. He has a contract - it may be for another sport - but he shouldnāt be allowed break it penalty-free.
[quote=ātherock67ā]Not really relevant to this thread but sure what harm in posting it here:
I see Sonny Bill Williams has walked out on his NRL contract to join Toulon mid-season (mid NRL season obviously). From what Iāve seen of him heās a sensational player. Massive sidestep, big hits, great hands, cracking player all round. But itās a shite thing to do and it will have to be handled properly by rugby union. He has a contract - it may be for another sport - but he shouldnāt be allowed break it penalty-free.[/quote]
Shite thing to do but contract means fook all really, i have a contract in work and they cant stop me leaving if I want. he has gone to a completely different sport.
I reckon Toloun will need to pay Compo though just to kill the issue.
They robbed our players in league for many years so zero sympathy, I really dislike league as well so delighted, if it ceased to exist as a sport Id be delighted. Seen Sonny Bill playing a few times though on setanta and he looks good alright but adapting will be difficult
Watching on youtube he flies into tackles without his arms, you cant do that in Union, I assume its illegal in league as well is it?
He plays as a forward in league indicating maye hes not so quick, will he play in the forwards in union? Seriosuly steep learning curve there.
There will be queues of french physco forwards queieng up to knock his block off when they hear about his reputation
[quote=āHangBlaaā]dont know much about williams, but in fairness some of our best singings from the Southern Hemisphere havent been big name and more importantly big egoās, if he makes half the impact that Langford, Seamus or Halstead made then we will be ok. The flip side to that is that they have been trying to sign a back row all summer and this is the best they could get after another few turned them down.
Compared to the other provinces things in the transfer market have been very quiet down munster way.[/quote]
Anyone know where/if this is confirmed. It was rumoured on munsterfans weeks ago but thought no more of it to be honest due to the level of horseshite thats posted there on daily basis. Seen him in S14 a few times, decent enough but fact that he hasnt been capped by anyone (from aukland so assume he would qualify for one of the islands if he wanted) doesnt provide much comfort
[quote=ādancarterā]Shite thing to do but contract means fook all really, i have a contract in work and they cant stop me leaving if I want. he has gone to a completely different sport.
I reckon Toloun will need to pay Compo though just to kill the issue.
They robbed our players in league for many years so zero sympathy, I really dislike league as well so delighted, if it ceased to exist as a sport Id be delighted. Seen Sonny Bill playing a few times though on setanta and he looks good alright but adapting will be difficult
Watching on youtube he flies into tackles without his arms, you cant do that in Union, I assume its illegal in league as well is it?
He plays as a forward in league indicating maye hes not so quick, will he play in the forwards in union? Seriosuly steep learning curve there.
There will be queues of french physco forwards queieng up to knock his block off when they hear about his reputation[/quote]
Thatās not how sport tends to work though. You have to pay compensation to break a sporting contract. Shouldnāt matter what the organisation is.
You donāt need arms to tackle in league, heāll have to adapt big time on that score.
He has played in a good few different positions in league - think heās quite quick and Iād see him as a back in union. Being from NZ Iād imagine he has some union background (I think his dad played league professionally or maybe Iām wrong on that).
Heāll attract attention from some mad heads alright but heās good enough to deal with it IMO.
[quote=ātherock67ā]- Thatās not how sport tends to work though. You have to pay compensation to break a sporting contract. Shouldnāt matter what the organisation is.
You donāt need arms to tackle in league, heāll have to adapt big time on that score.
He has played in a good few different positions in league - think heās quite quick and Iād see him as a back in union. Being from NZ Iād imagine he has some union background (I think his dad played league professionally or maybe Iām wrong on that).
Heāll attract attention from some mad heads alright but heās good enough to deal with it IMO.[/quote]
Is there any precdence where a player has moved from one sport to another and a transfer fee has applied. Legally he may as well be moving from baseball to NFL, two complete different unions. Very very rare that any transfer in rugby union results in a fee.
Was asking an aussie at work about it yesterday and he said Williams was good buddies with Willie Mason, mason encouraged him to stay at the bulldogs for loyalty, williams turned down better offers and signed the 5 year contract to keep playing with Mason and his buddies. next thing Mason jumped ship
two lessons there
no loyalty in sport
never trust that big dumb fook Willie Mason
[quote=ādancarterā]- Is there any precdence where a player has moved from one sport to another and a transfer fee has applied. Legally he may as well be moving from baseball to NFL, two complete different unions. Very very rare that any transfer in rugby union results in a fee.
Was asking an aussie at work about it yesterday and he said Williams was good buddies with Willie Mason, mason encouraged him to stay at the bulldogs for loyalty, williams turned down better offers and signed the 5 year contract to keep playing with Mason and his buddies. next thing Mason jumped ship
two lessons there
no loyalty in sport
never trust that big dumb fook Willie Mason[/quote]
Confirmed on RT
Munster complete deal for Williams
Wednesday, 30 July 2008 22:05
Munster have finalised a deal to bring Auckland Blues number eight Nick Williams to the European champions.
Samoan-born Williams played in 12 of the Blues 13 Super 14 games this season, scoring tries against The Lions in Ellis Park and the Crusaders in Christchurch.
The 24-year-old is expected to arrive at the province in November.
Williams at only 24 years old, should be a good signing as he is player who should have a lot to prove. I watched two or three Blues games last season but cannot remember him standing out, but I suppose time will tell.
Munster announce the backroom team yesterday, and its great to see them get so many formaer players and AIL coaches involved.
Munster management 2008/09:
SENIOR: Head coach/Defence Coach: Tony McGahan; Assistant/Forwards coach: Laurie Fisher; Backs Coach: Jason Holland; Head of Fitness/
Conditioning: Paul Darbyshire; Technical Advisor: Anthony Foley; Manager: Shaun Payne; Senior Management Consultant: Jerry Holland; Video Analyst: Mossy Lawlor.
MUNSTER A: Coaches: Anthony Foley and Brian Walsh; Manager: Ian Sherwin.
MUNSTER UNDER-20s: Coach: Ian Costello; Assistant Coach: Anthony Foley.
MUNSTER SCHOOLS UNDER-19s: Coaches: John Kelly and Dave OāMahony; Assistant coach: Paul Cunningham; Manager: Damien Philpott (PBC).
MUNSTER UNDER-19 DEVELOPMENT SQUAD: Head Coach: Terry Dillon; Manager: Graham Burns
The only strange bit for me is that Mossy Lawlor has now retired from rugby. Maybe he thinks he will have a better chance of getting a game with munster as video analyst, la Holland in ravenhill last year.
Whatās strange - that he has retired or that he has retired and got a job?
Who is Laurie Fisher? New to the setup or there all along?
Thatās some amount of continuity to have though with all those players involved. Foley will be a busy man - wonder if he has 3 salaries!
Great to see Mossy getting a position, and of course Axel, legend. Surprised to see Mossy stepping back but I guess if it was going to happen for him, itād have happened by now. I wonder will he still play away with Shannon? I presume so.
Great names there, great to see.
Fisher is a former Head Coach of the ACT Brumbies up til last year. Well thought of, was responsible for implementing a few programs in Oz academyās that helped bring through the likes of Giteaue and Shepherdson before that.
Its believed his experience with the ELVās will be vital.
Never played much rugby himself.
Bit about him from Indo article here
Surprised Mossy has retired, he only 28. But presume he will continue with Shannon.
Laurie Fisher is new. Was the Brumbies head coach for the last 3 years and their forwards coach before that for a while.
Didnāt see that at the time because I was away when he got the job. That looks like a great appointment.
Jaysus, only 28, seems like heās been around for longer than that. Assume he will still play a bit of ball with Shannon then. Axel will be busy, what with the book due out soon too.