Rocky Elsom to Leinster

Diamondmaker

From local press here.

Waratahs falnker may be headed to Dublin. Munster, Ulster and some French clubs interested but given he played at Randwick, Chjeiks club, leinster may be favourites.


More competiton at flanker but its a postion Irish rugby has a lot of comp in and as an import does not IMO harm the nationla team development in the way foriegn OHs and Props would.

Any other opionons on this move?

Crash

Just thought i'd put up a few links to stuff i found on this:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23404815-5013406,00.html

seems to be the only one i can find...

EdgarAllenPoo

Now that would be a good signing for Leinster. It's another case of Cheika giving a job to a "buddy" but in this case he has talent and is still young enough to have a good impact.

Crash

Didn't realise Rocky's 25 - I like it

EdgarAllenPoo

çrash_000 wrote: »

Didn't realise Rocky's 25 - I like it

Indeed, at least with signings like this (if it does go ahead) and Howlett for Munster it shows that while we can't compete with French and Enlgish clubs we seem to have more money to spend (especially when you factor in exchange rates) than Australia and the All Blacks.

I suppose not everyone can earn as much as Matt Giteau.

Diamondmaker

GDM wrote: »

we seem to have more money to spend (especially when you factor in exchange rates) than Australia and the All Blacks.

.

Case in point is the QLD reds, my new home team for now. Started this S14 campaign with 19k in a 45/50 cap Suncorp.
After a heavy loss on the road next home game was 14 then the home thumpiong of the Bulls only had 12k.

Apparently they need 26k to break even. QLD is a rugby "stronghold" in Oz amongst NSW. However the rise of NRL ( league ) and Ozzy rules is real competiton.

The local NRL team the Broncos had 36k at their 1st game. Union really is only strong in Sydney it seems.

Back home we fill out any ground we play and Im sure merchadnising and ad rev are strong. The ozzies are fickle in that their teams are really franchises and no one suppoprts a franchise thro thick and thin the way we support our clubs at home. having said that since the rise of modern rugby we have not gone thro a sustained thin patch to prove are we any better at supporting our teams.

anonymous_joe

Diamondmaker wrote: »

Case in point is the QLD reds, my new home team for now. Started this S14 campaign with 19k in a 45/50 cap Suncorp.
After a heavy loss on the road next home game was 14 then the home thumpiong of the Bulls only had 12k.

Apparently they need 26k to break even. QLD is a rugby "stronghold" in Oz amongst NSW. However the rise of NRL ( league ) and Ozzy rules is real competiton.

The local NRL team the Broncos had 36k at their 1st game. Union really is only strong in Sydney it seems.

Back home we fill out any ground we play and Im sure merchadnising and ad rev are strong. The ozzies are fickle in that their teams are really franchises and no one suppoprts a franchise thro thick and thin the way we support our clubs at home. having said that since the rise of modern rugby we have not gone thro a sustained thin patch to prove are we any better at supporting our teams.

Erm, Munster 'greatest fans in the world' first five or so years of Heineken Cup... Less said the better if you're a Munster fan.

As for our Aussie friends, they've a lot of sports down there, but then so do we. Dublin has to maintain Gah teams, a host of football teams and a rugby club. Dare I say it, rugby might not be as exciting a sport as the others? Australia are probably the weakest Tri Nation, and they're teams are playing in a competition that's very obviously losing its lustre as its stars are poached away to England and France...

JWAD

GDM wrote: »

Now that would be a good signing for Leinster. It's another case of Cheika giving a job to a "buddy" but in this case he has talent and is still young enough to have a good impact.

Whats the point in signing yet another overseas player? At this rate, the Irish provinces will have more non-Irish qualified players than Cardiff!

Have the ARU changed the qualification rules to play with the national side or something? If Elsom goes then he'd be out of the reckoning for the Wallabies backrow slot he has made his own.

I reckon its just gossip and bilge meself. Stay put, Rocky fella. You're not needed here. In fact, the Tahs need you more than anyone else.

tHE vAGGABOND

no Irish Provence needs a back row player IMHO? Its one position we have great strength in depth?

zAbbo

JWAD wrote: »

Whats the point in signing yet another overseas player? At this rate, the Irish provinces will have more non-Irish qualified players than Cardiff!

Leinster can only have 6 non-Irish, the same as any other province...

With Jennings & Heaslip more than likely being Internationals next season, we need a backrower.

razorblunt

Would be a great signing but I dont think he's needed at Leinster or Munster. Might just be his way of putting the skids under the ARU.

JWAD

zAbbo wrote: »

Leinster can only have 6 non-Irish, the same as any other province...

With Jennings & Heaslip more than likely being Internationals next season, we need a backrower.

Cardiff field no less than 6 overseas players (1 prop, 1 lock, 2 backrowers, 1 halfback and 1 fullie) on the field at any one time. Thats 6 out of 15 as non-Welsh players on-field. This isnt the squad I'm referring to but the run-on team.
Thats the destiny I was fearing the trends would veer towards. Enough overseas players already.

davyjose

Good player - I'll take it

Beanmachine

Isn't gleeson retiring at the end of the season? If so i think we would need another backrower.

Crash

A part of me kinda feels sorry for trevor hogan and steven keogh - they got one good season out of their move from munster then leo and jennings arrived back - another move like this will see Keogh out of that backrow for a fair while longer.

EdgarAllenPoo

All our provinces need back rowers, with Foley and Glesson retiring at Munster and Leinster and Neil Best and Roger Wilson moving to Northampton we don't actually have as much strength as we used to.

Personally the move I would like to see is Johnny O'Conor going to Leinster but that won't happen anytime soon.

JWAD

GDM wrote: »

All our provinces need back rowers, with Foley and Glesson retiring at Munster and Leinster and Neil Best and Roger Wilson moving to Northampton we don't actually have as much strength as we used to.

Personally the move I would like to see is Johnny O'Conor going to Leinster but that won't happen anytime soon.

If all the provinces need backrowers then wouldnt the national team in turn? Not much good if they dont qualify now, is it?

Spaceman Spiff

GDM wrote: »

All our provinces need back rowers, with Foley and Glesson retiring at Munster and Leinster and Neil Best and Roger Wilson moving to Northampton we don't actually have as much strength as we used to.

Personally the move I would like to see is Johnny O'Conor going to Leinster but that won't happen anytime soon.

With best and Wilson leaving it means Pollack and Ferris will be the go-to starters next season which is a very good thing. Mick O'Driscoll or Quinlan will be an everyday starter at Munster and that really just leaves Leinster, but Jennings will go to 7 and hopefully they have somebody young to fill in.

Winning Heineken Cups is nice, but player devellopment is pretty important as well.

Crash

I think in some cases foreign players can really help with player development as well though - for instance, I hope and pray that every wing player in the munster set up is shadowing and watching Howlett during training and during play. There's a healthy balance to be got between bringing in imports and fielding players that aren't up to scratch.

zAbbo

Yup, Kieran Lewis is really gaining invaluable experience of holding the tackle bags against the Kiwi centres down in Munster

tHE vAGGABOND

for instance, I hope and pray that every wing player in the munster set up is shadowing and watching Howlett during training and during play

your right, it will be good for all those aussies and kiwis in the munster backline

Sangre

Not too pushed about this tbh. I'd rather see money forked out on a prop or lock. That being said Gleeson is leaving so we'll need cover during the intl season.

Crash

See. thats different -you have a player, similar to hogan, keogh, dunne, various others that have been passed around from province to province - when i talk about players shadowing players i mean the underage set up etc.

JWAD

Heard from a good source that this is looking very likely. Rocky on the way to Ireland. Which province though is not clear. Could be the lure of the sterling quid and filling in for Neil Best at Ulster actually.
He's apparently been given the year out by the ARU after this season.

toomevara

çrash_000 wrote: »

I think in some cases foreign players can really help with player development as well though -

Absolutely agree. But, and here's the rub, there is a delicate balance that needs to be struck, between importing genuinely good foreign talent as a long term bet, players bringing something tangible to a club over time i.e. Jim Williams and stop-gap mercenaries looking for a big pay day before retirement with no real commitment to the club i.e Plank Harrison in Ulster.

These guys, in the long term, really hurt a club...and really impede the development of indigenous talent. Ulster, among the Irish provinces, have been hit hard in this respect...

simonrooneyzaga

if leinster want to win the h-cup or get further than the group stages then they need 2 or 3 more world class players. Elsom would be one, a top winger would be another. Possibly a front row also but ollie jackman and wright are transformed players at the moment.

I dont want to hear any of this rubbish about blocking other players paths, if we want to be a successful team then we need big name players who wont freeze when were in a big match!

LeeroyJones

i dont like seeing overseas players coming over taking positions from our youngsters however im more than happy to see them in the provinces if they're filling in a gap where there's a weakness. its a fine line.
With Gleeson retiring, there's now a gap in the backrow, our options are put Keogh in at 6 and no doubt he'll do a fine job BUT if Leinster want to progress in the H-Cup signing a player of Elsom's quality is a huge plus. The only other thing to consider is if Elsoms 25, Healip 24 and Jennings 26 thats a long term backrow, one which will probably be together for 6-7 years give or take, so any young backrow will have to sit on the sidelines more than likely until then-much like Sexton had to when he progressed but just happened to have one of the worlds finest fly-halves in his way!