Ulster Team Talk Thread IV... Go On My Henderson...

Dubinusa

I reckon Stockdale is dropped. He's shy of confidence, imo. He's not playing great to the point he's undroppable.

Dubinusa

Nice to see Posthlethwaite. Hope he goes well.

Paul Smeenus

It'll be an absolute relief to focus for a bit on what's actually happening on the pitch at Ravenhill.

A lot to like about the team - the second row, Wilson and Postlethwaite, Reffell and Treadwell back from injury. Hume seems to be the new senior voice in waiting.

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121837240#Comment_121837240

He was terrible against the Ospreys. He can have no complaints, although whether replacing him with Lowry (on the wing) is right only time will tell.

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121837985#Comment_121837985

Postlewhaite needs a run of games but he hasn't quite hit the heights with Ulster yet. With talk of McCloskey leaving we really need Jude to step forward into the breach.

Hume is an interesting choice as skipper, personally looking on from the outside I'd have thought McCann or Stewart would have been more natural choices, but Soper has a long and fruitful relationship with Hume and obviously trusts him, so hopefully it's a good call. With the talk of certain players leaving someone like Hume is going to suddenly become one of the main men at Ulster.

Dubinusa

If McCloskey does leave, at least there's good alternatives in Moore, Marshall and Posthlethwaite. Big Stu leaving could have to do with the belt tightening?

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838830#Comment_121838830

McCloskey is pretty much our most important player. We will find it tough without him.

Moore is a completely different sort of 12.

Marshall may be gone himself, but he's better at 13 anyway as his passing isn't good enough for 12.

The jury is still out on Postlethwaite but hopefully with a run of games we will start to see him come on. The potential is there. He is probably the closest to McCloskey in terms of style.

phog

Some contract rumours

https://twitter.com/MichaelC_RTE/status/1763867376896868677?t=UNtWrpyP_OPIM4tcVhruXA&s=19

Locke_Lamora

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840890#Comment_121840890

I would be absolutely devastated if McCloskey left but it makes a lot of sense for him. Aki has aged fantastically and although McCloskey has a couple of years on him, while he's winding down the likes of Osbourne will be coming through. It is unlikely he'll make the next world cup and even though he's playing an increased role for Ireland now and is putting in solid performances, he's never been particularly rated in the international setup.

He's been far and away our most important player since Coetzee left and all our best performances had him as a common denominator. Bar Henderson, he's probably the only player I'd be genuinely sad to see leave.

Werner Kok is a weird one, I'm guessing our coaches are fed up with some of our back three performances of late. We have little depth there anyway. I'm not actually sure on Kok's overall quality as a rugby player but what I can say with certainty is that there are very few players who play the game with such an odd combination of joy and aggression.

I don't get the McCloskey thing at all. He's a world class player at a position where we have three world class players BUT one of them is the cover for 13 as well. That's shallow enough depth that we should want to keep him.

When the next world cup is is frankly irrelevant. The IRFU is in the business of winning 6 nations. It should be a union priority to keep him.

He's also not even out of contract this summer, so we could keep him for another year essentially for free in terms of new costs. Trim the 'fat' elsewhere.

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841200#Comment_121841200

Maybe McCloskey wants to go?

sydthebeat

It makes a lot more sense to offload kitsoff than SMCC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841200#Comment_121841200

The Bayonne/Biarritz area is a wonderful place to live. I can see how it would appeal to him and his family.

I think the only way that McCloskey leaves is if he has signaled an intention to move to France at the end of his deal next Summer. Then it would become financially prudent for Ulster to take a potential six figure transfer fee and start rebuilding without him a year earlier.

I'd prefer to see him playing here.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841284#Comment_121841284

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841456#Comment_121841456

Yea its possible he wants to go. Its pretty frustrating if we lose such a key player mid contract though. I assume the irfu would be pissed.

If he would be gone, i assume guys like kitshoff are gone mid contract as well.

sydthebeat

McCloskey got 3 ireland caps between 2016 and 2020, before the Farrell era.

Hes gotten 14 caps since, and is very much part of Farrells squads. He could possibly have another 2-3 years of irish caps.

however he is 31 now, and will be 33 starting a new contract in sept 2025. If he can organise a money making contract when his current deal ends, i think it makes financial sense. i cant see a 33 yo dedicated 12 getting a central contract, and i would imagine it would be a very much reduced provincial contract on offer.

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841503#Comment_121841503

Can't get rid of guys mid contract unless they want to go?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841540#Comment_121841540

I don't think it would be very hard to convince him to leave or to get another team to take him.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841539#Comment_121841539

If he's part of farrell's squads then the irfu should be willing to partially pay a good contract for him at that point.

That was the entire point of central funding in the first place. To keep guys in the country.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841503#Comment_121841503

I'd guess that the IRFU would have to accept the situation. There's some talented players to develop at centre around the provinces. McCloskey has to be one of the top earners in the Ulster squad. A year of his salary and a sizeable release fee would fill in a big chunk of next season's bugdetary hole.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841657#Comment_121841657

So would getting rid of Kitshoff though. Any province selling an ireland player to help a budget should be an everyone is getting fired situation.

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841691#Comment_121841691

Again, what if SMcC has asked to go?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841706#Comment_121841706

If so, that's fine. If he is going because he's been told money won't be there on renewal, then that's not fine.

It would be quite odd that someone would want to leave at the point they are a fixture in ireland squads.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841691#Comment_121841691

If Kitsoff was considering an offer from a French club I'd be happily letting him go. You can get 90% of what Kitsoff brings at LH for less than half the price. His post RWC form won't be generating many offers better than his Ulster deal.

If the rumour is true then Bayonne will have discretely contacted McCloskey's agent with an offer conditional on Ulster accepting a release fee. If McCloskey said yes then Ulster will have received a formal approach.

I don't see Ulster having much choice here. They'll struggle to get a big name signing again if they force a contracted player out, and they're not really selling him if he's voiced his willingness to move now or in 12 months.

A player like McCloskey is worth a fortune in France.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841749#Comment_121841749

In that case the irfu should be asking why an under contract ireland player would be allowed to leave the country just because they can't handle their finances.

Pretty much any option other than losing mccloskey should be the solution to the funding problem.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841804#Comment_121841804

I McCloskey would be happy to renew for Ulster on a reasonable deal then I'd agree completely. Ulster should be hanging onto to their best homegrown players if at all possible.

If McCloskey has decided to move to France at the end of his current deal I'd be seeing how much I could get out of Bayonne. Some of the release fees the French clubs are willing to pay for a key signing are eye watering. Edinburgh are reputedly around 250k better off for letting Kinghorn leave mid season.

Shehal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840890#Comment_121840890

Yes Ulster...sign everyone under the sun except a half decent fly half...

bilston

Well that was a bit more like it last night. There was a lot to like about that attacking performance. Some questions to ask about the defence obviously.

Cooney and Burns make such a difference at 9 and 10.

Yeah I know it was the Dragons and even with McFarland in charge we would have won, but there was a hunger about the team that has been missing for a while.

Paul Smeenus

Completely agree.

Not an amazing result, but by God was it a much better watch. Few teams would let the Dragons earn the TBP, so no-one's going to get carried away with how great we are. I will say I thought the Dragons were actually better than the Ospreys - I imagine they thought this was the game to give it a lash, knowing we've no actual head coach.

Our maul defence was poor (albeit with the relatively small light and inexperienced Sheridan and Izzy on the second row, that's not a massive shock) and we really need better breakdown work.

But they played with a passion I haven't seen all season and a smile on their faces. There was a bit of invention. They looked like they wanted to be there. They looked like they wanted to play rugby.

Talking to a player and someone who knows the coaches after the game, it was apparently like a birthday party when the team were told Dan was gone. Richie Murphy was up for two days this week. Big thumbs up for him from the guy that knows the coaches.

Thought Postlethwaite needs to settle in - it was him that fluffed a couple of short passes to players swinging round behind. Fabulous offload for Lowry's try though, and it's just a matter of him playing a bit more.

McCann, Izzy, O'Toole, Lowry and Hume were all good, and my MOTM would have been Timoney. Saw more from Addison than all other games this season combined.

Hopefully that game just reignites their desire to play and feeling of camaraderie, and to be honest, if that's all it does, just now that's enough.

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121844798#Comment_121844798

The Dragons were quite impressive with ball in hand actually. The pitch maybe suited them and it was an unusually dry night in Belfast.

I thought Jude played well but was a bit surprised he got MoTM (McCann would have been my pick), but I didn't appreciate how effective his carrying was at the match until I watched the match back this morning. If he keeps developing he definitely has the potential to make the 12 jersey his own should McCloskey leave, but hopefully Stu stays and Jude can spend the next couple of years learning from him and bulking out a bit more.

Interesting Richie Murphy was with then this week, didn't know that. Bodes well. The likes of Postlethwaite, Stewart, McCann and Sheridan and even lads like Crothers and McNabney should really flourish under him and that's quite exciting.

Locke_Lamora

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121844841#Comment_121844841

Yea felt like this was a game where Jude finally showed he can make it at this level. He was very good at age-grade but has struggled with injuries after getting his senior contract fairly early. A few mistakes today but showed how useful he can be in contact and he is always looking for an offload. He is a little slow imo so will probably stay at 12 but he is strong and has a good frame to add size. .