[Deleted User] wrote: » I'd love to see a draft
Shefwedfan wrote: » Andy Friend had a good discussion I think last season. He said in Aus they had Waratahs who had loads of young players, they moved the players around but if they became top internationals they would have chance to move back to Lesinter This might help player who grew up all their lives wanting to play for Leinster. Let them move and then they have option after 3 years to move back. Just an option I thought worth exploring
connemara man wrote: » They do that anyway. Get the game time show themselves off and head back if they're contacted
Captain_Crash wrote: » Wasn't that the original deal when Carbs went to Munster? He'd have to option to come back after 2 years (Prior to him deciding to extend his stay)
Clegg wrote: » Can't see the provinces agreeing to that, especially Leinster. Provincial loyalty is a bit cliché at this stage, but fans want players from their province lining out every week. And players want to play for their province. I wouldn't want to lose that. Also, there's simply a disparity in the quality of the schools and academy system. Leinster is the largest province with the best schools and coaching set ups. They're going to produce the most quality young prospects year on year. Leinster would cry bloody murder if they weren't allowed have first pick on taking them into their system. Might be that the IRFU tells them to pick 2 or 3 that they definitely want in the system, but the rest will.be up for draft.
bilston wrote: » Yeah I think something like what you're suggesting in your last sentence might work. Each province creates a list of 15/20 sub Academy players each April or May. Each province gets to "lock down" 3 players from their own list and after that Connacht get Pick 1, Ulster 2, Munster 3, Leinster 4 & 5, Munster 6, Ulster 7 and Connacht 8 and so on. This, in theory, should mean that good players are less likely to slip through the net while keeping the provinces competitive with each other, while at the same time ensuring the next BOD plays for Leinster, the next Henderson plays for Ulster and the next Earls plays for Munster etc etc. Players like Cooney, Conway and Cronin prove that provincial supporters will absolutely buy into players who come from elsewhere in Ireland.
Deleted User wrote: » I'd love to see a draft
salmocab wrote: » What if pick 1 doesn’t want to go to Connacht? What if he wants live with his family in Dublin and play for Leinster who want him and he wants to go to college in Dublin? Is he just let slip away then? These aren’t top pro prospects in America getting huge sums they are for the most part college kids.
thomond2006 wrote: » A draft isn't a runner. It's been tradition in American sports since the 40s but they have closed leagues with no competition. Let's take an Irish example. Nothing is stopping a top schools player from going to a Toulouse or Clermont instead of an Irish province. That ruins the draft from the off.
The Lost Sheep wrote: » leinster wont overproduce into long term.
mfceiling wrote: » I think they will. A large school system feeding into the leinster academy in huge numbers. It's a conveyor belt churning out players. The schools system is aligned with the Leinster system so these guys are basically coming in semi pro and hitting the ground running. Not great if you don't support leinster but good for the Irish team in the future.
Downlinz wrote: » I don't expect Leinster or Leinster fans would ever agree to it since it means losing the benefits of a significant population advantage and competing on a level playing pitch but it would be good for the international team and make provincial games along with the Pro 14 a lot more exciting.
molloyjh wrote: » They are building high performance centres in a few locations across the province too, although whether they all go ahead now remains to be seen. But they are clearly making serious investment in the pathways so if things do continue to go to plan they'll have as consistent a conveyor belt as could be reasonably possible.
sydthebeat wrote: » It's a future crisis that the other three provinces DONT become anything other than a leinster A team. The population, the standard of schools rugby, the intrinsic link between schools and leinster.... All lead to a situation where leinster become stronger and stronger, and their "maybe" players become more and more desirable to other provinces. So it's actually already predetermined that leinster will over produce in the long term. The only way this is to be challenged is for the other provinces to fund and develop their systems on a equitable basis
Podge_irl wrote: » It would make provincial games a lot more pointless. They have already lost a lot of the "edge" they had in years past. It would also be completely unworkable in a practical sense. Academy players are often also pursuing higher education - you can't force a UCD student to go work in Limerick.
The Lost Sheep wrote: » huge numbers of players study courses online, part time etc. If studying in UCD they can do similar or the same course in limerick/galway/wherever like players do all the time. That really isnt any reason to not do something like this.
The Lost Sheep wrote: » they wont ever be leinster a sides or near it. Some parts of the schools rugby will drop off and standards of recent years wont be able to be maintained consistently long term.
sydthebeat wrote: » That's nothing more than a statement of hope. Nothing from the last few years would point towards what you've said, if anything the trend is accelerating towards a much greater distribution of leinster produced players to the other provinces. The quality of the leinster schools rugby can only increase when to consider the funding that is being pumped into it. There is more finances being pumped into leinster schools than there is in a lot of senior rugby clubs. The only sector that is half rebounding against this is the bokke connection to munster..... But that obviously cannot continue.
Bogwoppit wrote: » Drafts are awful and I don’t think any team would agree to one, it would be an absolute disaster. So Leinster have a production line of players as a result of investing in the schools and the infrastructure, does anyone honestly think that investment would continue if 3/4 of the players it produced were sent to the other provinces? A significant number of players would also give up the professional game if they were sent somewhere else without any say in the matter. It flies in the face of any team loyalty and turns the game into a horse trading market where players will be bought and sold like in football, we will lose the deep rooted connection that the provinces have with their home grown players (some provinces doing their best to lose this connection already!) and by extension a lot of the fans who love to see the young lad next door or from the local club get a run. How would older players stepping up from the AIL slot into the draft? Or overseas signings? No, away with your daft American ideas and let’s just keep it as it is so that young lads can have a dream of being a loyal player to their home province and represent their friends, family and community with pride. Yes plenty of players will move around for money or opportunity but they do that out of choice rather than a misguided notion of sharing the wealth, sounds a bit too much like communism! Ha!
The Lost Sheep wrote: » rye bit about springbok Munster connection is petty. And if leinster schools money did increase it wouldnt be a good thing. The sport will only truly improve and get better when we get a far wider spread of people playing and the schools in leinster do absolutely nothing for that as they're nearly all fee paying and therefore out of reach of the overwhelming majority of people nationwide and it is part of reason why we've failed over and over in world cups. .
The Lost Sheep wrote: » rye bit about springbok Munster connection is petty. And if leinster schools money did increase it wouldnt be a good thing. The sport will only truly improve and get better when we get a far wider spread of people playing and the schools in leinster do absolutely nothing for that as they're nearly all fee paying and therefore out of reach of the overwhelming majority of people nationwide and it is part of reason why we've failed over and over in world cups. except by and large leinster rugby/irfu have invested little in the schools and its parents/private money. If people who wanted to go pro and the choice was galway/limerick/Belfast or not at all then the overwhelming majority would pick the chance to play pro rugby at all ahead of not playing. Look at numbers choosing to play championship at very low wages as evident of that. The home connection with the provinces wouldnt be lost. Percentage of home grown players is so high with Irish provinces and leinster even more so. Changes like this are far from extensive enough to change any form of ethos or anything else within the provinces. Much of the money invested in the schools had little to do with producing pro players. Its primarily about winning 280 minutes of schools cup games every spring.
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