Connacht Team Talk Thread V - The Friend Zone

ClanofLams · 05-07-2020 9:28pm

Mul, it's over

Scottmactom wrote: »

Arnolds much better than Robb.

Maybe, but I will be surprised if can match the consistent quality of Godwin, particularly given his injury profile.

Scottmactom · 05-07-2020 9:35pm

ClanofLams wrote: »

Maybe, but I will be surprised if can match the consistent quality of Godwin, particularly given his injury profile.

yeah dunno if he will fill Godwins role, more than likely not.

connachta · 05-07-2020 9:57pm

ClanofLams wrote: »

Fainga’a was one of the best, if not the best, Connacht player of the last two seasons. He would absolutely start for Connacht, regardless of who is moving to 7.

An awful lot of players have one Irish cap. Arnold is in the Peter Robb mould from what I have seen and I’m not sure he will be ahead of Robb.

Maybe the new additions will work out but at the moment it’s difficult not to see a weaker XV with even bigger depth issues.

We disagree. Put Fainga'a aside, the 23 is the same level, not weaker

Butler may well be as good as Fainga'a, at 7 too, 2 of the best we recruited

being like Robb (with better hands) is certainly not a problem

6) Boyle (with one more year)/SOB (in a lasting break with injuries)
7) Butler/Oliver (a very decent player)
8) The new n°8/MastersonS

If we have this Weise/R.Leota kind of signing, that's more balanced and not weaker than what we had imo.

And if you read the Friend/Linley words, we'll sign one last guy at least, it will be this n°8 without doubt

WallyGUFC · 06-07-2020 9:23am

_nobody_ wrote: »

Is anybody else not getting season ticket emails?

I hadn't yet renewed mine, and had seen the deadline was pushed out to COVID. But didn't get anything about the planned refunds, or new signings. I assume it is because not on the system for 20/21 but seems very abrupt.

All of my emails from Connacht go to junk for some reason.

Bazzo · 07-07-2020 11:17am

Mul, it's over

I see Bristol have appointed a new defence coach, is Mul's tenure over then?

The Lost Sheep · 07-07-2020 11:20am

Bazzo wrote: »

I see Bristol have appointed a new defence coach, is Mul's tenure over then?

No. Their forwards coach moved to Worcester ahead of next season and was announced in November that Mul was moving to be forwards coach

tobdom · 07-07-2020 11:21am

Bazzo wrote: »

I see Bristol have appointed a new defence coach, is Mul's tenure over then?

He's now the forwards coach: https://www.bristolbearsrugby.com/teams/coaching/john-muldoon/

MarinersBlues · 08-07-2020 11:21am

Mul, it's over

A number 8 and a back 3.
Just what the doctor ordered.

BEN O'DONNELL | ABRAHAM PAPALI'I

Ben O’Donnell joins from the Australian Sevens programme, having played 95 matches for his country since he was handed his debut in 2017 under Andy Friend.

O’Donnell was voted Australian Sevens Player of the year in 2018 and subsequently went on to be the first Australian player ever nominated for the World Sevens Player of the Year.

New Zealander Abraham Papali’i arrives from Bay of Plenty where he was a key member of the squad that won the Mitre 10 Cup Championship last year.

The 6'4'' number 8 is a duel code player, featuring for the Sydney Roosters in the Australian National Rugby League and French club Lézignan Sangliers before restarting his Rugby Union career with Bay of Plenty.

thomond2006 · 08-07-2020 11:27am

Some Like It TOH

Good news. That makes it 41 senior players by my count so that's sufficient. I assume those are one year deals?

evil_seed · 08-07-2020 11:30am

The Friend Zone

Dual code players have never worked out for us

Diabhal Beag · 08-07-2020 11:31am

My 7's knowledge is non-existent but seemingly O'Donnell is giving up on the delayed Olympics next year to sign for us?

realhorrorshow · 08-07-2020 11:49am

Loosehead

Denis Buckley (30) - Signed 2 year contract in 2019
Matthew Burke (23) - Signed contract in 2019
Jordan Duggan (22) - Signed contract in 2020
Paddy McAllister (31) - Signed contract in 2019

Charlie Ward (20) - Academy year 1

Tighthead

Jack Aungier (21) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Finlay Bealham (29) - Signed 2 year contract in 2019
Conor Kenny (24) - Signed 1 year contract in 2020
Dominic Robertson-McCoy (26) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020

Hooker

Shane Delahunt (26) - Signed 1 year contract in 2020
Dave Heffernan (29) - Signed contract in 2019
Jonny Murphy (28) - Signed contract in 2018

Declan Adamson (21) - Academy year 2
Eoin De Buitléar (u20) - Academy year 1
Dylan Tierney-Martin (21) - Academy year 3

Lock

Ultan Dillane (26) - Signed 2 year contract in 2019
Oisin Dowling (23) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Cillian Gallagher (23) - Signed contract in 2018
Niall Murray (20) - Signed contract in 2020
Quinn Roux (29) - Signed 2 year contract in 2019
Gavin Thornbury (26) - Signed 2 year contract in 2019

Darragh Murray (u20) - Academy year 1
Cian Prendergast (20) - Academy year 1

Back row

Paul Boyle (23) - Signed 2 year contract in 2019
Jarrad Butler (29) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Eoghan Masterson (27) - Signed 2 year contract in 2018
Sean Masterson (22) - Signed contract in 2020
Sean O'Brien (25) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Conor Oliver (24) - Signed 1 year contract in 2020
Abraham Papali’i (27) - Signed contract in 2020

Ciaran Booth (20) - Academy year 1
Donnacha Byrne (u20) - Academy year 1
Hubert Costello (u20) - Academy year 1
Joshua Dunne (20) - Academy year 3
Oisin McCormack (19) - Academy year 2

Scrumhalf

Caolin Blade (26) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Stephen Kerins (24) - Signed contract in 2019
Kieran Marmion (28) - Signed 3 year contract in 2020
Colm Reilly (21) - Signed contract in 2020

Outhalf

Jack Carty (28) - Signed 2 year contract in 2019
Conor Dean (22) - Signed contract in 2020
Conor Fitzgerald (22) - Signed contract in 2019

Cathal Forde (19) - Academy year 1

Centre

Bundee Aki (28) - Signed 3 year central contract in 2020
Sammy Arnold (24) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Tom Daly (27) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Tom Farrell (26) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Peter Robb (26) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020

Shane Jennings (19) - Academy year 2
Sean O'Brien (22) - Academy year 3

Back 3

Stephen Fitzgerald (24) - Signed contract in 2019
Matt Healy (31) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Ben O'Donnell (25) - Signed contract in 2020
Tiernan O'Halloran (29) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
John Porch (26) - Signed contract in 2019
Peter Sullivan (22) - Signed contract in 2020
Alex Wootton (26) - Signed 1 year loan contract in 2020

Colm de Buitléar (22) - Academy year 3
Oran McNulty (20) - Academy year 3

In: Jordan Duggan (Academy),Jack Aungier (Leinster), Oisin Dowling (Leinster), Niall Murray (Academy), Sean Masterson (Academy), Conor Oliver (Munster), Abraham Papali'i (Bay of Plenty), Colm Reilly (Academy), Conor Dean (Academy), Sammy Arnold (Munster), Ben O'Donnell (Australia Sevens), Peter Sullivan (Academy), ALex Wootton (Munster, loan)
Out: Peter Mccabe, Rory Burke, Tom McCartney (Retiring), Joe Maksimyw (Dragons), Robin Copeland (Soyaux Angouleme), Colby Fainga'a (Lyon), Eoin McKeon, Angus Lloyd (Retiring), Dave Horwitz, Kyle Godwin (Western Force), Niyi Adeolokun, Darragh Leader

realhorrorshow · 08-07-2020 11:51am

thomond2006 wrote: »

Good news. That makes it 41 senior players by my count so that's sufficient. I assume those are one year deals?

43 senior players. Porch got a two year deal out of the sevens program so maybe O'Donnell got similar. Hope Papali'i is a one year deal as he seems to be a bit of a gamble.

thomond2006 · 08-07-2020 11:52am

Some Like It TOH

43 is the same as Munster so I imagine those are the final signings.

realhorrorshow · 08-07-2020 11:56am

I'm torn on the Papali'i signing. I've been saying for ages that we should sign a physical specimen for the back row and back our coaches to train him up like they did with Robertson-McCoy, but Papali'i isn't exactly young.

Zzippy · 08-07-2020 11:57am

realhorrorshow wrote: »

I'm torn on the Papali'i signing. I've been saying for ages that we should sign a physical specimen for the back row and back our coaches to train him up like they did with Robertson-McCoy, but Papali'i isn't exactly young.

What ages are they both?

FACECUTTR · 08-07-2020 12:11pm

Zzippy wrote: »

What ages are they both?

25 O'Donnell
27 Papali'i

Bridge93 · 08-07-2020 12:28pm

Was there not talk of Dalton Papali’i signing? Or did I get that wrong and it was always this Abraham Papali’i? I suppose given Dalton was capped I’m probably totally wrong

serfboard · 08-07-2020 12:43pm

MarinersBlues wrote: »

A number 8 and a back 3.

It's up on the Connacht website now. Some quotes:

Andy Friend wrote:

I got to know Ben very well on the Australian Sevens scene. It did not surprise me that he went on to become such an important player for them and I am thrilled that he has chosen to join Connacht.

Abraham is a powerful number 8 who has all the attributes to become a really valuable player for us while furthering our options in the back row. I know every Connacht supporter will be excited to see what he can offer.
...
These signings bring our squad up to 43 players for next season. We have freshened up and added depth to our squad in a number of key areas, having signed a healthy blend of young exciting players who have come through our Academy system as well as bringing in some additional quality and experience from further afield.

Bazzo · 08-07-2020 12:46pm

Mul, it's over

Probably as good as could be expected given the circumstances. O'Donnell seems to have done well with the 7s, if he adapts as well as Porch we'll have done very well. Papali'i is exactly the physical specimen we need, fingers crossed he comes good also.

Wegians89 · 08-07-2020 12:47pm

The Friend Zone

O donnell was nominated for 7s player of the year in 2018, hope he can bring that to 15s. Papalii looks powerful and pacy

Former Former · 08-07-2020 12:54pm

You've got a Friend in me

I'd say Papali'i is squad depth and not much more based on his track record.

Sevens players are always an unknown quantity but Porch has worked out well, and if Friend has coached O'Donnell before then that's grounds for optimism.

Lucas44 · 08-07-2020 1:36pm

Bridge93 wrote: »

Was there not talk of Dalton Papali’i signing? Or did I get that wrong and it was always this Abraham Papali’i? I suppose given Dalton was capped I’m probably totally wrong

Dalton is a 7 so wouldn’t really have made too much sense and as thing stands he’s probably going to be in the next abs extended squad, only 22/23 too be hard to convince him to pick up and leave

Lucas44 · 08-07-2020 1:41pm

Bit torn on the decision to sign Odonnell, he’s a decent player but you’d have to wonder when looking at the 7s is he better than Jordan conroy? Probably not.. have to remember the season conroy was in with Connacht Kieran Keane was in charge and think it’s safe to say no1 improved under him.. just think if we’re going to be gambling on a 7s player let’s not choose an Aussie player when there’s Irish ones such as conroy or jack Kelly or terry Kennedy available

macslash · 08-07-2020 1:57pm

Mul, it's over

Lucas44 wrote: »

Bit torn on the decision to sign Odonnell, he’s a decent player but you’d have to wonder when looking at the 7s is he better than Jordan conroy? Probably not.. have to remember the season conroy was in with Connacht Kieran Keane was in charge and think it’s safe to say no1 improved under him.. just think if we’re going to be gambling on a 7s player let’s not choose an Aussie player when there’s Irish ones such as conroy or jack Kelly or terry Kennedy available

I hear you, but who says they are available? Those lads mentioned might not be interested in signing with a province. I'd have loved Jack Kelly but I haven't heard anything from any of them about wanting to change over. Any idea when the sevens will be restarted? After Xmas or before?

realhorrorshow · 08-07-2020 2:08pm

Lucas44 wrote: »

Bit torn on the decision to sign Odonnell, he’s a decent player but you’d have to wonder when looking at the 7s is he better than Jordan conroy? Probably not.. have to remember the season conroy was in with Connacht Kieran Keane was in charge and think it’s safe to say no1 improved under him.. just think if we’re going to be gambling on a 7s player let’s not choose an Aussie player when there’s Irish ones such as conroy or jack Kelly or terry Kennedy available

If I was Jordan Conroy I'd be prefer travelling the world as an elite 7s player over coming back to Ireland to battle it out for Pro14 minutes. Maybe he doesn't want to play 15s? Nigel Carolan would be more than familiar with him and I'm sure could make a case for his signing if he rated him.

08-07-2020 3:15pm

Lucas44 wrote: »

Bit torn on the decision to sign Odonnell, he’s a decent player but you’d have to wonder when looking at the 7s is he better than Jordan conroy? Probably not.. have to remember the season conroy was in with Connacht Kieran Keane was in charge and think it’s safe to say no1 improved under him.. just think if we’re going to be gambling on a 7s player let’s not choose an Aussie player when there’s Irish ones such as conroy or jack Kelly or terry Kennedy available

Jack Carty disagrees

realhorrorshow · 08-07-2020 3:39pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Jack Carty disagrees

Shane Delahunt went really well that season too and was on Joe Schmidt's radar.

macslash · 08-07-2020 3:39pm

Mul, it's over

He's a big man. Most of the footage seems to have been from wet conditions so hopefully he'll be okay in Galway!
Some hit about the 2.20 mark

**That link worked for me, hopefully it does for ye too.

connachta · 08-07-2020 6:06pm

giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47923298252894b884b75a2fdea8d21fb5f74f3dcd&rid=giphy.gif

I'm a happy man.
Kiwi n°8 is exactly what I wanted
Not a name, but an effective ball-carrier, who runs fast and offloads. I'm deeplly convinced he will be a starter, and crowd-favorite with fend-offs. Naoupu 2.0, finally!

ClanofLams · 08-07-2020 6:31pm

Mul, it's over

O’Donnell is currently injured according to twitter? Aussie 7s journos and fans seem to think he will be very good at 15s fwiw.

Second signing looks like a punt. Sometimes the gamble pays off (Fox Matamua, even if injury kind of halted his progress) sometimes not (Api Pewhairangi).

Squidgy Black · 08-07-2020 7:36pm

ClanofLams wrote: »

O’Donnell is currently injured according to twitter? Aussie 7s journos and fans seem to think he will be very good at 15s fwiw.

Second signing looks like a punt. Sometimes the gamble pays off (Fox Matamua, even if injury kind of halted his progress) sometimes not (Api Pewhairangi).

He did his ACL back in January, supposed to be a year of rehab (at least from what he was saying in interviews), so it'll be into 2021 before he gets any game time you'd imagine unless he flies through his rehab.

sydthebeat · 08-07-2020 7:44pm

The Friend Zone

Papali'i looks like a strong runner with an offloading game..... however he'd want to learn quickly about tackling lower from the clip ive just watched. pretty much all of the clips of him owning the tackle would see him getting red these days.

Bazzo · 08-07-2020 8:40pm

Mul, it's over

Murray Kinsella mentioned conditioning could be an issue for him, only managed 50 mins in his 3 starts apparently.

Nothing a few months of Johnny O'Connor scaring the everliving **** out of him can't solve hopefully.

Lucas44 · 08-07-2020 9:09pm

macslash wrote: »

He's a big man. Most of the footage seems to have been from wet conditions so hopefully he'll be okay in Galway!
Some hit about the 2.20 mark

**That link worked for me, hopefully it does for ye too.

Not convinced looks like he’s playing equivalent to ail 2b in them videos, standing out but the standard doesn’t look great

connachta · 08-07-2020 9:49pm

Are they joining (as I predicted) only for new season ?

Burkie1203 · 08-07-2020 9:52pm

Mul, it's over

Bazzo wrote: »

Murray Kinsella mentioned conditioning could be an issue for him, only managed 50 mins in his 3 starts apparently.

Nothing a few months of Johnny O'Connor scaring the everliving **** out of him can't solve hopefully.

They have to do 14 day quarantine when they arrive too? So how likely are they to arrive before the interpros next month?

connemara man · 08-07-2020 10:00pm

The Friend Zone

Burkie1203 wrote: »

They have to do 14 day quarantine when they arrive too? So how likely are they to arrive before the interpros next month?

They're joining for the 20/21 season so that'll be fine

macslash · 08-07-2020 10:32pm

Mul, it's over

Lucas44 wrote: »

Not convinced looks like he’s playing equivalent to ail 2b in them videos, standing out but the standard doesn’t look great

Ya that's true but that video is from about a year ago so the footage is old. He is a punt as many have said so hopefully he works out. Didn't realise that BOD (ya he goes by that apparently!) was injured. Hopefully nothing too long term. It'll be Oct I'm guessing before the new season hopefully* starts?

Lebute · 08-07-2020 11:09pm

macslash wrote: »

Ya that's true but that video is from about a year ago so the footage is old. He is a punt as many have said so hopefully he works out. Didn't realise that BOD (ya he goes by that apparently!) was injured. Hopefully nothing too long term. It'll be Oct I'm guessing before the new season hopefully* starts?

https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2020/01/30/sevens-bod-injury

Link above to his injury

Evil_g · 09-07-2020 8:36am

Mul, it's over

Squidgy Black wrote: »

He did his ACL back in January, supposed to be a year of rehab (at least from what he was saying in interviews), so it'll be into 2021 before he gets any game time you'd imagine unless he flies through his rehab.

Hang on. We signed a back three player who's done his cruciate and is out for the foreseeable?

That doesn't sound like a good idea.

connachta · 09-07-2020 9:04am

Evil_g wrote: »

Hang on. We signed a back three player who's done his cruciate and is out for the foreseeable?

That doesn't sound like a good idea.

He should be fit in October, 9 months rehab

connachta · 09-07-2020 9:29am

"I had a bit of a run of injuries at the back-end of my league career and I thought I would try something different. I wasn't enjoying [league] when you have injuries. So, I needed a change and to have some fun again," Papali'i said.

He struggled at first with the transition to rugby, but it wasn't because of the differences between the two codes.

Source: nzherald.co.nz

Squidgy Black · 09-07-2020 9:39am

connachta wrote: »

He should be fit in October, 9 months rehab

Interview with him at the end of March said he still had 9 months of rehab left to go

https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/sevens/tokyo-2021-olympics-ben-odonnell-australian-rugby-sevens/news-story/b9b7a6c157b94fc3f5dbfe3fd6f4db76

connachta · 09-07-2020 9:45am

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Interview with him at the end of March said he still had 9 months of rehab left to go

https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/sevens/tokyo-2021-olympics-ben-odonnell-australian-rugby-sevens/news-story/b9b7a6c157b94fc3f5dbfe3fd6f4db76

FFS, hope it's just based on the "theorical maximum" (12 months)

connachta · 09-07-2020 9:50am

Lucas44 wrote: »

Not convinced looks like he’s playing equivalent to ail 2b in them videos, standing out but the standard doesn’t look great

That was indeed "club" games.
But Mitre 10 is another kind of level

Stats vs Southland last October

9 runs
97 meters gained!
3 clean breaks
9 defenders beaten
2 offloads

Wow

Former Former · 09-07-2020 9:58am

You've got a Friend in me

Ah this Papali'i guy is a squad player and little else. He'll have been very cheap so it's a low risk signing but Pro14 will be a big step up for him. This is basically his first time as a pro rugby player at age 27.

But no harm, a bit more depth and he might surprise us.

Diabhal Beag · 09-07-2020 10:20am

He certainly won't be intimdated by the shadow of Copeland's massive contribution. Probably a quarter of the cost too.

connachta · 09-07-2020 11:09am

evil_seed · 09-07-2020 11:30am

The Friend Zone

connachta wrote: »

Position |1st |2nd|3rd| 4th
LH Prop|Buckley|McAllister|M.Burke|Duggan
Hooker|Heffernan|Delahunt|Murphy|Tierney-Martin
TH Prop|Bealham|McCoy|Aungier| Kenny
n°4 2nd Row|Dillane|Roux| Dowling | Thornbury
n°5 2nd Row|Thornbury| Gallagher| Murray| Roux
Blindside Flanker|Boyle|E.Masterson | Dowling| Gallagher
Openside Flanker|Butler|Oliver| S.Masterson | Boyle
n°8 | SOB|Papali'i | E.Masterson| Butler
SH | Marmion | Blade | Kerrins | Reilly
OH |Carty|Fitzgerald|Dean| Daly
11 | Healy | Porsh | O'Donnell | Sullivan
Inside Centre|Aki|Robb|Daly| Arnold
Outside Centre|Farrell|Arnold|SOB 2.0 | Aki
14 | S.Fitzgerald | Wootton | Porsh | De Buitlear
15 | TOH|Wootton | McNulty | S.Fitz

We're all-right.

Daly has to be prepared to play 10 as he did when young.
2 injuries and he will be used here as utility 22.

You're back row is all mixed up IMO

Connacht Team Talk Thread V - The Friend Zone

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