Ulster Bank League 2015-2016 Talk/Gossip/Rumours

ArmchairQB wrote: »

Trinity may struggle early season good few injuries I hear, Mary's not at their strongest yet but have struggled to recruit in the off season but promotion will be their aim for the season but 1b will be a very competitive league this season. Wesley have recruited a whole new team again this season with 15+ new players on top of large numbers recruited last season with a lot of rumours and suspicion from others on how they can do so and still meet the new participation criteria, sceptical myself but if the union continue to implement legislation but are unable to police it then they can't complain. Looking forward to the season ahead now!

Was at Trinity/Marys yesterday.

Trinity were missing Max McFarland/Tim Maupin/Brain Du Toit/Tom Ryan/Nick McCarthy all injured and then lost influential 10 Jack McDermott-first game back since last January-and prop Tom Collis during game but have decent strength in depth now with a number of last years 20s coming through into their first team now. Marys looked very ordinary and having gone 10 nil up were dominated in the 2nd half conceding 2 converted tries.

IB will be very competitive this year.

Who does anyone think will get promoted in 1B?

I fancy Old Wesley to win it with Trinity to get the 2nd slot but think Blackrock, Ballymena and Buccaneers will be there or there abouts. Don't see either of last years relegated teams Dolphin or St Marys going straight back up

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Theyve a good few injuries and have a trip to England for a World Universities Cup to come... Marys wont get promotion on basis of yesterday
Wesley havent got a whole new team but have got another few signed up. Have plenty of connections to get guys jobs which is getting them loads of guys.

Trinity have Oxford trip and games tuesday and friday week ahead as well and could lose guys their but itll be good prep for AIL

Wesley wont win it. Blackrock will do well but cant see Wesley going straight up

Who do you think will win it?

Stainalert wrote: »

Wesley have signed this guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRxZvsqglXU

Excited to see him play

Coming from having a decent pro contract to Wesley for the love of the game obviously! Nothing suspicious here at all

Last time he was here was with Tarf, but moved when he couldn't get work permit to stay with Leinster. Quality operator and will do very well for OW..

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

This could go in its own thread but will put it here. What are peoples thoughts on this??

http://www.knockon.ie/2015/08/28/huge-drop-playing-numbers/

Interesting read by Big Jim - I know when i played most big clubs in leinster could have 4 to 5 decent senior teams and then a few social teams - not sure what it is like now - certainly the peaking of provincial provinces fanbase through professionalism seams to have dampened the interest in the club gams from its peak in the 90s.

Tarf1234 wrote: »

Heard Belvo were struggling with their 4th team recently from someone who was involved in the past.

Agreed, plenty of people retired and still on it. However, a lot of clubs are reluctant to remove them in case they come back as often happens after a few years away.

It may not be feasible for all but it would be great for those it is feasible for. Any Dublin side should be able to do it, plus it would be great to try and organise fixtures so it was 2 clubs against each other for the day where possible. The thought of 3 or 4 games of Tarf v Belvo, Marys v Terenure, Lansdowne v UCD, etc. for the day would be great. I'm sure there are plenty of cases it would work for in Cork and Limerick as well. Doesn't have to be a one size fits all model...

I think that is a great idea and would be a real shot in the arm for clubs - Branch have pointed to problems about not enough referees and wear and tear on pitches in the past. Would be great if someone took the bull by the horns and just did it.

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Issue is how to schedule games regularly for all sides to help with clubs having several of their adult sides taking on same team in same venue same day.

There isn't enough referees which is a very fair point and who do you have in mind as someone to "take the bull by the horns and just did it"?

2 of the Dublin clubs?

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

However most clubs don't have the same sides in the same divisions especially since change to the metro rugby leagues not being all 3rds/4ths in the same competition
You could do it but most games between sides would be friendlies....

UCD, Old Belvedere, Terenure, Clontarf & Lansdowne all in the same division - maybe match up junior teams where they are in the same league - won't catch all but will be a start - all except Belvo have artificial pitches so wear and tear not an issue

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

That isn't a runner though unless clubs agree to do it and there is no demand for it. Arranging pitches is still an issue even with artificial pitches etc

Why isn't there a demand for it?

This by no means needs to happen every week. If you look now Lansdowne, Terenure, Clontarf and UCD all have all weather pitches and with the exception of Lansdowne a grass pitch as well at the same location. So I'm not sure that is as much of an issue as it once was. Belvo have 4 pitches Marys 3. In fact on many Sunday you will see multiple games in both of those grounds.

Also the days of first team players playing seconds after playing on a Saturday are long gone. I'm not aware of any Dublin club, anyway, where this would be the norm. Surely big days out need are the way to promote the club game again. Even if it only happen 2 or 3 times in a year. Much like the Friday night lights happen now.

In reference to the clubs no longer being in the same leagues at different levels there is definitely enough cross over between 2nds or 3rds or 20s between the bigger clubs. I'm sure the same could be done further down even if it was just first and 20s. Anything to get a bigger crowd and more hype is surely a good thing.

I've played in Sydney Subbies for 4 years and this year moved to a club that plays in a country division (Central Coast). The concept is simple but it would require a major restructure of the league.
Teams get promoted and relegated based on their overall club performance. It makes Saturday a great day for the club everyone is out together.
The club championship is based on a combinations of all teams points.
For example
1st grade 1 point = 5 competition points
2nd grade 1 point = 3 competition points
3rd grade 1 point = 1 competition point
Colts (U/19) 1point = 2 competition points
See the link below to help understand it
http://www.centralcoast.rugbynet.com.au/default.asp?id=199593

Because the central coast is a smaller area we all play in the same division but the sydney subbies has up to 6 divisions with promotion/relegation based on overall performance not just your first grade team.
Subbies teams breakdown here
http://rugby.net.au/page/2015-Draws-Results-x-7262-132-656.html

This allows the strong clubs to move up not just the team with the most money in a division. When I played in subbies we were in division two and would often come up against a team where they had bought a first grade team but if the club doesn't have the infrastructure to back it they will not get promoted.
some of the main benefits of the system are as follows:
Strongest teams move up
It allows colts to get a gentler exposure to the game by graduating through 4th's 3rd's and 2nd's if they are not stron enough to play first grade straight away.
It stops 2nd, 3rd and fourth grade teams being out of their depth just because a club has bought a first grade team
It allows the social players to feel more involved
All teams together as one club
Great social scene and good crowds at games due to the amount of rugby on.
Referees back up too older refs will ref fourth grade then do touch for first grade
Club gets good money off shop/BBQ/beer due to the amount of players
Reduced cost for travel if there are 4 teams on a long bus journey you can do it in two buses instead of hiring 4 smaller buses to travel to four different venues

Some of the fears listed in earlier posts include
Ground deterioration
- Most teams in Sydney play on municipal grounds that are shared with Rugby League teams so there can often be p to 8 games on a pitch (I have played in worse conditions here than when I played at home)
Second team players don't get a game
- Because the second grade team is played just before the first grade game it is easy to back up and play the last 20 minutes of first grade etc. Subs are on an interchange system that allows 10 interchanges so you can bring on and off guys a bit more frequently.
Lack of officials
- Due to the games being in a single venue it allows officials to back up for higher grade games. This also allows younger referees to cut their teeth at lower grade before moving up.

All in all I really enjoy playing out here as it seems more inclusive and as I have got older and more injuries have taken over you can drop a grade and still get a good game without being left out. I often get called up to a higher grade to back up for 10 5 minutes which is enjoyable for an old prop trying to teach the kids a thing or two.

Sounds brilliant, I really can't see how it the ref's is that much of an issue. There are 3 there on AIL days anyway. Through in 1 provincial ref to do the lower grade and that's plenty.

One of the biggest concern is the separation of people and teams from the club as a whole. I really think this would be an excellent way of fixing that. Every club in Leinster (with a 20s team) also complains about the difficulty of integrating 20's into the junior teams. Surely this would be an ideal way of doing that.