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Quote:dannyf2
Got a mate who has done the rounds of various clubs in S&C including Exeter and Saracens. He now trains Romanian special forces. He says the problem at our gaff is that the communication between players and S&C staff is not 100% open as players are worried about losing their spot in the side and play through niggles. Seems ironic when we are 20+ short and those playing are the only ones left standing! If true, they needn't worry about losing their spot!
Quote:BathMatt53Quote:dannyf2
Got a mate who has done the rounds of various clubs in S&C including Exeter and Saracens. He now trains Romanian special forces. He says the problem at our gaff is that the communication between players and S&C staff is not 100% open as players are worried about losing their spot in the side and play through niggles. Seems ironic when we are 20+ short and those playing are the only ones left standing! If true, they needn't worry about losing their spot!
Wow, I didn’t think that we were that competitive...That’s like a story from Leicester in the 90s!
Quote:sirtidychris
Yes this is an unbelievable amount of injuries, but as soon as we get to match day everyone forgets and thinks it's an utter outrage when we don't win and wants a clear out top to bottom. Mid week injury outrage, weekend losing the game Outrage...they are connected sheeple.
Quote:joethefanatic
It's notable that the Tigs' upturn in form has co-incided with George being away with England.
Quote:P G Tips
BoB & By
I have wondered as you have if there is a specific Bath reason for the number of injuries we have suffered. I have only speculation -no answer, but as By states, the club know this is an issue and are looking to enhance the medical staff -see Supporters Forum thread.
PG
Quote:joethefanatic
It's notable that the Tigs' upturn in form has co-incided with George being away with England.
Quote:Bath Hammer
I think what is so infuriating for the supporters are the unusual & varied nature of some of these injuries, the suddenness of them coming to light during training sessions or down time & how certain players seem so fragile, experiencing regular sequences of injuries. The likes of Underhill, Louw & Burns seem to hardly ever be available. Some thought we would be better off for fly half cover but because Ford is hardly ever injured he is worth a great deal to a team even allowing for international appearances. It is difficult to comprehend & there is only so much the average supporter can take.
Quote:dr.bath1865
If you want to look for the smallest silver lining, I suppose next season we're going to have a deeper and more experienced squad as young guys like Obano, Douglas, Bayliss, Mercer and Atkins, as well as the slightly older squad players, like Dunn, Stooke and Grant, have all played more rugby than they would have been expecting too. So that's good!
I said it was only a small silver lining and our improved squad depth does rely on us replacing the players we're losing.
Quote:hemingtonQuote:dr.bath1865
If you want to look for the smallest silver lining, I suppose next season we're going to have a deeper and more experienced squad as young guys like Obano, Douglas, Bayliss, Mercer and Atkins, as well as the slightly older squad players, like Dunn, Stooke and Grant, have all played more rugby than they would have been expecting too. So that's good!
I said it was only a small silver lining and our improved squad depth does rely on us replacing the players we're losing.
And players keeping healthy!!
Quote:BathOvalBaller
And even we lost 1/2 super stars, so be it as long as we had a larger squad of similarly effective players, like Newcastle for example, in time we are likely to see much better results.
Quote:BeergogglesQuote:BathOvalBaller
And even we lost 1/2 super stars, so be it as long as we had a larger squad of similarly effective players, like Newcastle for example, in time we are likely to see much better results.
Who are these super stars that we don't want then ? I can only think of Toby F and Francois (but he's been here ages and worth every penny). All for having similarly effective players on 'non super star' wages but assume its not that easy to achieve.
WRT to squad size I count 48 playing or injured in the Bath squad at the moment. How big a squad would we need to be successful with this year's rate of injuries ?
Quote:dr.bath1865
9 of the 23 tonight are Academy graduates. That's impressive and heartening.
Quote:BathMatt53
Tom 'chop tackle' Dunn was pulled from Chippenham RFC - was he in academy or straight into the 1st squad? Either way he is from the area and would be my fist choice hooker. How far away from the 1st 23 would Zach Mercer be I wonder?
Quote:Optimist
2 locals in Beergoggles' starting XV, 4 more on the bench. Beno and Mercer both brought into our Academy from out of the area.
I'm not saying there's much wrong with that if we can identify talent that other Academies value less highly, or they happen to be overstocked in a particular position - that's happened to us plenty - we seem to have supplied most clubs in the AV with a hooker at some point.
But the absolute sweet-spot of a player for me, is that they came through the Somerset or Dorset & Wilts teams or went directly into the Bath EPDG. Of ours the only one i know of is Atkins, and even he came up through Winscombe, so he could equally be claimed by Glos or Bris.
I'm just interested to know if there is a problem with our catchment area, given that we have more London Irish products in this 1st choice starting XV than Bath. Is it smaller than other Academy catchments? Is Bath not nurturing or identifying the talent. Do players not stay with Bath? Or is the problem just imagined.
Quote:Boldangrey
Mallet is the club's 'agent' at Millfield doubtless doing a lot of spotting and smoothing the way to scholarships.
Quote:B4thB4ck
Excuse my ignorance of private schools, but what is a 105% scholarship? Where does the 5% extra go?
Quote:by
We have some very good back row options, I'd like to see Underhill, Louw and Faletau play together, Mercer or Grant to the bench.
Quote:by
We have some very good back row options, I'd like to see Underhill, Louw and Faletau play together, Mercer or Grant to the bench.