Spencer to Tigers
Willison to Bath

According to RP
I hate this time of the season

HW

It is not new to us to lose our best players. But I have a sneaky feeling that it will take us years to recover from this season's off field shenanigans.

There is a certain amount of inevitability about this.

No player with real aspiration to play at the top of their game is going to be content with fighting relegation year on year.

So progressively the best players move to the clubs with Euro and international credentials.

Equally what money there is in the game gravitates in the same direction. Sponsors want to back winners - not perpetual bottom feeders.

And there is only a limited amount of money in the Premiership. We know all too well that the present owners do not feel that they can continue to subsidise the club to the tune of several million pounds. Other clubs in "our" end of the league are in a similar position: losing money and openly or privately on the market for sale.

So cherry picking is in my view only one symptom of the overall problems of a league which is not truly competitive, where the barriers of entry into the top of the league are considerable and where salary inflation is endemic.

Do we want to continue to swim in this sea or retire to calmer waters because unless somebody comes along with truly, very "deep pockets" (c.f. Bristol) I cannot see Worcester breaking out of the cycle of the last five or six years.

If true and it happens

Willison w back-up only at Bath.

Spencer will be a great catch following, Kitchener and Williams. He will be an England Lock!

The reason is totally Greg Allen's.

JP



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 17/12/2017 09:41 by Faithful_City.

Quote:

Faithful_City

The reason is totally Greg Allen's.

JP

I would say the reason is players and coaches not winning games - not sure Greg as much to do with that.

I genuinely believe we would have re-signed most of our top players for next season had there not been such a circus off the field, and had we sorted the sale. These guys have families to support, why would you sign on when you have no idea whether the club will even exist in a year or two.

We may not have won much but they have played like they care. That must be wearing very thin now unless they know a positive deal is pretty much done.

I have a horrible feeling our season, and maybe club, will implode on Friday.

We lose several players every season, some released, some past their best, some seeking better opportunities.

It happens, always did, always will.

Will this round be particularly disasterous? I don’t know, and to be frank, neither does anyone else on here.

TRP clearly has some inside info on Willison and Spencer, and they will both be losses.

But it’s not a disaster yet....let’s wait and see.

Our long-term recovery will be based upon our academy. I do believe that DR dropped us in a whole pile of poop, but I am grateful that he had the vision to restart the academy.

You cannot blame our top players looking elsewhere...

- We don’t have clarity of ownership
- We don’t know who our next DOR is
- We don’t know which league we will be in (yet)
- Other teams offer a route into the Champions cup and a springboard to international rugby

Spencer has been immense for us and will be a big hole to fill (particularly as Donnacha is retiring too). I would place him head and shoulders above Ewels in the 2nd row pecking order for England.

Random thought is to introduce NFL type draft system where all of the academy talent is shared amongst the premiership teams - with the lower placed teams getting first option on up and coming stars - it will never happen though.

Assuming there is some substance to this rumour, how are clubs getting around the 'no approach until January' rule? There are three of our players connected with other clubs now.

I'm guessing the January rule can only really affect signatures on contracts. You can't stop people from having a friendly chat.

Regarding the NFL, the academies are the colleges (universities in our language). I'm not aware of the colleges being funded by NFL teams, thus the draft system is fair. Otherwise, you wouldn't bother with the expense of an academy, you'd just gratefully receive the product of someone else's hard work and expense.

As there is a strong possibility we can get through to the knockout stages,albeit as one of the three best runners up of the five groups in Europe it begs the question,what IF we won the whole thing!
Champions Cup rugby @ Sixways! May attract better players.
I've just woke up....;-)

Even if we won the Challenge Cup, it would be too late as everyone will be tucked up with their contracts. It may entice the odd journeyman plying his trade in Japan.

To save me asking the club and waiting for details off them and not remembering what happened last time we got to the knockout stages do us ST holders (are there any debentures on here?) have to pay extra for the privilege of seeing knockout rugby? My question applies to the Anglo-Welsh as we could progress there too.

I do believe there are no more debentures.

Only a shrinking band of Platinum ST holders.

Quote:

w4rriorz1980
To save me asking the club and waiting for details off them and not remembering what happened last time we got to the knockout stages do us ST holders (are there any debentures on here?) have to pay extra for the privilege of seeing knockout rugby? My question applies to the Anglo-Welsh as we could progress there too.

Yes, season ticket holders do have to pay for tickets, not because the club likes ripping us off but because thems the rules of the competition. We usually get an exclusive sale period so we can buy our own seats. Can't remember whether we are allowed a small discount.

---

Whatever you do, do it safely!

Bertie, has it been so long we can’t remember?

I can’t remember either.

Quote:

Brummagem Bertie

Quote:

w4rriorz1980
To save me asking the club and waiting for details off them and not remembering what happened last time we got to the knockout stages do us ST holders (are there any debentures on here?) have to pay extra for the privilege of seeing knockout rugby? My question applies to the Anglo-Welsh as we could progress there too.

Yes, season ticket holders do have to pay for tickets, not because the club likes ripping us off but because thems the rules of the competition. We usually get an exclusive sale period so we can buy our own seats. Can't remember whether we are allowed a small discount.

Sorry meant Challenge Cup too but I guess the same applies.

Yes

Spencer has had too many injury issues for Leicester to be a good idea. What's the bet that they'll break him for good and he'll barely play a game again, or a pretty much guaranteed 2 year injury break?

A win against Irish that puts us 10 points clear at the Xmas break will bode well for recruitment next season.

It might be just me, but I have no confidence in us getting a win against Irish. This may be a reflection of my complete loss of confidence in all things warriors, not made any better by losing (apparently) 2 of our best players.

We have done our fair share of cherry picking from lower clubs over the last few years so I don't think we can be too sanctimonious.

Has it became official tigers recruitment policy to take every good lock we get?

I don't blame other clubs for wanting him though, on current form he must have broken into the top three locks currently available for England.

He's the kind of player we need to keep if we're to improve as a side.
Tigers dont seem to improve our leavers, could be costly for both us and him.

I’m not sure about that, Kitchener has played a blinder for Tigers tonight against Munster. Quality.

Quote:

TeflonTed
Bertie, has it been so long we can’t remember?
I can’t remember either.

I don't think it's been all that long - Brive in the quarters was the last time, wasn't it? I think it's more to do with my age!

---

Whatever you do, do it safely!

Quote:

Warr-i-ors!
I’m not sure about that, Kitchener has played a blinder for Tigers tonight against Munster. Quality.

He was on the verge of the England side when he left us and went from starting every week to benching most weeks.
He's still a good lock but I think he went backwards for over a season at Leicester.

Blaze always strikes me as the one who suffered the most, I think Williams would have been better off sticking with us as well though.

As Rollo says we cherry pick from clubs below us as well so we cannot moan when others do it to us. Only way to stop it is to get up that league

To: Hill Warrior (or anybody else)
Can somebody tell me what "SUX" is supposed to signify or mean?

I have been a little "Upset" in the past with certain players wanting to move to "Better" Clubs, whilst disappointed, I really can't blame any player for wanting to leave at the moment.

There are Rumours that Haskell may be linked with Bristol and they have made an offer to Matt Banahan. Splashing the cash

Banahan has rejected them, I believe, and could be wearing Cherry and White next season.

Sux
Is a slang word for sucks ( American I think ) or something that is very disappointing

HW

Hold on, if a club forum isn't the place for moaning about other clubs signing your favourite players then something is not right.

Banahan definitely coming to Glos from what I’ve heard.

Ikm curious why some of you are not confident about this weekend. From what I saw of Irish at Kingsholm 3 weeks ago and the way Wuss have been playing I will be surprised if you don’t win.

When you've been through as many ups and downs as we have it becomes difficult to be certain of victories.

This is a game that we have, historically, lost or made far too close for comfort.

E.g. Boxing day last year against Bris.

Quote:

Lebowski
Banahan definitely coming to Glos from what I’ve heard.
Ikm curious why some of you are not confident about this weekend. From what I saw of Irish at Kingsholm 3 weeks ago and the way Wuss have been playing I will be surprised if you don’t win.

Because we tend to choke!

Irish away 2 seasons ago springs to mind. We had been playing better than them in the games running up then fluffed our lines on the day.

Bristol last season too as mentioned above.

The test of the side, for me, will be if we do put in a performance. That will show how far the squad has come imho.

Due to what’s at stake I think it will be a tight, cagey game with neither side wanting to play too much. We’ll just cancel each other out.