WINNING FORMULA
Club vs Country An Alternative View
WINNING FORMULA
By Sudbury Survivor June 25 2007
The shock on this message board that greeted the first leaked announcement of the proposed settlement between the RFU and clubs over the availability of elite players demonstrated that I am yet again out of step with my co Wasps supporters. As we need to keep the message board ticking over during the summer I thought I would set out my reasons to back this initiative as a Wasps supporter.
WINNING FORMULA
The shock on this message board that greeted the first leaked announcement of the proposed settlement between the RFU and clubs over the availability of elite players demonstrated that I am yet again out of step with my co Wasps supporters. As we need to keep the message board ticking over during the summer I thought I would set out my reasons to back this initiative as a Wasps supporter.
- It fills my heart with pride that my little club can nurture nearly one third of the pre RWC training squad. I have been following Wasps for over forty years – although for the most part not as actively as the last 10 seasons. Thirty years ago the thought of having any more than one or two players from the squad who were good enough even for the trials was laughable.
- Lol has cast doubt on our ability to survive long term in the marketplace given our home gates and investment level – can you imagine how we would fare in an open market without even the notional protection of a salary cap. The general career of the new generation of professional rugby players is to paraphrase – glorious, brutish and short. It would be hypocritical to begrudge anyone from fully exploiting their earning potential. This agreement would appear to allow smaller clubs to offer decent contracts to England elite players. To my mind only this kind of financial incentive will permit Wasps to hold on to the rising stars of the future.
- My reason for returning year after year to Adams Park with all its drawbacks is that I have rarely if ever seen any Wasps team give less than their all for my entertainment. This pride shines through every professional at the club whether they are academy player or seasoned international (although the dividing line is getting quite blurred). It is illogical, but I will happily continue to buy a season ticket to support our second string mixed with a modicum of retired internationals for as long as they continue to give their all for the cause. The club has a knack of allowing players to make the most of their abilities, just look at the career paths of Stuart Abbott and Fraser Waters this season and I will continue to revel in their reflected glory.
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleuponRelated Articles:
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: Barney1 (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:26:12:46:24
SS - since you have taken the trouble to collect your thoughts and publish them here, to satisfy the appetites of those who demand that the site keeps going, but couldn't be bothered to produce anything themselves(!), I feel you deserve a response.
I'm sure we all welcome some sort of resolution to the conflict which has scarred the game for far too long. However, I have the nasty feeling that it's the thin end of the wedge. The Twickenham behemoth has secured its concession from the clubs, but I doubt whether it will be enough to keep the beast happy.
Twickenham has never had any appetite for the professional club game, as was borne out by the one-year moratorium with which it welcomed the game turning professional. It was happy to sit back and let the clubs' backers sink or swim.
It has looked on in horror, as the club game has gone from strength to strength, realising that, the stronger it gets, the more it threatens the hegemony of the international game.
We'll get more money for surrendering the players we've helped develop - but how will the RFU raise that extra money? By arranging more internationals, of which there are already too many, so we'll see less and less of those players.
I'd be happy to see us go back to the days of no summer tours and no autumn internationals, with SH sides only visiting every three or four years. It meant that internationals were special events, not the weekly fare which they have now become. However, that will not happen, since internationals fill the RFU's coffers.
Nothing about this deal makes me feel that the threat of complete RFU control has been killed off for good. Therefore, I can not welcome it wholeheartedly.
I'm sure we all welcome some sort of resolution to the conflict which has scarred the game for far too long. However, I have the nasty feeling that it's the thin end of the wedge. The Twickenham behemoth has secured its concession from the clubs, but I doubt whether it will be enough to keep the beast happy.
Twickenham has never had any appetite for the professional club game, as was borne out by the one-year moratorium with which it welcomed the game turning professional. It was happy to sit back and let the clubs' backers sink or swim.
It has looked on in horror, as the club game has gone from strength to strength, realising that, the stronger it gets, the more it threatens the hegemony of the international game.
We'll get more money for surrendering the players we've helped develop - but how will the RFU raise that extra money? By arranging more internationals, of which there are already too many, so we'll see less and less of those players.
I'd be happy to see us go back to the days of no summer tours and no autumn internationals, with SH sides only visiting every three or four years. It meant that internationals were special events, not the weekly fare which they have now become. However, that will not happen, since internationals fill the RFU's coffers.
Nothing about this deal makes me feel that the threat of complete RFU control has been killed off for good. Therefore, I can not welcome it wholeheartedly.
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: Geoff P (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:26:12:59:24
SS I'm with you on this - I'm proud to be a Wasps supporter and I'm proud to be an England supporter and I'm even prouder when the two come together.
I think in the long term the club/country debate will slowly die away as a new generation of administrators, who will have grown up within the professional club game, begin to take over the reins of power.
Barney I know what you mean about too many internationals though. It's the incessant summer tours that I object to. With such an attritional game as rugby has now become, I think the players need a proper rest at least once a year.
I think in the long term the club/country debate will slowly die away as a new generation of administrators, who will have grown up within the professional club game, begin to take over the reins of power.
Barney I know what you mean about too many internationals though. It's the incessant summer tours that I object to. With such an attritional game as rugby has now become, I think the players need a proper rest at least once a year.
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: Heathen (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:26:14:04:18
Geoff P, sorry to disagree with you :
"I think in the long term the club/country debate will slowly die away as a new generation of administrators, who will have grown up within the professional club game, begin to take over the reins of power."
It will not happen while the old farts from the counties continue to elect the likes of Martyn Thomas et al. And what incentive have they got to change? They would lose all their free tickets and other priviledges for a start.
"I think in the long term the club/country debate will slowly die away as a new generation of administrators, who will have grown up within the professional club game, begin to take over the reins of power."
It will not happen while the old farts from the counties continue to elect the likes of Martyn Thomas et al. And what incentive have they got to change? They would lose all their free tickets and other priviledges for a start.
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: Geoff P (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:26:17:05:12
Don't apologise - people disagree with me all the time
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: Boooo (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:26:22:21:39
I really hope the likes of Damian Hopley get a seat on the Pofessional Game Board. It's individuals like him that truly understand the game, the players and the needs of fans. He's very much 'in-touch' with waht's going on and he would help lead the game into the next generation in a healthy state.
Furthermore, he is a very likeable person and has great communication skills.
Fingers crossed.
Furthermore, he is a very likeable person and has great communication skills.
Fingers crossed.
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: SussexWasp (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:27:12:28:54
I thought you were going to recommend Damian Hurst and visions of pickled '57 boring old f@rts' filled my head.
I'm with Barney and Heathen on this, it's a lost opportunity as shown by the decision to carry on with the anglo-welsh cup.
Berni
I'm with Barney and Heathen on this, it's a lost opportunity as shown by the decision to carry on with the anglo-welsh cup.
Berni
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: Sudbury Survivor (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:27:15:39:38
Given the constructive and serious response to the piece I would certainly consider further efforts if the creative spirit moves - thank you those who have chosen to engage.
The piece concluded by identifying that the structured season is the next target. I suspect that this will prove even more contentious than the negotiations to date.
Prize money must also be an issue - the amount to the winners of the HEC in England is derisory - and I seem to remember that we received more money for winning the EDF than the Premiership.
Only if this agreement can be part of a wider suite of measures that provide country, club, sponsors, broadcasters and us, the ever suffering supporter with a sensible package will it be seen to be a success.
The piece concluded by identifying that the structured season is the next target. I suspect that this will prove even more contentious than the negotiations to date.
Prize money must also be an issue - the amount to the winners of the HEC in England is derisory - and I seem to remember that we received more money for winning the EDF than the Premiership.
Only if this agreement can be part of a wider suite of measures that provide country, club, sponsors, broadcasters and us, the ever suffering supporter with a sensible package will it be seen to be a success.
Re: Club vs Country An Alternative View
Posted by: dom (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:06:29:19:06:02
If Hoppers gets on the board, then I think we will get a more rational debate about a structured season. The farts should have their say in regional ,atters, and still get their England tickets and sloe gin, but their should be new management at the top -- a professional set up rather than paralysis by committee.
SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS
More London Wasps headlines
- GP Preview: Quins favoured by Internaional Calls
- EDF Preview: There Be Dragons
- HCup Preview: Leinster: a Right Royal Showground
- GP Preview: Wasps v Bath
- Haskell Gets 1 Week Ban, Birkett Reprimanded
- FINAL, FINAL BOW FOR WASPS LEGEND
- Wasps: dozy at this time of the year
- Drunken Wasps perform at the Fat Blokes 7s 2008
- London Wasps in Europe: 2008/2009
London Wasps latest threads
London Wasps Poll
