EPS Watch / Player Form Thread

[Digby]

Sweat Charity, the new Neil Diamond 'classic'

[twitchy]

This guy has an english mum and a fijian dad but has played in NZ. Sounds like he just wants to play for NZ but it's a slow news day so i thought I would post it.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/a ... d=12343345&

[Mikey Brown]

Didn’t realise he had an English link. Sounds like there’s no chance NZ will fail to cap him ASAP though. He’s getting a lot of hype already.

He could be their Billy V, which is a terrifying thought. Absurd power and an offloading/passing game too.

[Mellsblue]

He’s quality. There’s no way NZ will let him leave.
As for R. Ioane, after the Blues matches I’ve watched in the last few weeks, he might have moved to OC as he’s the third best wing in the squad. Clarke looks ridiculously good, if a bit raw.

[Puja]

This guy has an english mum and a fijian dad but has played in NZ. Sounds like he just wants to play for NZ but it's a slow news day so i thought I would post it.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/a ... d=12343345&

Why would you tell us that? He's ridiculously good, but there is absolutely no way that he'll not get capped in the next year and I can't see him leaving NZ before then. Basically the only hope would be an English club putting in a big money bid for him and there's not really big money around anymore.

Puja

[Raggs]

Still marquee slots. Chance someone might do it, but i suspect he's planning on being an ab.

[Mellsblue]

Still marquee slots. Chance someone might do it, but i suspect he's planning on being an ab.

I thought they were all skint other than Bristol, Exeter and Bath.
If I’d just accepted a 25% pay cut as my club is pleading poverty and then they cough up enough to tempt one of NZ’s brightest prospects I’d be very pissed off.

[Which Tyler]

Still marquee slots. Chance someone might do it, but i suspect he's planning on being an ab.

I thought they were all skint other than Bristol, Exeter and Bath.
If I’d just accepted a 25% pay cut as my club is pleading poverty and then they cough up enough to tempt one of NZ’s brightest prospects I’d be very pissed off.

Agreed.
And of those 3, Bath already have Faletau and Mercer; Bristol surely already have their marquee slots taken care of beyond the realm of shuffling things; whilst Exeter have always made a big deal of financial prudence.

So...

Saracens are our only hope.

[Raggs]

Sale have money to burn. Especially now they've signed everyone up before the deadline.

[twitchy]

Not south african enough.

[Timbo]

The clubs that could do with a first choice 8 don’t have the money, and the clubs that have the money don’t need first choice 8’s.

[Mellsblue]

Sale forced their players into taking pay cuts and now have money to burn?!?!? I’m sure the players will be delighted with that news.

[Raggs]

Sale forced their players into taking pay cuts and now have money to burn?!?!? I’m sure the players will be delighted with that news.

They got the players to sign before the 18th of June. So whatever they agreed to, only 75% of that will count towards the new cap. Meaning they could have easily just created themselves some more cap space.

If they got everyone to agree to 25% cuts, then they'd have created plenty more.

[Mellsblue]

Sale forced their players into taking pay cuts and now have money to burn?!?!? I’m sure the players will be delighted with that news.

They got the players to sign before the 18th of June. So whatever they agreed to, only 75% of that will count towards the new cap. Meaning they could have easily just created themselves some more cap space.

If they got everyone to agree to 25% cuts, then they'd have created plenty more.

I know all that. I’m just saying that if I’d been forced into accepting a pay cut after being told the club was short of money only for them to then go and spend the money saved on another player or two I’d be pissed off. It’s not a great way to build a team.

[Raggs]

If they were told they could take 10% now or face 25% cuts at the end of their contracts, it may not look quite so bad.

[Digby]

Sale forced their players into taking pay cuts and now have money to burn?!?!? I’m sure the players will be delighted with that news.

They got the players to sign before the 18th of June. So whatever they agreed to, only 75% of that will count towards the new cap. Meaning they could have easily just created themselves some more cap space.

If they got everyone to agree to 25% cuts, then they'd have created plenty more.

I know all that. I’m just saying that if I’d been forced into accepting a pay cut after being told the club was short of money only for them to then go and spend the money saved on another player or two I’d be pissed off. It’s not a great way to build a team.

That will piss people off if that's what they've done. And it's not easy to rebuild trust where one side at least has flat out lied

[Mellsblue]

They got the players to sign before the 18th of June. So whatever they agreed to, only 75% of that will count towards the new cap. Meaning they could have easily just created themselves some more cap space.

If they got everyone to agree to 25% cuts, then they'd have created plenty more.

I know all that. I’m just saying that if I’d been forced into accepting a pay cut after being told the club was short of money only for them to then go and spend the money saved on another player or two I’d be pissed off. It’s not a great way to build a team.

That will piss people off if that's what they've done. And it's not easy to rebuild trust where one side at least has flat out lied

Yep. I’m sure there would be no, or at least a lot less of an, issue at Exeter, Bristol and Bath, who have all said they don’t want a salary cap reduction. However, Sale, despite initial reports, lobbied for the reduction.
More importantly, we’ve fallen down another RR rabbit hole of discussing a hypothetical with only a tiny chance of happening.

[Which Tyler]

More importantly, we’ve fallen down another RR rabbit hole of discussing a hypothetical with only a tiny chance of happening.

There's no actual rugby to talk about - what else are we supposed to do?

[Raggs]

Well Sale definitely got everyone to sign new deals before the deadline, meaning every contract signed only counts 75% towards the cap. So maybe they just got everyone on the same money, but for a longer period, but personally, I'd have told them they can take a 5-10% cut now, or get 25% less when their contract expires, and not to expect a significantly better deal from any other club, as they'll all be stuck trying to fit underneath the new cap too.

[Mellsblue]

More importantly, we’ve fallen down another RR rabbit hole of discussing a hypothetical with only a tiny chance of happening.

There's no actual rugby to talk about - what else are we supposed to do?

Good point, well made.

[Mellsblue]

[Scrumhead]

Kind of relieved by that TBH. I’d rather see Dombrandt and Mercer pushing each other for the shirt.

[Mikey Brown]

Yep. As much as I think he looks incredible, we’ve all been banging on about how much talent we’ve got available in the back row.

I hope it was just the media making a fuss rather than Jones going out of his way to put his name out there. It must be galling as a player who performs week after week in the premiership, only to have Jones take no interest, then make a big song and dance about a shiny new option that has appeared in SA or NZ.

[Scrumhead]

Exactly. I doubt we’ll ever know, but it would definitely pi$$ me off if I were an aspiring England international.

[Timbo]

Did Eddie actually ever say anything about him, or was it just press reports? Seems very feasible just player and agent trying to get the best deal possible from NZ rugby.