Connacht Team Talk Thread V - The Friend Zone

connachta

salmocab wrote: »

Just on Penny that’s not necessarily true, he’s very young and could well be better off staying where he won’t be played too much and staying with the best coaches and environment in the country. If he has long term goals of winning trophies and playing for Ireland then Leinster may well be the better option.

That's such a biased comment. Connacht were injury-hitten recently, but not badly coached (few mistakes ok, but overall) and there's absolutely no reason players won't be capped for Ireland.
Even "environnement" will be up to the best standards with new facilities.

salmocab

connachta wrote: »

That's such a biased comment. Connacht were injury-hitten recently, but not badly coached (few mistakes ok, but overall) and there's absolutely no reason players won't be capped for Ireland.
Even "environnement" will be up to the best standards with new facilities.

It’s not a biased comment at all, didn’t say they were badly coached, I didn’t say he wouldn’t get capped playing for Connacht and environment doesn’t mean the quality of the facilities.

stephen_n

kingofthekong wrote: »

Conor Oliver would be a great bit of business....hes always impressed when I've seen him

Could also look at Watters for Leinster.....very good player


Connacht wont be given Penny, Leinster have plenty of more fringe backrows that could be very good, Munster already spotted that by scooping up Oliver, and Ulster scooping up Timoney and Watters in my opinion could be better than either of them..

If Penny thinks he has a better chance of first team game time in Connacht he may go west. He has VDF, Leavy & Connors in front of him now. Also Ruddock might start big games at 6 ahead of him. Then there’s Deegan as well offering cover off the Bench. Penny might ask to leave if Connacht offer him a better chance and the IRFU won’t stand in the way of that. In fact they may well encourage it.

Mul, it's over

Calum Clarke is about to become a free agent.

Discuss.

slingerz

I can't believe it's not Butler

Conor Olivier would be a decent addition and out of contract this summer

Bazzo

Mul, it's over

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Calum Clarke is about to become a free agent.

Discuss.

I'd rather **** in my hands and clap

molloyjh

Bazzo wrote: »

I'd rather **** in my hands and clap

I want to thank this at least a dozen more times.

Utopia Parkway

Be sad to see Colby go but unless I'm mistaken he's almost tripling his pay. Can't turn that down really and Connacht can't afford to match it.

As ever though it depends on how he's replaced. Plenty of savage backrowers in the SH that will be looking to head north next Summer. I imagine we will be looking to get one of them and maybe a Leinster backrower too that is stuck behind the queue in front of him.

Mr Tickle

Tagir Gadzhiev ?

FACECUTTR

Mr Tickle wrote: »

Tagir Gadzhiev ?

I read somewhere he has refused contracts in France since the World cup. I'm sure they offered more than Connacht would be able to.

Mr Tickle

FACECUTTR wrote: »

I read somewhere he has refused contracts in France since the World cup. I'm sure they offered more than Connacht would be able to.

Nah, He's just heard about the wonder of a bag-o-cans at the Spanish Arch during the summer.

FACECUTTR

Mr Tickle wrote: »

Nah, He's just heard about the wonder of a bag-o-cans at the Spanish Arch during the summer.

Throw in a couple of bottles of buckfast!! Sure its just as good as La Rochelle could be.....

connachta

#connachtrugby Gavin Thornbury & Paddy McAllister replace Sean Masterson & Pete McCabe in Connacht's Champion Cup squad


Gavin, Paddy, and win are back!!!

connachta

So good to have dilemna again

1) Buckley or McAllister?
2) Heffernan, McCartney, or Delahunt?
3) Bealham or McCoy?
6) Boyle, McKeon or Masterson?
7) Fainga'a, Butler or Boyle?
8) Butler, Boyle or Copeland?
9) Marmion, Blade, or Kerrins?
12/13) Aki, Robb, Godwin or Daly?
11/14) Niyi, Healy, Godwin or Porch?

ClanofLams

Mul, it's over

Paddy McAllister and Paul Boyle did media yesterday so they are both almost certainly starting. Presume Fainga’a and Butler will join Boyle in back row. Thornbury and Dillane in second row. McAllister, Heffernan and Bealham in front row would be my guess. Good pack with bench capable of making impact too.

FACECUTTR

ClanofLams wrote: »

Paddy McAllister and Paul Boyle did media yesterday so they are both almost certainly starting. Presume Fainga’a and Butler will join Boyle in back row. Thornbury and Dillane in second row. McAllister, Heffernan and Bealham in front row would be my guess. Good pack with bench capable of making impact too.

I'd actually like to see McCoy start for the first 50 or 60.He has been great while Bealham has been out. Bealham could give a beast of 20-30 minutes which could be a handful for a tiring Tolouse pack. Completely agree on the rest.

ClanofLams

Mul, it's over

FACECUTTR wrote: »

I'd actually like to see McCoy start for the first 50 or 60.He has been great while Bealham has been out. Bealham could give a beast of 20-30 minutes which could be a handful for a tiring Tolouse pack. Completely agree on the rest.

Wouldn’t mind that either and would be deserved, he has quietly progressed a fair bit over the last 18 months.

Will be interesting to see who is back row sub. If it’s not Copeland, might be an indication his future lies elsewhere.

He’s had some good moments over the season (Gloucester at home being the obvious one) but he was fairly disappointing against Ulster and Leinster, think he won penalty early on against Leinster in Connachts 22 but don’t recall much else from him. Obviously both tough nights at the office but someone of his experience should be delivering more.

connachta

ClanofLams wrote: »

Wouldn’t mind that either and would be deserved, he has quietly progressed a fair bit over the last 18 months.

Will be interesting to see who is back row sub. If it’s not Copeland, might be an indication his future lies elsewhere.

He’s had some good moments over the season (Gloucester at home being the obvious one) but he was fairly disappointing against Ulster and Leinster, think he won penalty early on against Leinster in Connachts 22 but don’t recall much else from him. Obviously both tough nights at the office but someone of his experience should be delivering more.

I'm critical to him, but he was IMO the one the save from the Ulster sink...

BakeMeACake

Weather to be muck on Saturday so at best it will be a win, certainly not a bonus point win.

BakeMeACake

Squidgy Black wrote:

That's mental money if true, but fair play to him for taking the opportunity after moving away. Well deserved off the back of his performances.

It's such a short career, with the very possible potential to be cut shorter, I don't really believe that to be mental money myself. Just my opinion

CowboyTed

salmocab wrote: »

Just on Penny that’s not necessarily true, he’s very young and could well be better off staying where he won’t be played too much and staying with the best coaches and environment in the country. If he has long term goals of winning trophies and playing for Ireland then Leinster may well be the better option.

It is like this in Leinster at the moment

No. 6
Ruddock
Murphy
Fardy (might be last season)

No. 7
Levy
De Flyer
Conors
Penny

No. 8
Cohnan
Deegan
Doris

(They have only one back row in Academy MARTIN MOLONEY...)

That is 9 players for 3 positions.

Would love to rob one of the nine and one of them might want to go...

When looking around I say (without any proof ) David Aspil might be the best unsigned player in Ireland. He is playing for St Marys, he one of the few players who beat the baby blacks (U20s) under Carolon to not have a professional contract and he was a regular, he was also called in for a trial in Leinster this summer (the only back row to do that) and there is no disgrace not getting a contract considering there riches.
Long Shot but little to loose giving a few months trail with our problems

We are going to Southern Hemisphere to find a player or two end of season.

Buer

Brian Deeny is in the academy and is down as a lock. However, he has played back for for Ireland U20 and started for Leinster A at both 8 and 6 this season. Good prospect, still only 19 and will be starting for the Irish U20 team this season, I'd imagine.

I honestly don't see any of the current Leinster senior squad going to Connacht. Moloney is a great prospect in the academy and I doubt Leinster will be leaving themselves open to him departing either. Blindside is the one area where they don't have a natural top level talent coming through. Josh Murphy is very solid but, at 25 in a few weeks, I don't see him suddenly exploding into being a top player. He's probably the most likely target/candidate if Connacht did look to approach someone. He signed a new deal this season which I assume was more than one year though.

connachta

Now I'm the one who's more ambitious. We can't replace a Top player like Fainga'a with Leinster Academy.
We offer a 1ST CHOICE position in the squad, and with IRFU agreement, we should be able to attract at least a guy like Penny, Leinster wants it or not

connachta

Mul, it's over

connachta wrote: »

Now I'm the one who's more ambitious. We can't replace a Top player like Fainga'a with Leinster Academy.
We offer a 1ST CHOICE position in the squad, and with IRFU agreement, we should be able to attract at least a guy like Penny, Leinster wants it or not

It doesn't matter what Leinster want, the player has to agree to move.

connachta

Deleted User wrote: »

It doesn't matter what Leinster want, the player has to agree to move.

Yeah that's why I said a 1st choice position is attractive if the guy wants to compete for Irish caps some times
It's not about Leinster interests of having their 9th or 10th back-row

sydthebeat

The Friend Zone

It will never be in Leinsters interest to let any squad member move to another province.

Its up to the offering province to make the deal attractive enough.

connachta

sydthebeat wrote: »

It will never be in Leinsters interest to let any squad member move to another province.

Its up to the offering province to make the deal attractive enough.

No outbid, attractivness is about gametime
Whatever some say, pro matches exposition matters, if he wants to avoid being "training partner" and in the end released/exiled
With a risk of losing time at best (Daly, T.Farrell)
losing the plot and expectations of their career at worse (D.Ryan, Reid, Macken, O'Connell)

Buer

connachta wrote: »

Now I'm the one who's more ambitious. We can't replace a Top player like Fainga'a with Leinster Academy.
We offer a 1ST CHOICE position in the squad, and with IRFU agreement, we should be able to attract at least a guy like Penny, Leinster wants it or not

I think you should be aiming higher than Penny, to be honest. He's a 20 year old who is struggling for game time in his first full senior season.

If Connacht were to sign him, that's great. But I wouldn't expect him to play in Europe and be up to speed and deliver at that level consistently. If brought in, Penny should be looking at 12-15 games a season to develop but he's not someone that is going to be a game changer for Connacht at this point.

They should be looking for guys who are proven performers and capable of slotting straight into the starting side for 20 games a season.

Scottmactom

Buer wrote: »

Brian Deeny is in the academy and is down as a lock. However, he has played back for for Ireland U20 and started for Leinster A at both 8 and 6 this season. Good prospect, still only 19 and will be starting for the Irish U20 team this season, I'd imagine.

I honestly don't see any of the current Leinster senior squad going to Connacht. Moloney is a great prospect in the academy and I doubt Leinster will be leaving themselves open to him departing either. Blindside is the one area where they don't have a natural top level talent coming through. Josh Murphy is very solid but, at 25 in a few weeks, I don't see him suddenly exploding into being a top player. He's probably the most likely target/candidate if Connacht did look to approach someone. He signed a new deal this season which I assume was more than one year though.

Alex Soroka is a big time blindside prospect in sub academy.

slingerz

I can't believe it's not Butler

BakeMeACake wrote: »

It's such a short career, with the very possible potential to be cut shorter, I don't really believe that to be mental money myself. Just my opinion

i see this pedalled a lot but i dont agree with it. They can get jobs like everyone else once finished playing rugby. its good money for a job full stop in my opinion