Is North looking to get away?

[jgriffin]

http://tinyurl.com/j85dydq
A rejig of the BBC article - perhaps Jim will grow some and drop him because this is the biggest disrespect I've heard from a player for a long time.

[Spicer]

It is not often you hear a player so vocal and open about a club. I imagine Gatland has got into his ear.

[Dr H Flashman MBE]

It is not often you hear a player so vocal and open about a club. I imagine Gatland has got into his ear.

I can imagine Mallinder will be all over him when they next meet, not just in the ear....

[welshy08]

Well he certainly has changed his tune from his early days in English rugby, where he said it was incredibly exciting and far more skillful than the Pro12.

Lets hope being with Wales and playing rugby how it is meant to to be played, with passion, adventure, skill and romance...can reinvigorate him a wee bit.

maybe the mindless meat grinder that passes for English Rugby will even benefit on his proud and noble return?

[jonlin]

My Saints supporting mates feel sure there is something not quite right at Franklins gardens. Rumours abound of tension between Alex King and Nobby, with Nobby throwing his weight around a little too much. There is a lot of frustration that North isn't getting to see much ball with neither Burrell nor Pisi passing out to the winger.

We've seen it happen at a number of clubs, a period of success followed by a period of stagnation or worse decline. It will be interesting to see what Saints decide to do. My view is that they need changes in their coaching team, and they need to let a few players go where their reputations exceed their actual effectiveness (Burrell and wood in particular)

Hopefully they listen to no one.With Nobby there they probably will not. Championship rugby beconds.

[Dr H Flashman MBE]

Well he certainly has changed his tune from his early days in English rugby, where he said it was incredibly exciting and far more skillful than the Pro12.

Lets hope being with Wales and playing rugby how it is meant to to be played, with passion, adventure, skill and romance...can reinvigorate him a wee bit.

maybe the mindless meat grinder that passes for English Rugby will even benefit on his proud and noble return?

You could be right and after the 6 nations he will be back to his best, or he could be edging for a move to one of the welsh regions, who are tearing it up in Europe with their brand of passion and adventure filled rugby.

[loretta]

Well he certainly has changed his tune from his early days in English rugby, where he said it was incredibly exciting and far more skillful than the Pro12.

Lets hope being with Wales and playing rugby how it is meant to to be played, with passion, adventure, skill and romance...can reinvigorate him a wee bit.

maybe the mindless meat grinder that passes for English Rugby will even benefit on his proud and noble return?

You could be right and after the 6 nations he will be back to his best, or he could be edging for a move to one of the welsh regions, who are tearing it up in Europe with their brand of passion and adventure filled rugby.

Welsh regions in Europe have shown passion and romance undoubtedly, just not been very good. Some people never seem to get it, rugby's not like Strictly on the telly, there are no points for style.

[Dr H Flashman MBE]

Well he certainly has changed his tune from his early days in English rugby, where he said it was incredibly exciting and far more skillful than the Pro12.

Lets hope being with Wales and playing rugby how it is meant to to be played, with passion, adventure, skill and romance...can reinvigorate him a wee bit.

maybe the mindless meat grinder that passes for English Rugby will even benefit on his proud and noble return?

You could be right and after the 6 nations he will be back to his best, or he could be edging for a move to one of the welsh regions, who are tearing it up in Europe with their brand of passion and adventure filled rugby.

Welsh regions in Europe have shown passion and romance undoubtedly, just not been very good. Some people never seem to get it, rugby's not like Strictly on the telly, there are no points for style.

Agree. It's about winning and points make prizes. I am not decrying the Welsh regions, but they are not tearing it up, which is a shame for rugby.

[ourla]

Mmmmm... finding this all a bit ironic given the much teeth gnashing over our lack of creativity and lack of an attacking game over the last couple of years.

[loretta]

Mmmmm... finding this all a bit ironic given the much teeth gnashing over our lack of creativity and lack of an attacking game over the last couple of years.

Attacks come in many forms. Our problem in the last couple of years was that we lacked most of them.

[Starburst]

Mountain out of a mole hill. Absolutely nowhere is there anything quoted from North that says he's frustrated with Northampton.

Typical journalistic tricks. Ask an innocent question get an innocent answer but twist it and make it look as if he has a problem with his club.

Hey George why haven't you scored more tries "Well defenses in the Premiership are very organised, sometimes it's like carrying the ball into a wall" will become - George North has expressed his frustration with playing for Northampton, and specifically “carrying the ball into a wall”.

As for “For me it would be nice to step away from Northampton now, get a different stimulus,” are you telling me that there isn't an England player who doesn't say the same about having a break from his club and joining up with England. At the end of the Six Nations he'll be glad to leave Wales and get back to Saints.

North is quoted as saying by Wales Online. “Wales want to play a quick game and an open game and that suits me down to the ground. I want to be on the wing, I want to have that space to run at people and have the opportunity, rather than carrying straight into a [defensive] wall.

“Sometimes you need to be that guy, which I don’t mind doing but, when you’ve got the opportunity to have 50 metres of space and you can open the taps, there’s nothing better in the world than doing that.”

Nowhere does he say that Northampton don't want to play expansive rugby or only want him to bash it up the middle. And to be honest who wouldn't prefer to have 50 metres of space to run into rather than crashing up the middle into Jamie Roberts or Tuilagi when he's fit.

[Snorbins]

I was half heartily listening to something he other day and believe I heard someone say "he's not got the intelligence to be a centre".

[seaweed]

Worth reading inline with North's comments

Northampton full-back Ben Foden says England head coach Eddie Jones has told him to "get back to running rugby".

The 30-year-old won the last of his 34 caps against New Zealand in 2013.

"I had a phone call from Eddie before he picked the England squad saying I need to get back to the running rugby and get hands on the ball in the wide channels," said Foden.

"That's the first time anyone's ever told me that from England - it was always the other way around."

He added to BBC Radio Northampton: "They always said my counter game was good and I was good with ball in the wide channels but the rest of the game needed working on so it was quite bizarre for him to turn around and say that to me."

Saints, losing Premiership semi-finalists last season, have struggled for form this term and are currently seven points off fourth-placed Harlequins in sixth.

And Foden said his conversation with Jones was linked to the problems his club side have had.

"It just shows where we are as a Northampton back-line, we haven't been firing," he added.

"Individually, I haven't been getting the ball in the wide channels and doing what I used to do in a Northampton Saints shirt.

"Hopefully that will light a fire for a few of us - I think Luther [Burrell] had the same conversation as well."

[jgriffin]

I have re-read said articles, and North was clearly on-message for Wales, but if I was Stains DOR, words would be exchanged behind closed doors. I suppose you could rephrase North's words as 'I like it when others do the hard yards and I get the glory, but I haven't liked having to do some donkey work myself.'