JohnI wrote: ↑Fri Sep 15, 2017 9:52 pm
So yourself as a fan. If there were only 11 games a season and 5 or 6 at homes would you still feel the same with having so many free weekends with no rugby?
If the players wages aren't reduced would you still pay the same price for your ticket ? Don't think so.
Agree with the number of games that players are playing in a season may but on the edge but f the RFU will continually play autumn internationals as well as 6 nations then these international players are going to play a lot more.
Autumn internationals every year are good to see but not essential if players safety is to be considered.
Notwithstanding that then increase squads and take drop in pay due to reduced game time. As said above we all choose our profession and anyone who says that money isn't an influence is kidding the self.
I read from his comments that the constant increases in the salary cap going to the top players was the thing that needed addressing and it needed spreading around squads.
A maximum wage would be a good idea, so long as the rest isn't spent on second rate foreign players instead of English players.
Interestingly more and more SH top players seem to take sabbaticals these days to save their bodies.
For every Richard Blaze, there's a Brad Thorne.
Peter Stronger is 40, how old wasjulian white when he retired? Every player knows their own body and should be able to say if they need break
I think everyone will agree that rugby is getting more and more physical and players need to be protected.
Reducing the amount of matches in the calendar is, realistically, never going to happen. Raising the salary cap would, as others have said, surely just lead to the top players earning more.
The best solution I can think of would be to limit the amount of minutes of first team rugby a player can play per year.
On the other hand, is it as simple as they are playing too many matches, or is training a factor too? Do they train too hard too often? Maybe less time in the gym doing weights would be beneficial?
It would be interesting for someone to study in more detail the differences between players who regularly suffer injuries, and those that don't. Manu is as injury prone as it gets, and he certainly doesn't play too many matches.
Players like Stringer, Thorn and White started rugby in the days when being a gym monkey wasn't such an obsession for young rugby players. Perhaps making yourself as muscular as possible isn't the best way to enhance durability...
If I were a Sports Psychologist I would be worried for his welfare.
If you worry about being tired and and the amount of game time, generally you get injured.
Why is he not talking to his Coaches and support teams about being dropped for a few games or speaking to EJ about
de selection from England duty.
Cake and eating it comes to mind.
Question - If we have too many competitions should we not drop one or two.?
Do teams rotate players enough and encourage youth so that seasoned players can rest?
Are conditioning coaches acting effectively for player welfare?
Are players spending too much time pushing weights as a physical conditioning?
If MV is making a genuine concern, why have we not heard this from others before now.?
I thought we had wage caps A - suppress the grotesque wages earned in the round ball game . B- to allow all clubs to compete on a level playing field. C - to keep clubs solvent.
In one respect he has a point .. if you are an international then you can play a lot of games. But most of them are irrelevant , why play autumn internationals ? why tour in the summer just because the lions are touring ? why play the baa baas the same weekend as the premiership final ? its just a cash cow
But the players get paid more for playing internationals than they do for tigers, so you can see which ones the players and the rfu would want to remove from the calendar
A few years ago I remember reading a report that an 80 minute test match put as much strain on the body as a 12 round heavyweight boxing fight, and that was in the days before players became the power units they are now.
He makes a very fair point players are retiring earlier with serious injuries, they need to stop treating the players as cash cows
£22k for an England appearance x (5x6nations + 4xautumn + 3xtour) = around the same as the annual salary from the club for many internationals so they are not going to turn down those games. The club's rightly want their money's worth from their employees so players have to make their minds up what they want short term high reward or a long career
