Christian Wade

[BFG]

You have your view, I have mine.

The penny drops, be it only for a brief moment!

[Mark62]

At his best a great finisher, but there have always been deficiencies in certain parts of his game which is why a number of England coaches haven’t picked him not just Jones, but he fitted nicely with Wasps style of play.
Interestingly he has been left on the bench in favour of Bassett a couple of times this season .
Apparently Wasps said on Friday they had no knowledge of his move, I haven’t seen the Bath game yet so don’t know what was said there.

As for NFL he spent the summer working with one of their top speed coaches, but wide receivers tend to be 6 ft plus and running backs weigh in around 230 lbs, though there are always exceptions. The timing of his move also seems strange as the season has already started

[4071]

Well his heart clearly isn't here and I see the signs in quite a few these days.
This is just another sign of the current poor state of rugby in England.
Overseas converts and academy starlets more interested in exposure and money and supporters being treated more and more like cash cows.
The quality served up on a weekly basis in the Premiership and Europe by most English sides is dwindling and at an ever increasing cost and difficulty to keep to the salary cap, and England have become very average.

This is a terrible post! How many times did you change your job during your working life? If you did move jobs, why, was it for money, if so do you not fit into any of the categories you mention?

The man has to earn a living, his sports career could be very short, surely to goodness you can understand that?

Agreed - I think Wade will fail in NFL because it's such a change and an immense challenge. But credit to him for giving it a go, having understood that he will never reach the pinnacle of his chosen sport due to his build (and some defensive limitations).


It puts me in mind of a colleague of mine who has been at the company for the last decade, and has given her all. She's been a high performer on a good wage. Earlier this year, she chose to leave and go back to university. She wants to retrain and start building another career. It's a big risk, she's losing a guaranteed salary in a job that she does enjoy and has a proven track record in. But she is looking for another challenge before she gets too old to change career.

BFG would say that this shows we should never have hired her in the first place, a decade ago. We should have given the job to someone who wanted to work for us until they were forced into retirement.

Madness.

[4071]

If he had been chosen for England and got another 40 caps at £20k per match plus sponsorship opportunities would he have made this choice!
In it for the money plain and simple, and that's why England aren't as good as they should be and the player pool isn't as strong as it should be!

This implies that the only reason players want to play for their country is money.

You don't even consider for a second that getting international recognition and playing at the pinnacle of the sport would have been enough to keep him in Union... it's only the money that would have done it.

As it's a pro sport, however, can't you make exactly the same totally unfounded claim about every single professional player in the world? The only reason anyone is playing for Tigers is because they are paid to do it. The only reason anyone plays for England is for the money. The only reason that anyone plays pro rugby is the money.

The proof? They are being paid.

[BFG]

Well his heart clearly isn't here and I see the signs in quite a few these days.
This is just another sign of the current poor state of rugby in England.
Overseas converts and academy starlets more interested in exposure and money and supporters being treated more and more like cash cows.
The quality served up on a weekly basis in the Premiership and Europe by most English sides is dwindling and at an ever increasing cost and difficulty to keep to the salary cap, and England have become very average.

This is a terrible post! How many times did you change your job during your working life? If you did move jobs, why, was it for money, if so do you not fit into any of the categories you mention?

The man has to earn a living, his sports career could be very short, surely to goodness you can understand that?

Agreed - I think Wade will fail in NFL because it's such a change and an immense challenge. But credit to him for giving it a go, having understood that he will never reach the pinnacle of his chosen sport due to his build (and some defensive limitations).


It puts me in mind of a colleague of mine who has been at the company for the last decade, and has given her all. She's been a high performer on a good wage. Earlier this year, she chose to leave and go back to university. She wants to retrain and start building another career. It's a big risk, she's losing a guaranteed salary in a job that she does enjoy and has a proven track record in. But she is looking for another challenge before she gets too old to change career.

BFG would say that this shows we should never have hired her in the first place, a decade ago. We should have given the job to someone who wanted to work for us until they were forced into retirement.

Madness.

To get to the top of most professions but in particular ones in sport where maximum effort is required then it requires the heart for it, that's to be a champion sportsperson that is, otherwise it's just another also-ran going through the motions for the money.
English sport and rugby in particular is wealthy compared to most other nations, we have a great fan base in English rugby but that's also a magnet for the also-rans like Wade.
We are constantly bombarded by reminders of what separates champions from the also-rans, sacrifice and commitment etc, are they wrong or are they lies, can anyone be a champion sportsperson, I think not!
Just my opinion, but likening sport and particularly a sport as demanding as rugby to an office job shows just how little some armchair fan folk know about how tough a game it is to actually play, and how easy they are to fool!

[4071]

So just to get this straight, a guy who has been playing top flight club rugby for more than seven years, playing more than 150 matches in that time and scoring close to 100 tries, has played for England and represented the Lions, and has given up a good and certain salary in order to test himself in an even more competitive environment has - by doing so - shown that he is an also-ran who should never have been even given the chance to play rugby in the first place.

Sure.... whatever...

[BFG]

So just to get this straight, a guy who has been playing top flight club rugby for more than seven years, playing more than 150 matches in that time and scoring close to 100 tries, has played for England and represented the Lions, and has given up a good and certain salary in order to test himself in an even more competitive environment has - by doing so - shown that he is an also-ran who should never have been even given the chance to play rugby in the first place.

Sure.... whatever...

I didn't know that he had any Lions caps to be honest, but really NFL is more competitive!
He'll get to wear pads, possibly won't have to tackle if he plays a certain position and he won't exactly be starting from the bottom like the millions of kids with a dream.
IMO in it to give as little as possible and take as much as possible, let alone letting down his current teammates.
Also I think that he does no favours to smaller players with aspirations to become pro rugby players in the future.
Successive England coaches have been criticised for not selecting him and maybe now that it is shown that his heart isn't truly in the sport perhaps we know why he couldn't quite make that next step and they didn't fancy him to do so!

[DingDong]

Also I think that he does no favours to smaller players with aspirations to become pro rugby players in the future.

...100 tries at top flight ...England caps ...Lions ...NFL want to pay him mega bucks ...sorry - what you were saying BFG?

[ourla]

You have your view, I have mine.

The penny drops, be it only for a brief moment!

If only it dropped for you.

[Jimmy Skitz]

Also I think that he does no favours to smaller players with aspirations to become pro rugby players in the future.

...100 tries at top flight ...England caps ...Lions ...NFL want to pay him mega bucks ...sorry - what you were saying BFG?

the top star Quarter Backs make mega money running backs are paid relatively little as they are seen as expendable and only last a couple of years on average. He's probably too small to be an effective receiver so that leaves kick returner, which is becoming less and less common and is not a role that is well paid at all unless the person happens to be a star receiver or corner back

[Spicer]

As for NFL he spent the summer working with one of their top speed coaches, but wide receivers tend to be 6 ft plus and running backs weigh in around 230 lbs, though there are always exceptions. The timing of his move also seems strange as the season has already started

He is leaving now in order to practice and prepare for the NFL draft and scouting combine in around spring time after the end of the season. It's then that he may or may not be selected for a team roster and offered a contract for next season. This may give you an idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBZaqbkAFmU

[johnthegriff]

The guy is a professional sportsman, he has made a decision about his future career and life, who the hell are we to question his motivation or his decision, we know nothing of his personal circumstances or thoughts. I am certain you will not find a Wasps fan who would crticise Wade's commitment or value for money over the years he has been with them, it is unfortunate he has left mid contract and mid season but we don't know why he has done that, there must have been a very significant reason as he is taking a big risk. Good luck to him he has been a credit to the game, if I were a Wasps fan I would be wondering (maybe unfairly) what was wrong with my club to cause a player to make such a radical decision.

[BFG]

Were this a Leicester player that time and money had been invested in then it'd be harder to swallow on here in my opinion.
You try and put a squad together and then one of your biggest investments decides that he doesn't want to play anymore, it's a selfish move in my opinion.
I look at Toomua's choice and at least he is desiring to reach the pinnacle of his sport with his nation, I can respect that.
Wade's choice is just a cop out!

[sam16111986]

Were this a Leicester player that time and money had been invested in then it'd be harder to swallow on here in my opinion.
You try and put a squad together and then one of your biggest investments decides that he doesn't want to play anymore, it's a selfish move in my opinion.
I look at Toomua's choice and at least he is desiring to reach the pinnacle of his sport with his nation, I can respect that.
Wade's choice is just a cop out!

https://www.premiershiprugby.com/2017-2 ... ent-wasps/

Maybe they are ok with him leaving if there's concerns of a repeat. Once can be considered an accident but twice would lead to more severe sanctions.

[ourla]

it's a selfish move in my opinion.

Unlike the club that dumped Burns and Slater?