Players asked to take pay cuts!

[RagingBull]

Aus rugby 60% cuts
NZ rugby 50% cuts
Prem rugby 25% cuts

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

The players here could make themselves unemployed here, if there are no professional teams, there are no professional players..
How much Saracens behaviour has caused the general wage hike would be interesting to know.

[AngusMcCoatup]

I am very much in favour of professional sportspeople being professionally compensated but you can't get a quart out of a pint pot, at least not on a sustainable basis.

You are so right " You cannot get a quart pot of finest Hand pulled Tiger Copper Ale in the ABC this season" as they introduced those stupid 500 ml stack cups and withdrew all the old one & two pint pots!!!
This certainly is not on a sustainable basis either. Ugh!

This Covid has shaken the whole world up and the game we all love is no different ~ the loss of lives, jobs, businesses and live sport & its income to the clubs has to have an bearing on the players incomes in the same way as ours too. No one is bigger than the rapidly changing clubs. Just let us get back to playing and viewing asap but get this virus out of the Country beforehand.

[jgriffin]

I think players need to consider that the game was already starting to struggle before Covid-19 arrived.
The game needs to reset.
To be honest rugby was fast becoming a much less appealing slugfest.
The product (rugby) had become bogged down by far too many long stoppages and replacements favouring the average skilled gym monkeys.
It has been mentioned so many times that if the game was played as it was originally meant to be played with fewer replacements and quicker restarts then it makes the game safer and players can have a better quality of life outside of and after rugby.

Been watching some old rugby on S4C and video (Welsh listening practice) and you forget how non-stop it was. Skill levels lower in general, tackling a bit iffy at times, but the speed of the game blunts some of that. Players lean and rangy, scrums needing little ref intervention and very quick, a lot less rucking than I remember, tackled players releasing the ball behind and no pile-ups. Something to learn from the past.
Oh, and pay in little brown envelopes or away from scrutiny, just like today!

[strawclearer]

I think players need to consider that the game was already starting to struggle before Covid-19 arrived.
The game needs to reset.
To be honest rugby was fast becoming a much less appealing slugfest.
The product (rugby) had become bogged down by far too many long stoppages and replacements favouring the average skilled gym monkeys.
It has been mentioned so many times that if the game was played as it was originally meant to be played with fewer replacements and quicker restarts then it makes the game safer and players can have a better quality of life outside of and after rugby.

Been watching some old rugby on S4C and video (Welsh listening practice) and you forget how non-stop it was. Skill levels lower in general, tackling a bit iffy at times, but the speed of the game blunts some of that. Players lean and rangy, scrums needing little ref intervention and very quick, a lot less rucking than I remember, tackled players releasing the ball behind and no pile-ups. Something to learn from the past.
Oh, and pay in little brown envelopes or away from scrutiny, just like today!

...and, with 20 minutes to go, both front fives were out on their feet! That's 10 players who jogged en masse from one scrum/ruck to the next - leaving lots of space for the fresh, creative runners to delight the crowd!

[Longshanks]

I think players need to consider that the game was already starting to struggle before Covid-19 arrived.
The game needs to reset.
To be honest rugby was fast becoming a much less appealing slugfest.
The product (rugby) had become bogged down by far too many long stoppages and replacements favouring the average skilled gym monkeys.
It has been mentioned so many times that if the game was played as it was originally meant to be played with fewer replacements and quicker restarts then it makes the game safer and players can have a better quality of life outside of and after rugby.

Been watching some old rugby on S4C and video (Welsh listening practice) and you forget how non-stop it was. Skill levels lower in general, tackling a bit iffy at times, but the speed of the game blunts some of that. Players lean and rangy, scrums needing little ref intervention and very quick, a lot less rucking than I remember, tackled players releasing the ball behind and no pile-ups. Something to learn from the past.
Oh, and pay in little brown envelopes or away from scrutiny, just like today!

Seemingly fewer injuries, kicks at goal completed in a fraction of the time and virtually no questioning of the referee.

[BFG]

I think players need to consider that the game was already starting to struggle before Covid-19 arrived.
The game needs to reset.
To be honest rugby was fast becoming a much less appealing slugfest.
The product (rugby) had become bogged down by far too many long stoppages and replacements favouring the average skilled gym monkeys.
It has been mentioned so many times that if the game was played as it was originally meant to be played with fewer replacements and quicker restarts then it makes the game safer and players can have a better quality of life outside of and after rugby.

Been watching some old rugby on S4C and video (Welsh listening practice) and you forget how non-stop it was. Skill levels lower in general, tackling a bit iffy at times, but the speed of the game blunts some of that. Players lean and rangy, scrums needing little ref intervention and very quick, a lot less rucking than I remember, tackled players releasing the ball behind and no pile-ups. Something to learn from the past.
Oh, and pay in little brown envelopes or away from scrutiny, just like today!

Yes I've also watched a few blasts from the past.
A lot to learn about reducing squad costs and injuries at the same time.

[jgriffin]

Kicks at goal done usually with stubbing a hole or pile of muck. Leather ball, toe-pecked. Used to kick like that myself, very accurate from up to about 35 yards. Kicks took about 20-40 secs as you just walked back in a straight line counting your paces. Take your point StrawClearer about the front 5, they just staggered from scrum to maul after 60 mins.

[loretta]

I'd forgotten just how far the modern game has moved from it's amateur days. Watched the Tigers v Gosforth game and at times it looked more like Hallaton bottle-kicking!

[BFG]

I'd forgotten just how far the modern game has moved from it's amateur days. Watched the Tigers v Gosforth game and at times it looked more like Hallaton bottle-kicking!

Must remember that they didn't train full time and had jobs, some doing manual labour.
I don't think anyone wants to go back to that time but there are things to learn from it.
Teams that played the uncontested scrum have a lot to answer for and I recall at the time there were calls for some form of simple rule to deter it such as the team uncontested losing the put in, but instead they went the other way and stacked the bench with more subs.
Coaches are now often doing a 6/2 forwards/backs bench split.
Add in the lengthy stoppages and it has created a different game favouring more and more size.
Players earnings have risen in relation to the growing need to retire more wealthy due to the higher risk of injuries because of the increased impacts to which injuries, player earnings and squad costs have become unsustainable.

[nasher]

I am reminded of a comment from a skilled auctioneer when the business I worked for went bust. He was cataloguing assets for sale and I was appalled at some of the values. He said “it is much more economic to have a smaller piece of the cake than a large piece of nothing.” The latter will apply when clubs go bust and there is not a queue of investors for a sport that cannot police itself.

[kk20gb30]

The games finances and players earning potential may have been further hit if the assertion,made yesterday (14/6/20) in The Rugby Paper) is correct that In Jan 2020 Premiership Rugby flatly rejected a 30% increase by BT Sport to extend their TV coverage deal beyond 2021 in the belief that Sky would ultimately outbid them as it was about to create a dedicated Rugby Channel.Sky TV have made no such move , nor intimated this to be a correct assertion and seeing BT out of the picture (no pun intended) with their noses bloodied by the rebuff have made little or no move to secure Premiership TV rights in what was a period of 'exclusive negotiation' between Premiership Rugby and BT Sport.Then of course came Covid-19 and all that came with it leaving Premiership Rugby somewhat cast adrift and the future value of immediate television rights and revenues very much in the realms of the uncertain.Hindsight a wonderful thing ......

[Scott1]

Who's idea was that to reject a 30% rise?!

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

At present I don't pay for any Sports channel I used to have Sky & BT but just didn't consider it value for money. I am only interested in Tigers in the Premiership, Scarlets in the Pro 14 both in Europe, highlights of the Top 14 will do me, Super Rugby if NZ teams are involved, but will watch any NZ NPC game, so if a Rugby Channel was created that covered all tournaments I would pay for that.

If fans can't watch in person does that increase or decrease the value to a TV company?

[Old Hob]

I'd forgotten just how far the modern game has moved from it's amateur days. Watched the Tigers v Gosforth game and at times it looked more like Hallaton bottle-kicking!

Must remember that they didn't train full time and had jobs, some doing manual labour.
I don't think anyone wants to go back to that time but there are things to learn from it.
Teams that played the uncontested scrum have a lot to answer for and I recall at the time there were calls for some form of simple rule to deter it such as the team uncontested losing the put in, but instead they went the other way and stacked the bench with more subs.
Coaches are now often doing a 6/2 forwards/backs bench split.
Add in the lengthy stoppages and it has created a different game favouring more and more size.
Players earnings have risen in relation to the growing need to retire more wealthy due to the higher risk of injuries because of the increased impacts to which injuries, player earnings and squad costs have become unsustainable.

It's slightly more complicated than that.
Assume an amateur(ish) league of 10 teams each with competent players who are all pretty even. One year team A wins the next team C and so on - any team might win. they get a cup.
Now, change that to a professional league. with huge rewards and penalties. Assume again the teams all start pretty evenly matched but team A finds a genius 9. They pay him more. Other teams want him and offer more. Other "star" players are found who want more. The rest of the players see this wage inflation and want more. "He's not three times as good as me..." Teams are prepared to go along with this because of the structure. Win the league and riches ensue (eg Europe competition, more TV money) lose and failure beckons (eg championship, no TV money, falling gate receipts) so any player who genuinely brings a competitive advantage is worth money. (Of course, some only appear to do so). This structure inevitably drives wage inflation as it has and does in soccer. It is obvious and predictable and can be prevented only by a truly enforced cap.