Usually when players leave Tigers it's said that we've either had the best of them and it's time to go or, they're not up to it - won't make the grade. Either way there's not many (if any) that leave and become stars elsewhere
Billy Twelvetrees = the exception to this 'rule' IMHO.
Very disappointing.
Cockers sounds, or is made to sound, very bitter.......chickens coming home to roost?
g wrote:Will Cockerill still be around at the end of the season to make these recruitment decisions? if Tigers get rid of him then he's not gonna be recruiting anyone is he?
You could be right g, will the board view this as Billy not being willing to fight for "his place"? (whatever place he needs to be utilised in week to week....) or as the Coaching team allowing a future star to slip away? Time will tell.
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
Not sure how anyone can blame the club for this one, it sounds like we would have to drop Allen, Flood or Manu to convince Twelvetrees to stay - and they are all better players than him. Disappointed he doesn't want to stay and fight, but realistically he's at a point in his career where he absolutely needs to be first choice otherwise he's never going to be the player he wants to be.
I don't think it's a huge loss. Yes he has potential, but we've been saying that for 3 years now and, in my opinion, he hasn't really improved very much in that time. How many players who are still "promising youngsters" at 23 (in his position) go on to become top internationals?
I'm sure many will disagree with me on that, but good luck to him at Gloucester.
I doubt that Billy is not willing to fight for the No 12 shirt , but perhaps more a realisation that whatever he does he is not going to get the shirt as Allen is Cockerill's 1st choice .Personally I think Cockerill has made completely the wrong call here and we are losing player of immense talent and potential - good luck Billy !
Well that's a shame,one for the future has gone,but I have to agree with others and say that it's his choice.Wish him well,but that's business and I'm sure there are players in the squad ready to try and fill the gap,Forsyth has had many on here singing his praises,so maybe we will get a good look at him now.
"If you want entertainment, go to the theatre," says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. "Rugby players play the game to win.15/1/21.
We will be like Wasps and Bath last season .......so many comings and goings that it takes half a season to gel as a team. Again a player who puts everything into each game when wearing the shirt is allowed to drift off to the SW. What happens when Flood, Manu and AA are all out with England (a possibility!)??
Oh happy days under Cockers!!
A TIGER TILL I DIE!!
Supporting since 1977 and proud of it!!
Croft, Deacon, Youngs, Tuilagi and Cole have all had to wait and be patient and now they are all on the International stage.
Twelvetrees feels that he needs to be starting more in order to put himself in the spotlight.
How many players other than our Irish friends have gone on to more success?
I am sure that Tigers will recruit well during the summer and there will be a big change in the squad.
Disappointing but at the end of the day it is Billys choice to move on.......he has not been shown the door...and Tigers would want to keep him.
Tigerbeat wrote:Croft, Deacon, Youngs and Cole have all had to wait and be patient and now they are all on the International stage.
Twelvetrees feels that he needs to be starting more in order to put himself in the spotlight.
How many players other than our Irish friends have gone on to more success?
I am sure that Tigers will recruit well during the summer and there will be a big change in the squad.
Disappointing but at the end of the day it is Billys choice to move on.......he has not been shown the door...and Tigers would want to keep him.
Good luck to Billy.
Perfectly put,lack of histerics could mean you will incurr the wrath of "the knowledgeable all seeing few" though.
"If you want entertainment, go to the theatre," says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. "Rugby players play the game to win.15/1/21.
WiggoTiger wrote:We will be like Wasps and Bath last season .......so many comings and goings that it takes half a season to gel as a team. Again a player who puts everything into each game when wearing the shirt is allowed to drift off to the SW. What happens when Flood, Manu and AA are all out with England (a possibility!)??
Oh happy days under Cockers!!
We are not loosing any key players, the same core group will be in the side next year, e.g. Ayerza, Cole/Castro, Deacon/Parling, Croft, Crane, Youngs, Flood, Manu and Murphy. Those players dictate and others follow, I doubt any gelling time will be required.
And when Flood, AA and Manu are off with England we could well see
10. Ford/ Gopperth
12. Bowden/ Forsyth (He could well benefit from Billy's move, he has always impressed)
13. Smith/ Tait
I will be disappointed to see him go but from reading the other article in the mercury I think it may be a case of Tigers not being willing to offer a future England player the type of contract he wants.
If Cockerill recruits sensibly and can find a player from in the Mauger role who will be available all year round we will not miss him.
Good on 12T - he could have earned a lot more two years ago by going to a Welsh club on the back of his Ospreys performance. He stayed on, and for whatever reasons - and I can't think it is that such a pleasant,diffident character is the root cause in comparison to some of the other characters concerned - he sees his future elsewhere. I personally think it is an excellent move for him and if he is to shine, he will do so there under the tutelage of someone who knows a hell of a sight more than MOC about international RU back play.
I assume any decisions are ultimately the Boards. However I see the recruitment of ex-international SH players as a confession of developmental failure and further papering over the cracks of poor coaching.
Leicester Tigers 1995-
Nottingham 1995-2000
Swansea (Whites) 1988-95
A game played on grass in the open air by teams of XV.
jgriffin wrote:
I assume any decisions are ultimately the Boards. However I see the recruitment of ex-international SH players as a confession of developmental failure and further papering over the cracks of poor coaching.
A very strange time to adopt this policy - surely the time to recruit ex-internationals was in the summer BEFORE the RWC, not the summer after. Likely the guys that come in will be around 30 years old, so I would guess they will come for 2 or 3 years before hanging up their boots. That will mean we have to go through the same process prior to the next World Cup.
Surely the strategy of signing ex-internationals from the SH is not a new one, or an admission of failure. It's something that all the top clubs in Europe do.
Tigers in particular have had lots of success with this over recent years. Take for example, Howard, Mauger, Hamilton, Newby, Stransky etc. Any players of this sort of calibre that the club can bring in over the summer will be more than welcome in my eyes.
Like many I will be sorry to see Billy go but the comments of some of the prophets of doom are OTT. If he became a regular in the England team then he would add to our annual problem of losing so many players during the autumn internationals and 6N. As the Mercury article says other players find that fighting for their place at Tigers developes their game - it is a pity that Billy doesn't see that. It will be interesting to see how he progresses elsewhere.
.......so many comings and goings that it takes half a season to gel as a team. Again a player who puts everything into each game when wearing the shirt is allowed to drift off to the SW. What happens when Flood, Manu and AA are all out with England (a possibility!)?? 
