Brumbies still chasing dream signatures
By Karlis Salna, 27 May 2009 Karlis Salna is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- Brumbies, James OConnor, Rocky Elsom, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
The Brumbies are set to put together what would be a Super rugby dream team by signing Rocky Elsom and James O’Connor as the last two players on their roster.
With the Brumbies expected to finalise contracts with a number of existing players shortly, just two spots will still be up for grabs in the Brumbies’ 2010 roster, including one in the backline and another in the back row.
Those two spots have been reserved for Elsom and O’Connor.
While Elsom is rumoured to have agreed to terms, Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan said a deal had not yet been finalised.
“He’s obviously moving a little closer to making a decision … he knows what our position is,” Fagan said on Tuesday.
“He’s over here next week, obviously coming to play in that (Barbarians) game and I would suggest it may not be until then, that he wouldn’t make a decision until he’s actually in the country.”
“There’s no scheduled meeting at this stage.”
O’Connor is expected to make a decision within the next two weeks but is tipped to follow Matt Giteau and Josh Valentine to Canberra.
“We’ve spoken to his manager a few times and he’s indicated to us he’s probably a few weeks away from making a decision,” Fagan said.
“We’re comfortable with that and said we’d let him know if we needed an answer because of other discussions but we’re not at that point yet.”
The addition of Elsom and O’Connor, as well as Giteau, to a roster that already includes Wallabies Stirling Mortlock, George Smith and Stephen Moore, would go a long way to cementing the Brumbies as Australia’s strongest provincial team.
“They’re obviously weighing up what options are available to them and they’ll make the decision in their time,” Fagan said.
The signings would take the Brumbies squad to 31 and closer to their target of 30 which they have to meet by the end of next season under Australian Rugby Union guidelines.
The 31st position, however, belongs to Julian Huxley whose playing future remains uncertain after he underwent brain surgery last year to remove a tumour.
“We’re on target to be at 30 or 31,” Fagan said.
He said a final decision on Huxley’s future was yet to be made.
“We just really need to sit down – and we haven’t got a scheduled time – with some people from the ARU and Julian’s management to talk through where we are at and what he needs to do in order to gain the necessary approvals to resume playing.
“I imagine we’ll sit down over the course of the next month or so and work out what needs to be done.”
The existing players yet to re-sign include prop Guy Shepherdson, lock Mark Chisholm, back-rowers Mitchell Chapman and Peter Kimlin and wingers Francis Fanifo and Afusipa Taumoepeau.
Most are considered done deals but Chapman is likely to be shown the door if Elsom signs.
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May 28th 2009 @ 8:19am
Justin said | May 28th 2009 @ 8:19am | Report comment
Quite simply the only way to stop it is impose a cap. I think the AUS S14 teams currently have a maximum they can spend, however the ARU “tops up” Wallaby contracts. SO in essence it is the ARU that are allowing so many good players to go to one team.
So perhaps the ARU need to be more transparent and have a “top up cap” that each side cannot exceed.
Smith, Mortlock, Gits and Elsom would be in the top 6 or 7 paid players in the country. That is not right, and I am a Brumby supporter.
May 28th 2009 @ 8:22am
Frank said | May 28th 2009 @ 8:22am | Report comment
Well Even Looser,
Lets hope some of your advice sinks though to the num skulls in charge of the Waratahs……..
The biggest problem with NSWRU is there are to many cooks with there finger in the pie…..maybe just maybe after they loose there local hero they take a good hard look at themselves…….Then again we say this every year..
I think the brumbies and there supporters should proud of there club culture and organisational structure.
The club has some how turned cold Canberra into the premier rugby nursery in Australia…….i don’t know why or how this is happened……
May 28th 2009 @ 8:25am
Bonza said | May 28th 2009 @ 8:25am | Report comment
Interesting reverse psycology Even looser – That is an excellent first question – why is he looking at everything but the tahs?
I am not sure that the tahs have time to be “lazy” with their precarious financial position but you need to give Rocky some credit – Somehow he bucked the system and engineered a “sabatical” which the ARU denies but I cant see it being anything else. Now he will return, name his price, get the kitchen sink as well and probably pick up a S14 title with the Brumbies next year.
For me he is no dummy but I reckon he has been dealing with (or to) a few dummies
I think it will be no frills for the Tahs next year anyway as there wont be any cash
May 28th 2009 @ 12:54pm
Greg Russell said | May 28th 2009 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
To various of you: I don’t understand the minutiae of rugby contract dealings in Australia, but my impression is that there is a relatively small window of S14 salaries (something like $110-170k) and that the rest of the earnings come from the ARU. What this means is that once the big stars have signed with the ARU (for the money that keeps them in Australia), the differences in what they can pick up from the S14 franchises is just pocket money. Of course the Force were an exception to this, but we now know that all the extra money that players like Giteau and Mitchell were promised was “Monopoly money” (i.e., imaginary money) from a third-party sponsor who shot through. That is why so many players are leaving the Force: because now it’s clear that they can’t get any more money over there, and all things being equal they would prefer to be back on the eastern seaboard with families and friends. That is one factor that decides where players go.
The other would be “culture”, where by this word one would include a whole lot of things, like: ability to get away from the media, likelihood of winning, climate created by the coach and captain, and so on.
It’s interesting that a lot of players went to NSW while McKenzie was there and Waugh was captain, but now that McKenzie has gone and Waugh seems intent on running the team, the influx seems to have stopped. In terms of “culture” it should be obvious why players are reluctant to go to Qld, which leaves only the Brumbies. I don’t really know the first thing about whether Andy Friend is popular with his troops, but from looking at all the players trying to get in, one would have to assume that favourable word about him has spread around. And of course the players see a strong likelihood of doing well, and they see an absence of the Sydney media rubbish, and now they will see Gits is there, and so on. It all adds up, doesn’t it?
Given all the above one sees that the concept of salary cap is meaningless, because the vast majority of the money that is earned by the best players does not come from the S14 franchises but from the ARU, which does not place restrictions on where these players play their Super 14 rugby.
All this of course is nearly identical to Australian cricket. The major thing that drives player dispersal around the state cricket teams is desire to get an opportunity. For example, Jason Krejza couldn’t get games for NSW, so he want to Tasmania. So next year Matt Toomua will sit on the bench at the Brumbies and watch lesser 10s get to start at other franchises, and he’ll think “Why am I in Canberra?”
The only solution I can see would be autocratic control of player movement by the ARU, but I don’t think any of us see that as a solution (e.g. if they said to Rocky “You must play for Qld”, he’d probably stay in Ireland).
May 28th 2009 @ 1:16pm
Pippinu said | May 28th 2009 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Greg’s post sums up my understanding as well.
The point about culture is a good one. People might think it odd that “Canberra” would have a culture (in the broadest sense) that would attract rugby stars, but the evidence is irrefutable.
From humble beginnings (when a team was cobbled together from rejects and local players), the Brumbies, and rugby in Canberra, has come a long, long way.
If there is one city in Australia in which rugby is close to being the “code” of choice, Canberra is about as close to that as any other place in Australia, i.e. a large percentage of the population understand the game and if not necessarily prefer it to other codes, it’s right up there as their preferred code.
But paradoxically, Canberra remains a bit off the radar in terms of media attention – and that appeals to some players as well (not too dissimilar to plugger going to Sydney or players from the bush choosing to go to Geelong rather than the big smoke).
Finally, the evidence is there that the majority of players thrive playing their rugby in Canberra, especially so that it no longer counts against you for the Wallabies like it may have 15 years ago (even if the core of rugby administration in Australia still treats Canberra like some far away irrelevant dot on the map).
If the Brumbies can assemble a decent squad – good on ‘em!!!
May 28th 2009 @ 3:47pm
Tarpo said | May 28th 2009 @ 3:47pm | Report comment
Bonza,
I beleive Rocky doesn’t have an agent, he does all his own negotiating. If this is so he has demonstrated he is no dummy, combine this with his on field performances, he has the staure to take over fom Mortlock as skipper in the next year or so. Did he not captan Nudgee 1sts in his day? credentials there as well then.
May 28th 2009 @ 4:27pm
Big Steve said | May 28th 2009 @ 4:27pm | Report comment
As a NSW supporter I went to the NSW/ACT game this year. The “culture” seems to spread all the way from the top down through the media to the fans. The Canberra Times has lots of positive articles about the team. One good one was Moore being the last piece of the puzzle to the Brumbies having Australias best pack. I don’ think thats true but for people involved with the team it must be nice to read something positive.
The other was when Salvi came on off the bench everyone in the crowd cheers as he comes on. This has to help you get fired up to play well. In NSW when players that aren’t popular come on no one cheers, you just get comments like there goes the game etc. Its always so quiet.
My point is, maybe its not just the coaches players and administrators (who obviously have a big responsibility) in creating culture. Maybe the if the fans actually support the team, and the media wrote something positive from time to time you can effect who you recruit and how they play.
Maybe people in Sydney are too important to be positive at the Rugby.
May 28th 2009 @ 4:28pm
Hammer said | May 28th 2009 @ 4:28pm | Report comment
Can he jump tall buildings in a single bound as well ?
May 28th 2009 @ 4:38pm
Frank said | May 28th 2009 @ 4:38pm | Report comment
Good post Greg…… u summed it up nicely,
The impact of the Sydney media circus should not me underestimated, look what they did to Matt Burke in the twilight of his career, Matt Edmonds (Since leaving the waratahs has been one of Europe’s finest), Ewan Mackenzie ( arguably the their best ever coach, funny that he can trace his routes to the Brumbies).. this year the Circus has focused much of their attention on Kirtly Beal…i wonder what the future will hold for him…..
Also, I thick matt Toomua is the next Dan carter, a true team 5/8, not an individual…..His career will develop the best if he says at the brumbies….although I have not idea where he’ll fit in….
May 28th 2009 @ 10:47pm
Tahriffc said | May 28th 2009 @ 10:47pm | Report comment
Greg
I think you’ve identified a key aspect to success -RECRUITMENT. From what I can see to maintain success you need to continually replenish your team. (In soccer Alex Ferguson has maintained Man Utd at the top by constantly moving players on and recruting new talent. McKenzie seemed to do this as well – moving on the likes of Grey, Burke, Harrison, Whittaker, Cannon etc and replacing them with Hewatt, Kanaar, Pola Tanau, Burgess etc. Obviously not everyone he recruited was a success – but I do applaud him on his attitude to continually bring new talent in.
The concern I have with the Waratahs going forward is recruitment. Mitchell is an excellent acquisition – but I’m not aware of any others coming in. From what I can tell the team is very much still the same as in 2008. (less Sheehan, Norton-Knight).
Do we need to get more new players into the roster
Greg – do you have any statistics/comparisons for successful teams and their recruitment numbers over the years?