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Reds 2020

B

Bobby Sands

Guest
what happened to that gun young winger from UQ? Was a start at school (Terrace) and chased by league? Thought he had some sort of contract. I remember him scoring a cracking hattrick for UQ in a final at Ballymore a couple of years ago.

Will Eadie I think?

Too much party.
 

The Nomad

Bob Davidson (42)
That's when our Commander in Chief " might" open the border.

Of course she will um and uh a fair bit , say something incoherent that is a mixture of three thoughts at once but doesn't really mean anything and then claim all as a stunning victory for her brilliant leadership through these troubled times and congratulate Qlders for social distancing and following her direction to the letter of the law when something finally does actually happen.
 

Cancelled Account

Desmond Connor (43)
With an uncertain broadcast deal and Australian rugby not financially sustainable maybe the ‘Picone 3’ were the clever ones. Playing abroad for 1 or 2 years would equate to possibly 6 - 10 years playing in Australia in its current climate. We all begrudged the three but I’m sure we will welcome them back in the coming years. Not ideal for the Reds when we were starting to see some traction with these three.
 

PhilClinton

John Hipwell (52)
Very interesting. I think everyone assumed when the news first broke that the three would be signing overseas.

Then there was a period where it was strongly suggested Rodda would be keeping his RA contract and signing with another franchise. Then we even had the comments about him possibly doing a backflip and staying with the Reds after Thorn's comments to the media. Sounds like some of that stuff was being filtered through by Rodda's party to help save some face.

I think in the end we should have called a spade a spade.
 

Ignoto

John Thornett (49)
With an uncertain broadcast deal and Australian rugby not financially sustainable maybe the ‘Picone 3’ were the clever ones.

RA had already announced that any player who was to lose $200k due to COVID was to be given the opportunity to have a sabbatical period (currently 6 months, but I'm sure you could negotiate 12-18 months easily) to make up that lost cash.

They were encouraged and told they could play in Europe without any ramifications. BUT some how that wasn't good enough for Piccone or his amigos.
 

Cancelled Account

Desmond Connor (43)
Very interesting. I think everyone assumed when the news first broke that the three would be signing overseas.

Then there was a period where it was strongly suggested Rodda would be keeping his RA contract and signing with another franchise. Then we even had the comments about him possibly doing a backflip and staying with the Reds after Thorn's comments to the media. Sounds like some of that stuff was being filtered through by Rodda's party to help save some face.

I think in the end we should have called a spade a spade.
Yeah, the writing was on the wall. However it has played out, let’s hope they only get better and return to the Reds in a couple of years with the experience and more to offer Australian rugby. We are short of locks in the game, and can’t deny that Rodda and Hockings are valuable.
 

PhilClinton

John Hipwell (52)
Agreed, and its time to let it go and move on with the squad we have.

Whether or not they ever come back, I do think their legacies in Australian rugby, along with Kerevi's will always have a shadow hanging over them. No one outside Picone's circle of trust, and the players own families/friends will ever really know how it all played out and the true reasons behind it, but it's left a sour taste in everyone's mouth.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
Agreed, and its time to let it go and move on with the squad we have.

Whether or not they ever come back, I do think their legacies in Australian rugby, along with Kerevi's will always have a shadow hanging over them. No one outside Picone's circle of trust, and the players own families/friends will ever really know how it all played out and the true reasons behind it, but it's left a sour taste in everyone's mouth.

No. No shadow. Moved on, yes. Disappointing, yes. Shadow? Nup.
 

Sully

Tim Horan (67)
Staff member
Yeah, I've moved on from Nathan Sharp.
I've moved on from Wendall.
I've moved on from Berrick.
I've moved on from Stephen Moore.
I've moved on from Will Genia.

Everything is going to be F.I.N.E.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
RA had already announced that any player who was to lose $200k due to COVID was to be given the opportunity to have a sabbatical period (currently 6 months, but I'm sure you could negotiate 12-18 months easily) to make up that lost cash.

They were encouraged and told they could play in Europe without any ramifications. BUT some how that wasn't good enough for Piccone or his amigos.
It's really hard to blame Piccone. How many players does he represent? Seems to me like these players were unwilling to cop their fair share of the societal Covid-19 burden, and were more interested in maintaining their (very high) income levels than representing their country.

I think Piccone's comments are PR management. Deflecting some of the blame for the fucking shit decision to bail on club and country because of a few dollars onto RA if at all possible. His job is to represent each client's interests, providing advice where required. He doesn't decide what their interests are.

I personally don't think any of these players should ever be offered a cent by RA again.
 

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
Yeah, I've moved on from Nathan Sharp.
I've moved on from Wendall.
I've moved on from Berrick.
I've moved on from Stephen Moore.
I've moved on from Will Genia.

Everything is going to be F.I.N.E.

Respectfully Sully I can't agree with that type of happy complacency when 3 very fine young Reds players want out, and went out. Tell that to the QRU's solvency-checkers when virtually every year since 2013 Reds' crowds and Foxtel numbers have consistently and badly declined.

We now have (real numbers, not with seagulls included) Reds crowds of not much more than ~ 7-8,000 or so per home game. And when Thorn's w-l hard numbers are still way under 50% in this 3rd term.
 

Cancelled Account

Desmond Connor (43)
It's really hard to blame Piccone. How many players does he represent? Seems to me like these players were unwilling to cop their fair share of the societal Covid-19 burden, and were more interested in maintaining their (very high) income levels than representing their country.

I think Piccone's comments are PR management. Deflecting some of the blame for the fucking shit decision to bail on club and country because of a few dollars onto RA if at all possible. His job is to represent each client's interests, providing advice where required. He doesn't decide what their interests are.

I personally don't think any of these players should ever be offered a cent by RA again.
Get what you’re putting down. But realistically we bloody don’t even know if there is going to be a professional comp in 2021. Where’s the money coming from? If the broadcast deal drops below $20M and investors don’t come through then we’re screwed. If that’s the case then we will see a mass exodus starting in September when Job Keeper finishes. Rodda, Hockings and Lucas might have caught the early train.

I was pissed at the three initially, but realised they had a hard decision to make and they took the option with less risk based on the financial position of RA. Of course we’ll take them back, they’re Reds boys. We took JOC (James O'Connor) back.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
Get what you’re putting down. But realistically we bloody don’t even know if there is going to be a professional comp in 2021. Where’s the money coming from? If the broadcast deal drops below $20M and investors don’t come through then we’re screwed. If that’s the case then we will see a mass exodus starting in September when Job Keeper finishes. Rodda, Hockings and Lucas might have caught the early train.

I was pissed at the three initially, but realised they had a hard decision to make and they took the option with less risk based on the financial position of RA. Of course we’ll take them back, they’re Reds boys. We took JOC (James O'Connor) back.
Yeah, they've jumped off a sinking ship to save themselves without a second thought for the rest left behind. Fuck em.
 

drewprint

Colin Windon (37)
Like it or not the three of them just didn’t consider the optics. The timing was horrible; we’d just gone through a huge drama around a RUPA negotiated pay cut, along with a large number of support and admin staff being payed off entirely. Rodda was even added to the select list permitted to seek a short term contract OS. And yet in what felt like an instant after the announcement of group sacrifice for the survival of the game, the three call quits. Combine that with the well publicised tantrum Rodda had with missing out on the captaincy, and you’ve walked yourself into a PR disaster. Not that it would worry Piccone in the slightest.
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
With an uncertain broadcast deal and Australian rugby not financially sustainable maybe the ‘Picone 3’ were the clever ones. Playing abroad for 1 or 2 years would equate to possibly 6 - 10 years playing in Australia in its current climate. We all begrudged the three but I’m sure we will welcome them back in the coming years. Not ideal for the Reds when we were starting to see some traction with these three.

Not according to The Australian which suggests Rodda signed for less then what his pre-COVID contract was worth.
Understand they had taken a 60% pay reduction so now this French contract might be worth twice as much as his Australian one, but that 60% reduction is supposed to be reviewed in July?

Long story short, at best the contract is worth twice as much as what he could have earned in Australia after the 60% pay cut and that’s assuming that pay cut isn’t reduced or lifted in coming months.
 
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