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Aussie Player Exodus

T

Train Without a Station

Guest
Indeed. And that's where the potential opportunities outside their contract come into it. A player with a good profile can transition from rugby to coaching, media and corporate opportunities.

Your post rugby opportunities are diminished when you are in a small French town with no industry barring from rugby.

The above mentioned opportunities are also less when you go overseas for a few years and your profile subsequently diminishes.
 
en_force_er

en_force_er

Geoff Shaw (53)
Train Without a Station said:
Indeed. And that's where the potential opportunities outside their contract come into it. A player with a good profile can transition from rugby to coaching, media and corporate opportunities.

Your post rugby opportunities are diminished when you are in a small French town with no industry barring from rugby.

The above mentioned opportunities are also less when you go overseas for a few years and your profile subsequently diminishes.
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I strongly disagree. One of the most common paths into professional coaching for Australians that when they join their overseas club they slowly pivot into coaching, then they move up the ranks of that club, then they move back to Aus and start as a Super Rugby assistant coach and work their way up here.

Richard Graham and Michael Cheka both took this route. As did Rod Kafer, but he was not a fan.
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
I guarantee a club you play 10 seasons for will be much more accommodating in transitioning you into a coaching role, and also more lenient in their assessment of you than a club you have been a high paid mercenary for.

Some players are suited to it and move into it due to ability. That will always happen. Some are given the opportunity to. That's where loyalty comes into it.
 
en_force_er

en_force_er

Geoff Shaw (53)
Train Without a Station said:
I guarantee a club you play 10 seasons for will be much more accommodating in transitioning you into a coaching role, and also more lenient in their assessment of you than a club you have been a high paid mercenary for.

Some players are suited to it and move into it due to ability. That will always happen. Some are given the opportunity to. That's where loyalty comes into it.
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Only one of our current Super Rugby coaches have been legends of the game at the team they coach. Also, after a wiki search add Foley to the list of players who got his coaching going once he went overseas.

I don't 100% disagree with your theory but there are plenty of cases of otherwise, I'd argue playing loyalty doesn't really point towards opportunities coaching later on in MOST circumstances.
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
en_force_er said:
Whilst I don't disagree with you I will say you can play the long game, athletes can't.

Their window is small. They can settle down into a better work/life balance in their late 30s when they are sorting their way into the working world.
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They're still human. And we're not necessarily talking work/life balance here, as I'm pretty sure we're all aware that rugby requires some long hours for the professional.

In addition, deriving a work/life balance as a 30-something professional, while still having a similar time commitment, might not appeal either. Consider raising your kids in a foreign land away from the rest of your family, or your partner's feelings in doing that.

Professional players aren't just about the money. They may want the drive to pursue particular goals in a given environment e.g. win this title, play this many games, work with this coach, etc.

Once their financial needs are being adequately met, they need to look beyond just the money. Clearly, if a given organisation won't meet their minimum $$$ requirement then they'll start looking elsewhere.

I suspect this is the case with Kane, where his Test payments could have made up the shortfall, but with no guarantees, and recent history being a guide, he decided to take the risk on a foreign contract for a couple of years.

I think the motivations for going overseas extend well beyond a simple dollar argument.
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
May get some older players leave due to feeling they accomplished their career goals and may look at relaxing in France on good money.

Conversely, the success may encourage others to stay.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
For instance, so much success in the NRL seemed to contribute to Folau leaving. Not only was he offered a ridiculous amount of money to play AFL, he had won a premiership, won several State of Origins, played for Australia etc. etc. Essentially there wasn't a lot more to achieve. The same can be said for Karmichael Hunt.

If he's heavily driven by achievement, perhaps winning the RWC would make him more inclined to go and try something new (like trying to win Heineken Cup/Top 14). That said, I'd be pretty happy if winning the RWC was the reason he went to France.
 
fatprop

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
OK

This is a bit from PR on wages (a SA article). If accurate it puts some context, it means Jonny was on 9,700,000.00 ZAR or 963,307.00 AUD

The current Top 10 best rugby earners in the world - via Die Burger:
1. Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon - R9.7m per year)
2. Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro - R9m per year)
3. Bryan Habana (Toulon - R8.7m per year)
4. Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne - R7.5 per year)
5. Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse - R7.5m per year)
6. Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing Metro - R7.1m per year)
7. Carl Hayman (Toulon - R7.1m per year)
8. Bakkies Botha (Toulon - R7.1m per year)
9. Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro - R6.9m per year)
10. Matt Giteau (Toulon - R6.9m per year)
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So Folau getting $2 mil? nah
 
Tex

Tex

Greg Davis (50)
fatprop said:
OK

This is a bit from PR on wages (a SA article). If accurate it puts some context, it means Jonny was on 9,700,000.00 ZAR or 963,307.00 AUD



So Folau getting $2 mil? nah
Click to expand...

Maybe not $2m, but he would beat anyone on that list by significant biscuits on an open market (IPL bidding system, for example).
 
BDA

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
Dan Carter might win you more titles, but he doesn't have the entertainment factor of Folau. Having watched both of them play live many times I can say that Folau is without a doubt the most exciting player I have ever seen (in person) play rugby.

It's all about bums on seats. I'm more than happy to fork out another $300 to see Folau play again when the Bledisloe rolls around.
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
I'd argue in the French market the bums on seats factor is less of a gain then hear, as those seats are already full.
 
Tex

Tex

Greg Davis (50)
I know it's apples and oranges, but go through that list and compare.

1. Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon - R9.7m per year) Retired.
2. Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro - R9m per year) Young quality player, goal kicker.
3. Bryan Habana (Toulon - R8.7m per year) Still scoring tries but closer to the end of his career.
4. Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne - R7.5 per year) Quality playmaker, goalkicker.
5. Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse - R7.5m per year) Obvious quality but closer to the end.
6. Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing Metro - R7.1m per year) Ok hooker but never dominated at international level.
7. Carl Hayman (Toulon - R7.1m per year) Close to the end of his career.
8. Bakkies Botha (Toulon - R7.1m per year) Still quality but close to retirement.
9. Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro - R6.9m per year) Quality player, less impact than earlier years
10. Matt Giteau (Toulon - R6.9m per year Quality, but close to the end, goalkicker.
 
Tex

Tex

Greg Davis (50)
Add in the marketing face, his age and the amount of improvement he's still got in him, I reckon he'd be top of that list .
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
Only one of those players is a back 3 player. Majority either play in the tight five or are goal kickers. Gives an indication of what positions they value.
 
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