Australian Rugby / RA

[Inside Shoulder]

Spiro has hit this nail on the head (and several others):
http://www.theroar.com.au/2018/02/1...+theroar/spiro-zavos+(The+Roar+-+Spiro+Zavos)
"Memo 3 to Raelene Castle: never ever agree to another contract like the one-sided, massively expensive deal that the ARU signed with David Pocock to pay him a huge amount of money not to play for the Wallabies in 2017, but allow him to play for the Japanese Top League club Panasonic Wild Knights.
Pocock has come back from his Japanese stint with a dicey knee that needs to have an operation. He will be out of Super Rugby for about 12 weeks.
I know that David Pocock is a revered figure in Australian rugby but the contract he signed with the ARU was all about money. As simple and as obvious as that."

 

[Slim 293]

Spiro has hit this nail on the head

His own head?

 

[Braveheart81]

Amazing news that Australia's best rugby player signed a large contract that was all about the money.

 

[Sauron]

It’s incredible stuff- I’m really struggling coming to terms with a professional extracting as much compensation as possible for their labour. Really searing insight from Spiro.

 

[lou75]

I don't blame him for extracting as much compensation as possible, the stupidity lies with the RA - they let him take a sabbatical to rest the body and soul - then let him play in another comp and now he is unable to play for Aust comp at the moment. Seriously stupid.

 

[Braveheart81]

I don't blame him for extracting as much compensation as possible, the stupidity lies with the RA - they let him take a sabbatical to rest the body and soul - then let him play in another comp and now he is unable to play for Aust comp at the moment. Seriously stupid.

How much more do you think his RA contract would have had to have been for it to be exclusive and not allow him to play the season in Japan?

 

[James Pettifer]

I don't blame him for extracting as much compensation as possible, the stupidity lies with the RA - they let him take a sabbatical to rest the body and soul - then let him play in another comp and now he is unable to play for Aust comp at the moment. Seriously stupid.

I think that is the problem. He had 12 months off from Australian rugby and then as soon as he comes back gets the operation and misses the first month or two of Super Rugby. I admit I'm very cynical but Hard not to be cynical but he will still get paid from RA but probably wouldn't have been paid from Wild Knights if he had his surgery then.

 

[dru]

How much more do you think his RA contract would have had to have been for it to be exclusive and not allow him to play the season in Japan?

It is not a bad way to get a bloke back into form after a Sabatical, either. The result is very painful and was always a risk. Can the ARU do better? That's a question I am unlikely to answer in the negative, but I'm not sure that this situation was going to be much different than it is.

Plenty to kick ARU over without needing to extend the list with issues they are going to find justifiable.

 

[Braveheart81]

Put it this way. If he hadn't played the Japan season and then the wear and tear from the first half of the 2018 Super Rugby season resulted in him having surgery in May and he missed the test season, RA would be in a significantly worse place.

As it was an existing knee problem there will always be conjecture that he should have had surgery earlier, but you also have to assume that he was advised to just keep going on it and hope it improved. Unless you have something structurally broken in the knee, each surgery just removes more cartilage etc.

It seems reasonably likely that he was advised against having surgery until it got worse. It just so happened that the time it got worse was when he was playing in Japan so everyone then jumps to criticise RA for letting him play in Japan in the first place as part of his contract.

 

[mst]

I think that is the problem. He had 12 months off from Australian rugby and then as soon as he comes back gets the operation and misses the first month or two of Super Rugby. I admit I'm very cynical but Hard not to be cynical but he will still get paid from RA but probably wouldn't have been paid from Wild Knights if he had his surgery then.

For the record, it was McKellar who insisted he had surgery now instead of putting up with the niggle for the rest of the season. Pocock was ready and able to play.

I believe that as a result of his knee issues, its a degenerative condition that will require "maintenance" surgeries at times in the future. So if Spiro could Google he would understand that irrespective of where Pocock played, or not, he would need the surgery at some point. Its only the timing that is the variable.

Give Spiro say 3 months and the penny will drop that Poey will be fully fit for the Wallabies due to getting the surgery pre-season instead of post-season.

 

[Derpus]

Man Spiro is really one of the worst sports Journalists around. Adds nothing i say! I mean jees this conversation is three years old and only now does he have this (incorrect) revelation.

As Peter FitzSimons has written in the Herald: “Can I ask the obvious? If you are going to pay your finest footballer full-freight to take a break and freshen up, to effectively be paying him to rest, why would you allow him to pick up extra coin by playing a torrid season overseas, just before he gets back to you. What am I missing?

Clearly, they are all missing the fact that he wasn't paid the full amount he would have earned if he played three years out of three. We could have let him go and we might have been able to resign him a year later. OR we sign him for three years and ensure he returns to these shores after a money grab somewhere. We don't pay him in full for his year off, and we ensure the best 7 in the damn world returns to the Brumbies/Wallabies and not Europe.

 

[I like to watch]

Put it this way. If he hadn't played the Japan season and then the wear and tear from the first half of the 2018 Super Rugby season resulted in him having surgery in May and he missed the test season, RA would be in a significantly worse place.

As it was an existing knee problem there will always be conjecture that he should have had surgery earlier, but you also have to assume that he was advised to just keep going on it and hope it improved. Unless you have something structurally broken in the knee, each surgery just removes more cartilage etc.

It seems reasonably likely that he was advised against having surgery until it got worse. It just so happened that the time it got worse was when he was playing in Japan so everyone then jumps to criticise RA for letting him play in Japan in the first place as part of his contract.

That is the most generous view of the circumstances.
But at least it is arguable.
There's bigger fish to fry for any RA critics.
I'm just waiting for Raelene's first fuck up, for it to really kick off.
Again.
Be a shame if my pitchfork got rusty

 

[Froggy]

Rarely do this, but I actually agree with Spiro here. However, no doubt anything will be defended when St David of Pocock, patron saint of pilfers, is concerned.

 

[Quick Hands]

Amazing news that Australia's best rugby player signed a large contract that was all about the money.

But unfortunately didn't involve playing rugby in Australia - even though the ARU/RA was paying him. Aren't we lucky that rugby in Australia is so financially strong that we can afford to pay someone for a year to go and save the rhinos in Africa (a very worthy and noble cause I might add - but hardly the responsibility of the ARU)

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Yes I personally think paying $750k for Dave Pocock to go home see the family for a year and play his personal interests was total BS as rugby players have short life span and yes we don't have that sort of money for this sort of indulgence.

Pocock when he eventually gets on the field after surgery late in his paid time off needs to deliver lots given his age for a sport that suggests at most a couple more seasons for him at his peak powers and for someone like him who seems to have wider interests outside rugby.

Rant over....

 

[Sully]

OH FOR FUCK SAKES! He got paid fuck all for his year off. It was a two year contract spread over three years. But why the fuck deal with facts. Just keep spouting the same bullshit over and over again.

 

[cyclopath]

OH FOR FUCK SAKES! He got paid fuck all for his year off. It was a two year contract spread over three years. But why the fuck deal with facts. Just keep spouting the same bullshit over and over again.

 

[Quick Hands]

OH FOR FUCK SAKES! He got paid fuck all for his year off. It was a two year contract spread over three years. But why the fuck deal with facts. Just keep spouting the same bullshit over and over again.

Gee, you must be doing ok if $750,000 is considered to be "f**k all". To most of us that's a considerable sum of money for an employer to pay someone not to work for them.

I assume that these are the facts to which you refer?

David Pocock's gap year is Australian rugby's great big, expensive experiment.
The Australian Rugby Union has pulled out all the stops – and the very big bucks – to keep Australia's most influential player in the green and gold.
That includes a three-year deal, understood to be worth more than $4 million. In the sabbatical year he will take home in the region of $750,000 for three, one-hour meet and greets with individuals of the ARU's choosing.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...dsomely-for-his-year-off-20161202-gt2jkn.html

 

[Rebels3]

I don’t wanna get involved in this argument as I don’t know all the facts, but my mind is thinking the reported money doesn’t seem right

The math 3year deal $4mil

$4m (3yrs) - $750k (1yr) = $3.25m (2yrs)

$3.25m (2yrs) / 2 = $1.625m

That’s more than the top AFL and NRL player.

I highly doubt these figures are the real deal.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Gee, you must be doing ok if $750,000 is considered to be "f**k all". To most of us that's a considerable sum of money for an employer to pay someone not to work for them.



I assume that these are the facts to which you refer?



David Pocock's gap year is Australian rugby's great big, expensive experiment.

The Australian Rugby Union has pulled out all the stops – and the very big bucks – to keep Australia's most influential player in the green and gold.

That includes a three-year deal, understood to be worth more than $4 million. In the sabbatical year he will take home in the region of $750,000 for three, one-hour meet and greets with individuals of the ARU's choosing.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/why-the-aru-will-pay-wallabies-star-david-pocock-handsomely-for-his-year-off-20161202-gt2jkn.html

Sigh must be all a media beat up!