sea_point wrote: Chiefs defend themselves, bit nothing substantive to qualify their denial of the Clarke concussion figures...

TV NZ wrote: <strong>Clarke concussion figures wrong - Rennie</strong>
Published: 2:38PM Wednesday February 12, 2014 Source: ONE Sport / Newstalk ZB

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie has defended Chiefs medical staff over implications they took necessary risks with former captain Craig Clarke.

Former Taranaki skipper Clarke signed a three-year deal with Connacht after leaving the Chiefs in 2013 having secured their second Super Rugby title in two years.

He is out of rugby indefinitely after suffering what was claimed to be his 10th concussion in 22 months. But Rennie says those numbers are wrong, and imply the Chiefs medical staff haven't done a good enough job.

"I don't think it's accurate to be honest and it's suprising to hear that figure," he says.
"He had three (concussions) when he was here with us. The last one he was out for six weeks.
"We did everything by the book and there are other agencies outside of the organisation that assist players who are concussed."

Rennie is in his third season at the back-to-back defending champions and says players need to be concussion free before they return to play.

"Each player is on rugby medication and everything that happens to a player during the year is tracked so it's certainly an area that is stringent within New Zealand rugby," he says.
"We feel for him (Clarke), we hope that he comes right soon."

This is interesting as none of the Connacht medical staff were aware of any concussion from the Sarries game until they heard Lam's statement

Chiefs defend themselves, bit nothing substantive to qualify their denial of the Clarke concussion figures...

TV NZ wrote: Clarke concussion figures wrong - Rennie
Published: 2:38PM Wednesday February 12, 2014 Source: ONE Sport / Newstalk ZB

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie has defended Chiefs medical staff over implications they took necessary risks with former captain Craig Clarke.

Former Taranaki skipper Clarke signed a three-year deal with Connacht after leaving the Chiefs in 2013 having secured their second Super Rugby title in two years.

He is out of rugby indefinitely after suffering what was claimed to be his 10th concussion in 22 months. But Rennie says those numbers are wrong, and imply the Chiefs medical staff haven't done a good enough job.

"I don't think it's accurate to be honest and it's suprising to hear that figure," he says.
"He had three (concussions) when he was here with us. The last one he was out for six weeks.
"We did everything by the book and there are other agencies outside of the organisation that assist players who are concussed."

Rennie is in his third season at the back-to-back defending champions and says players need to be concussion free before they return to play.

"Each player is on rugby medication and everything that happens to a player during the year is tracked so it's certainly an area that is stringent within New Zealand rugby," he says.
"We feel for him (Clarke), we hope that he comes right soon."

There was a few comments about it in another thread. Terrible stuff allright.

Surprised so little has been posted about the announcement about Craig Clarke, a serious blow for the squad especially on the back of the Saracens result and given the few highs and many lows of this season already.

www.irishrugby.ie/provincial/29527.php#.UvUR9_l_u8w

Time for a few senior players to stand up......

Surprise, surprise, look who tops this list of The best pieces of business in the PRO12:


www.espnscrum.com/rabodirect-pro12-2013-...by/story/195935.html

I like it !!
Cowbells get the thumbs up from me !!

Cow bells are class! Going with the mooing

theCulk wrote: Cow bells, good luck that. How annoying would it be to be stood beside some lad with one of those? We are Connacht, not the Chiefs. Let's create our own atmosphere

May not work for you Culk, but that doesn't mean it's a bad idea...

Cowbells weren't first used by the Chiefs either, they've been used for decades at skiing events to lend support. The Austrians & Swiss use them at Footie matches, American sports teams have used them for decades also.

On the plus sides...

A smallish cowbell is a lot easier to ship around than a bodhran, you can just stick it in your pocket..

And the noise is less annoying than having some idiot right beside you shouting 80+ mins of bullhocks I would think..

Anything that ups the noise levels at the SG and makes the ground intimidating for opponents is all good...

Cow bells, good luck that. How annoying would it be to be stood beside some lad with one of those? We are Connacht, not the Chiefs. Let's create our own atmosphere

Was on to Waikato Rugby union and they can supply authentic cowbells (Mooloo bells) for NZD 20 each (approx 12€) plus mailing charge. If anyone is interested let me know. More importantly if you think its a ridiculous idea please let me know as well. Is this a worthwhile agenda item for clan AGM? or just misgiuided ramblings on my part?

I think we can honestly say that if he had been chosen to play for the All Blacks this year there would have been a lot of excited New Zealanders.
and the thing is connacht have made a great buy. And the influence that these type of players can have on younger squad memebers can't be coached. He's a born leader and you can be certain if any young squad member asked him for advice he would willingly sit down with them and speak to them as long as they are willing to sit and listen.
so we should be excited about having him.

clanman wrote:

Craic Head wrote: Great read, sums a lot up.

When does Craig Clarke actually arrive in Galway ?

I hear that he arrives on the 13th, i wonder will they give him the option of a run-out in the last 10 minutes of the Wasps game, Highly unlikely but you never know.

Only if he wants to, lot of admin/housepkeeping stuff to get out of the way when he arrives first though so probably not..

Craic Head wrote: Great read, sums a lot up.

When does Craig Clarke actually arrive in Galway ?

I hear that he arrives on the 13th, i wonder will they give him the option of a run-out in the last 10 minutes of the Wasps game, Highly unlikely but you never know.

a good read that, I mean the link to the article at the top of this thread

don't get me wrong it's great to have Clarke on our team for this season but I think I should remind people that just 1 player does not make a team, in fact if you look at some of the other players in that Chiefs side there are at least 5 or 6 that would walk into most National teams outside of New Zealand. We know what we can get from our older experienced players like Muldoon, Duffy, Wilkinson and Swift to name just a few and they put in solid performances week in week out for us, but where we need to find that bit extra this season is from the young guys, they need to step it up from last year. some of these guys are 2 and 3 years with the team and some only came into the squad in the last 12 months. I expect them to start delivering this season.

Great article indeed. If you consider 'who' could actually lead this team forward, there are not too many candidates that come to mind. So it will be difficult not to see him as captain and if it goes to someone else, it may well be an opportunity missed. This guy ooses leadership.

Nathan White, Dan Parks or Gavin Duffy seem the other contenders, but I would actually like to leave White to manage the front row and scrum.

Personally I want a forward as captain.

This is a big season for us and we have got to get one or two over our provincial rivals, improve or league position and dare i suggest top 5? and take a few scalps in the cup.

I no longer buy this crap that the other provinces are better. We have certainly thumped ulster and leinster on occasion.

Regardless of clarke, lam etc, the young players have got to deliver. now more than ever.