Podge57 wrote:

Podge57 wrote: Have to agree re difference between Marmion & Blade at the moment - perhaps he will improve with experience.

Blade plays with great energy and is quite fearless in his approach (great high ball take v Edniburgh) however tactically he needs to learn a lot - witness 3 horrible wasteful box kicks last Friday.

I would hold on to Cooney!

No box kicks from Blade last night (as far as I can remember).

In fairness I have to acknowledge he had a very good game! Well Done Caoilin!

Good man, not everyone is big enough to hold their hands up.

I would agree he had a very good game. In the second half he did slip into the old habit of wandering across the pitch a few steps before delivering the pass. This has the twin negative effect of giving the defensive line momentum and allowing them to smash the receiving player if they read it any way right (which happened on a number of occasions) and it also eats into the space available for the back to attack.
In the first half he was getting quick snappy wrist passes away which gave the forwards and backs a good chance to attack a defensive line which hadn't had a chance to set.

I think a number of the players really stood up with Heffernan my motm by a mile, I was delighted for him. If he brings all that aggression and passion to his performances this season he could really push on.

Indo says Pat spoke about Tom, Denis, and Matt after the game and all are out for abour eight weeks.

Podge57 wrote: Have to agree re difference between Marmion & Blade at the moment - perhaps he will improve with experience.

Blade plays with great energy and is quite fearless in his approach (great high ball take v Edniburgh) however tactically he needs to learn a lot - witness 3 horrible wasteful box kicks last Friday.

I would hold on to Cooney!

No box kicks from Blade last night (as far as I can remember).

In fairness I have to acknowledge he had a very good game! Well Done Caoilin!

Did any of ye spot there with the team announcement v Ulster media saying that Illi was a short term signing? I thought he was here for a decent spell, but short term sounds like a three month type of gig?

God i'd love a win tonight!!!

Fairly sure Pat said recruitment was ongoing after both Cannon and Ili were signed.

pinky wrote: Isn't this thread supposed to be about, like, signings and stuff?

Did Pat say recruitment is ongoing after signing Cannon? Do we think its possible for us to sign any more players or perhaps he had a skills coach in mind when he said it (which was before the Ellis decision was made public)?

Fair point. I should never have responded.

Signing off this forum. The title is "Connacht Squad 2016/2017" not "Who is the biggest fan". I wanted to get info on new signings.

I completely agree with everything you've said. This week the SRU announced that it will be putting a motion forward to it's members to vote on and if passed it will lead to Glasgow and Edinburgh being sold off into private ownership. Willing to bet there's more than enough billionaire rugby fans in Scotland to make both these clubs a force (Even more so in the case of Glasgow) to be reckoned with in the future. Anyway it's only ever going to get harder and harder to stay competitive in this new world of millionaire rugby and like everything else in life if you're not ahead of the game you've already lost.

I never attacked anybody, only defended myself and my right to an opinion right or wrong. sligsup has the right to argue and disagree with me all he likes but instead he chose to get personal and question my credentials as a true Connacht Supporter (Feel like I'm back in school now with all this he said he said stuff) but sometimes you have to follow the path your on and all that. My last word on this........... hopefully.

Ah lads let's keep things civil. We all want the same thing

For me last season was such a pleasure after all the hard years we had to endure to get to that point and I hate saying it but circumstances fell right for us that might never happen again. We got a good team together on and off the field, we got a good chunk of points on board while the World Cup was on and capitalised again during the 6 nations and we finished the year with huge momentum which saw us score some outstanding wins and we made memories that will live with supporters for the rest of our lives. For me the win in Edinburgh was one of the handful of moments you get in life that are truly special and you'll hold in your heart forever more.

To build on that was always going to be difficult. All the major sides look re-focused this year and the likes of Cardiff are rising from their slumber too. The rugby landscape has changed hugely in the last few years though. Pro 12 is no longer a distraction its the main show in town for every team now. No Pro 12 team is going to win the European Cup in the near future at least. If 1 or more make the quarter finals it'll be about the height of it. Champions of the Pro 12 3/4 years ago would have opened a lot of doors for us but really we don't have the finances to offer the sort of money others can.

We are getting there in terms of our revenue streams but for a business that struggled for a long time to be commercially viable, off the field it was always going to be difficult to change the mindset from a survival focus to one where we want to be challengers every year in the Pro 12 and make progress in Europe. It was very disappointing to see us fail to land adequate replacements for a couple of big losses during the summer and as they say if you are standing still you are going backwards. The experience we have lost between departures and retirements are a heavy burden to bear. A lot of experience and key leaders have departed.

I am a bit worried for the future but we're still in a much healthier position than at any stage since the game went professional. However, we're still a province with a small playing base and population. Despite our success last year and it's going to get harder and harder as more money flows into the game. It'll get to a point soon where the Unions in the Pro 12 will have to either get serious about matching the extraordinary money being thrown about in France and England or let the league decline further. We will be bottom of the pecking order undoubtedly so we need to up our game to ensure we can stand on our own two feet insofar as possible.

Isn't this thread supposed to be about, like, signings and stuff?

Sligsup is a valued contributor here too so no need to keep attacking him.
Let it lie, he is entitled to his opinion too and I don't think supporters being over sensitive and attacking each other over very little is going to help anything.

We are not in a great place as a club and everyone will have different reasons for that and different ideas on how it should be handled now but what we all have in common is the best interests of the club so let's agree to be civil and respect each others posts regardless of if we agree or not.

Thank's for the word's of support but unfortunately I think they're wasted on sligsup. I'm willing to bet I'm going to the sportsground a hell of a lot longer than this guy but that fact as you pointed out is totally irrelevant. Connacht rugby like most of you is as vital to me as drawing breath. Illness gave me a lot of dark days over the past decade and Connacht was one of the few things able to drag me out of the darkness. I've nothing but the best interests of Connacht rugby at heart everytime I contribute anything to any topic. I stand by everything I've said and welcome constructive criticism anytime as long as it's constructive i.e. tell me why my opinions and incorrect and don't throw a 2 year old's tantrum like sligsup. If what I say turns out to be wrong then I'll be the first to admit it.

I don't think RoadRunnerR1 is being negative he is just discussing very relevant issues and how best to address them which will really benefit Connacht Rugby in the long game. Evogeo is right we are all Connacht supporters who simply want long term continued success for them.

I've been a season ticket holder for many's ayear sligsup and was going to games even further back than my first season ticket. I still have most of those tickets lying around if you'd like to see them. The only home games I've missed in the last 10 years have been due to unavoidable spells in hospitable due to a long term illness. If you'd have as much fight in you for the real enemy you wouldn't need to go round manufacturing one all of your own.