NIQ out:
George
AJ
Heenan (becoming IQ)

NIQ in:
Boshoff

I make that one project and one full NIQ

Agreed.

Think this squad are three marquee signings (Irish and NIQ) away from being a good champions cup squad that can ship a few injuries.

Loosehead - We've seen the weakness there now. Depth.
Second Row - Such a pity Craig Clarke never worked out.
8 - Need a considerable influencer on a game here I feel. Jack Conan would be great from an Irish perspective.

Think we have quite good and exciting cover everywhere else really.

How many NIQ spots to have have free going into next season?

Good player but the wages for someone of his experience is probably not where we are looking. We have buckley as first choice with bealham more than adequate cover. I don't think we'll see any more movement on signings in the front row.

I think we might see one more singing with a marquee second row possibly coming in possibly even NIE as we have a lot of youth there and a bit of experience might bring them on.

Alex Corbisiero anyone?

Think he is a smashing player. Probably would be seen as hindering Buckley's development, more than being a needed signing?

He got a great all round game though and would fit the type of player we would want I would think.

I think he would help move Buckley on and strengthen us no end.

sligsup wrote: tThat\'s brilliant Phat I think he was the one who called him Chubby Kid from Michaels also - you should copy and paste your post on their forum to stir it up.

No point unfortunately - there are none so blind as those who will not see. Tbh sometimes if we've not had a derby or a transfer story for a while, I start to think maybe these leinster lads aren't so bad, we're all part of the one project ... couple of minutes on that forum quickly changes my mind. They are woefully entitled and one eyed, its not hard to see why they're the team that every province ups their game for.

It is even funnier if you read it in a Ross O'Carroll-Kelly accent :silly:

Let them eat cake and Fock Off!

Decadence wrote:

Is there any way we can get compensation for producing young players who subsequently move away.

Depending on how long they spend in our sub academy/academy we should get a linked payment if they make X senior appearances and international debuts and at milestone numbers of caps.

:huh: :pinch: :lol:

Oh dear, Oh dear.

Is there any way we can get compensation for producing young players who subsequently move away.

Depending on how long they spend in our sub academy/academy we should get a linked payment if they make X senior appearances and international debuts and at milestone numbers of caps.

:huh: :pinch: :lol:

They're having some melt down over on Babbling Brook alright. It's hilarious. The Robbie thread is a model of stoicism in comparison.

Some highlights from the supporters of the club with, I dunno, ten, fifteen, centrally contracted players who delighted in taking the first player we've managed to develop to that level:

If he were shafting us for the benefit of the national team we'd bite the pillow and think of Ireland and get on with it. He isn't though. We spend a lot of money on the academy to provide a stream of talent for Leinster and Ireland. Not Munster, not Ulster, and not Connacht.

I wonder is there any nuclear button in Leinster Rugby where Mick is thinking "fuck this, lets take this private and see what the IRFU can do about it"

i think it's more likely we will see the death of leinster rugby as we know it, instead turning it into a bastardised version that has been weakened massively in order to prop up the other provinces, if we aren't already at that point.

Is there any way we can get compensation for producing young players who subsequently move away.

Depending on how long they spend in our sub academy/academy we should get a linked payment if they make X senior appearances and international debuts and at milestone numbers of caps.

If leinster's greatest strength, it's player base and ability to produce players is weakened for the benefit of our main competitors how is that a good thing?

tThat\'s brilliant Phat I think he was the one who called him Chubby Kid from Michaels also - you should copy and paste your post on their forum to stir it up.

The normally fairly polite and reserved Dementedmole/hugonaut is being rather snippy regarding Kelleher since the move was announced. For divilment I thought I'd have a quick google and see if I could find any quotes from the former on the latter prior to this.

In Jan 2015 he wrote:
'He's blowing the doors off this season for the A's. Getting a good few tries for Lansdowne in the AIL as well. Definitely deserving of a start in the next Pro12 game'

April:

'everything I've see in the B&I Cup from Cian Kelleher [in his first year of the academy] indicates to me that he's ready for the Pro12.'

In June he said:
'Kelleher getting the nod for the Wolfhounds and Emerging teams showed how highly he's rated outside Leinster. Whatever position you want to play him in the outside backs, he can be a threat with the ball in hand. Again, I'd have no worries at all about him playing in the Pro12. I don't expect him to blow the doors off every time he gets the ball, but he's got pace, balance and all the confidence in the world.'

June again:
'Cian Kelleher getting the nod for the Irish side against the Baabaas looked to me like a confirmation of how his potential is viewed and a bit of a rebuke to O'Connor for not giving him a proper run in the Pro12 after such a stand-out B&I Cup campaign.'

What's the phrase, you always hurt the ones you love? I'm not saying Kelleher is the next Henshaw by any means, but I just think its hilarious how many Leinster fans are losing the rag about this transfer and trying to convince everyone (including themselves) that they didn't want him anyways.

Darragh wrote: It will also mean we will lose players to this model also.

Absolutely, but if it's a case of use-em-or-lose-em for young players, I'd expect us to come out ahead of the other provinces.

I think it's the way the game needs to go in this country. We just don't have enough teams to go around and sadly, Leinster will always be up front because of the socio-economic and populations advantages.

I really hope to see more of this, all ways. It will also mean we will lose players to this model also.

salmson wrote: Marmion and Henshaw are good examples of what Leinster could have done but I believe Robb, Masterson, and several others were only ever on two-year academy deals rather than the three year deals that were standard in all the provinces in the past.

There were increases in academy pay (from practically nothing to not very much) and changes in duration (year-to-year rolling) announced recently by Nucifora which mean young players moving province could happen more readily in the future.

I did wonder about the affect on the academy guys especially the year 3 guys of Kelleher being parachuted into a full contract, i guess the fact they'll be recieving an xtra 4000 euros a year next year would help.

Ah, I knew Shane Delahunt was on a 2-year Academy contract, didn't realise Peter Robb was