rossie wrote:
players i think cud do a job for us and prob wont get much game time there for forseeable future are

1. john ryan, age 22 and can play both sides. behind botha and archer(who appears to be the new chosen one)and andress if he comes.(ive seen borlase and hes another rodney imo). saw ryan in 2nd half against ulster and looked good. highly rated as scrummager by munster fans as well. with brett and locks at LH and locks and rodgers at TH with a few coming on from the youth team i woulnt be mad on getting an average props. save our money and get a decent one

2. scott deasy, aged 22 and can play anywhere in backline and is a reliable goal kicker for their b+i team. he cud slot in on wing of full back and take resp for kicking which mite help take pressure of our o/h options who are struglin in this area particulary and are contracted for next season. alot of talk about him years ago but got injured and little talk of him since

3. sean scanlon, age 22 and a very exciting runner and can play wing as well as fullback. we have plenty of backs, jarvis, toh, duffy are all full backs

4. peter stringer, enuf said. yes he would add to us

with the rumour machine running into over drive in relation to munsters targets for next season and there seemingly being a lot of substance to some of them maybe we should look at some of their up and coming players to strengthen our squad.

they appear to on the brink of signing tommy bowe, james downey and casey lualala and are also linked with rhys ruddock and john andress which if tru will curtail opportunities for a lot of their b+i team which is quite good.

players i think cud do a job for us and prob wont get much game time there for forseeable future are

1. john ryan, age 22 and can play both sides. behind botha and archer(who appears to be the new chosen one)and andress if he comes.(ive seen borlase and hes another rodney imo). saw ryan in 2nd half against ulster and looked good. highly rated as scrummager by munster fans as well.

2. scott deasy, aged 22 and can play anywhere in backline and is a reliable goal kicker for their b+i team. he cud slot in on wing of full back and take resp for kicking which mite help take pressure of our o/h options who are struglin in this area particulary and are contracted for next season.

3. sean scanlon, age 22 and a very exciting runner and can play wing as well as fullback.

4. peter stringer, enuf said.

Shane Horgan lost his recently if I remember correctly don't know who got it. As for Carr I rate him but according to Kidney he lacks in 'defensive qualities'. It don't matter that he's the most attacking winger we have with pace to match.

Paddy Wallace?

simpleton wrote: Where then does this leave Connacht and Connacht players who wish to progress to international level.

If we go by the logic that a central contract all but guarantees selection then if there were 7 fewer central contracts that leaves the selectors greater flexibility in whom they select. In theory it could actually help Connacht players. But of course Kidney is not selecting the same players time and again simply because they're centrally contracted.

salmson wrote:

simpleton wrote: Does an Irfu central contract garuantee a players selection in squads barring injury?

Don't know, but if the management say give someone a central contract then turn around and don't pick him they'd look a bit nuts, to put it mildly.

simpleton wrote: I was very surprised to note paddy Wallace having hiscentral contract extended last month.

There's always plenty of politics here. Ulster have only a handful of central contracts (Ferris, Best, Trimble, Court) while the rest are divided between Munster and Leinster. Ulster would have been well pissed off if they'd lost one.

That's kind of the point I was getting at salmson, you put it better though.

If the finances of ulster and by extention the other two as well are based around the number of central contracts, and centrally contracted players must be picked ( or as you put it they all look nuts) then who is actually picking the squad.
Also if the number if central contracts are reduced then the Irfu will have to increase funding to bridge the gap.

Where then does this leave Connacht and Connacht players who wish to progress to international level.

simpleton wrote: Does an Irfu central contract garuantee a players selection in squads barring injury?

Don't know, but if the management say give someone a central contract then turn around and don't pick him they'd look a bit nuts, to put it mildly.

simpleton wrote: I was very surprised to note paddy Wallace having hiscentral contract extended last month.

There's always plenty of politics here. Ulster have only a handful of central contracts (Ferris, Best, Trimble, Court) while the rest are divided between Munster and Leinster. Ulster would have been well pissed off if they'd lost one.

Does an Irfu central contract garuantee a players selection in squads barring injury?

Also who are the centrally contracted players? There are 30 at present and suggestions that this number will be reduced to 23 soon.

I think it would be very informative to know who they are and to discuss the merits of who loses their central contract. I was very surprised to note paddy Wallace having hiscentral contract extended last month.

ummm, wrote: Kidney has no incentive to try new players. He doesn't have a contract to the next RWC so it's not in his interests to blood new talent. If he can do well in the next two 6N that's all he cares about now.

Indeed, but his paymasters should be demanding more especially given how much money is being spent on the professional in Ireland. We should be at all times maximising our resources and the return from them and that means constantly looking. It's the area where I most respect th Kiwi's, there's no problem in dropping an established player if there a young buck delivering more...

Kidney has no incentive to try new players. He doesn't have a contract to the next RWC so it's not in his interests to blood new talent. If he can do well in the next two 6N that's all he cares about now.

connachtexile wrote: The simple fact about Carr is that Kidney doesn't rate him it's that simple. Remember last season when he wasn't picked for the A's and only got in when someone else had to cry off? He won the MOM in that Game! It was only out of sheer embarrassment by Kidney that he chosen for the A game after. No I'm afraid Carr won't play for Ireland until Kidney goes regardless off who he plays for.

I certainly would't use Kidney or his predecessor as an arbiter of talent...

• *Mushy [A prop who can't scrummage at ML level but get's 25 International Caps],
• *Mick O'Driscoll - If Mick O'Driscoll is so good how come it's only Munster fans that believe he would imprpve Connacht if he signed...
• *Tomas O'Leary - back in the Wolfhounds again, has he suddenly improved?

are all cases in point.

There is no motivation to improve, instead they are trying to maintain the status quo and so we see the same faces trotted out each squad announcement...

The simple fact about Carr is that Kidney doesn't rate him it's that simple. Remember last season when he wasn't picked for the A's and only got in when someone else had to cry off? He won the MOM in that Game! It was only out of sheer embarrassment by Kidney that he chosen for the A game after. No I'm afraid Carr won't play for Ireland until Kidney goes regardless off who he plays for.

It's not the first time he's had that kind of attention and he's probably sick of hearing it. Ever stop to think on the day the Ireland squad was announced he might have been a bit down at not getting in? Not the end of the world, he got cranky is all.

Move on folks. Nothing to see here.

Wouldn't worry about the reactions of Carr, it was a fair comment Cows. Very precious from Carr to take offence and Cronin to weigh in as well. Very very precious

sea_point wrote: The what other fans do is worse than me argument eh? Ah sure that's grand then, plough ahead so.

That last bit is totally irrelevant as I didn't question the authenticity of your support, just the focus of your energies...

It wasnt the arguement I was aiming to make, but I can see why you read it that way.
What I said to Fionn Carr and Jamie Hagan on twitter was how I felt. I stand by what I said. What other fans say and feel is their own opinion, and nothing to do with me.
I also stand by tweet to Fionn Carr, saying he has done well with Leinster so far. I never said anything about who he is. If he has a problem with what I said, thats on him.

For what its worth, I dont think he'll ever come back to Connacht, regardless of what I say, or have said. I imagine he'll be playing in England or Scotland next season.

Apart from one or two comments on here, nearly all my energy has been spent supporting the team, trying to stay positive about results, and attempting to build up hype for games. If you have a look back through my posts on here, the majority are about the team, about future games, and about trips.

We're not going to agree on anything here, so I'll stop wasting my energy on our differences of opinion

ConnachtCows wrote:

sea_point wrote: Supposedly is the key word, and who supposedly said there was supposedly some involement from Nacewa? It's all complete speculation without a shred of evidence or proof to back it up, and is some petty crap that does not present Connacht Supporters in a good light especially when it's trotted out any time the guys name is mentioned...

Well I've heard enough from people in better positions than most on this forum.
Also, what do you want from Connacht fans, for us all to agree on absolutely everything, so we look good? What benefit is that. Some people dont like Nacewa, and have every right to express their opinion.
I'm sorry you feel that this doesn't present Connacht supporters in a good light, but in all fairness, I'm not too bothered what fans of other teams think of me, and I really dont believe too many have ever visited this site

sea_point wrote: It is his choice his career, and any mistakes he makes are his to deal with. But did you ever think that he might feel he's playing well enough with Leinster (he is) to posssibly have warranted a Wolfhounds place anyway. And that pointing out to him that he's not involved is just being pretty petty. Pretty clear even to him (not being the brightest bulb in the box) what you were insinuating, especially adding Tiernan and Ronnie's names to the Tweet. He proabably shouldn't have responded though, Hago must have been better advised...

I don't get wasting energy harping on about percieved slights especially when the current squad need all our support...

Yes, I feel that Carr should have been in the Wolfhounds squad, and I also congratulated him a tweet on how well he has been playing for Leinster.
It may have been petty to point out he's not in the squad, but he's a professional athlete, and if he cant take critisism or slagging, that's his problem not mine. It reminds me of a Simpsons epside where Bart and Lisa are chanting "Daryl, Daryl" at a baseball player, who then starts crying.
I've heard a lot worse things said and cheered by the Connacht fans at matches.

Finally, I give all the support I can to Connacht. I make sure I get home for every single match I can. I've been to three away games this season already, and many more on previous years. I'm not trying to claim to be the number one fan, but please dont question my support to the team and players.

The what other fans do is worse than me argument eh? Ah sure that's grand then, plough ahead so.

That last bit is totally irrelevant as I didn't question the authenticity of your support, just the focus of your energies...