leinster are playing dirty, why wont we. stick it to them.
id imagine macca was on a nice deal here money wise, offered same as leinster on his new contract!
why dont we throw money at damien browne and get him home. will add nicely to the team and it will leave leinster a big stuck with second rows. browne is first choice this season.
leo (the donkey) cullen might retire this season, we take browne, leaves leinster with macca, toner, denton and quinn roux.

Word among my Leinster pals is that they're not thrilled with the decision either. They ahve been spoilt slightly with Big Bad Brad in the past. Due respect to Macca but Thorn was another story!

Slightly OT: What is it with Leinster and locks? www.irishrugby.ie/news/23933.php

Benji wrote: Swifty, Your being a bit unfair there. Some of them have stated that they arent happy with the move and understand the bad effect it will have on us.
Im sure you can go to any forum Munster Leinster or Connacht and get eejits that give their
views. I wouldnt even give them the time of day.

not all, but alot on the forum are

Re: Mike McCarthy will join Leinster next season
by fourthirtythree » December 12th, 2012, 1:45 pm

For those of you who haven't read the Connacht announcement here it is to marvel at its hypocrisy. Well done Connacht rugby! Despite being initially sympathetic I don't give a sh!t what you think about this any more you bunch of whiny hypocrites.

Diom wrote: I would imagine that if we do sign Cronin that he will fall further behind in the hooker rankings and will not have a central contract.

Really bad example. There are only 21 central contracts; no way does one get wasted on a player who is 3rd choice international hooker.

Swifty, Your being a bit unfair there. Some of them have stated that they arent happy with the move and understand the bad effect it will have on us.
Im sure you can go to any forum Munster Leinster or Connacht and get eejits that give their
views. I wouldnt even give them the time of day.

I think we need experience in whoever we sign. I would hope for somebody bigger the Flanagan (Who Leinster obviously don't see as their answer). We have enough young lads in the pack. I think we need somebody like parks in amongst them. I know people will say that swifty is experienced but as hard as it is to believe he is not going to go forever and I can see him winding down next year.

if anyone wants to know what leinster fans think of the move dont bother looking at there forum. there so far up there own ass.

they claim that were stealing leinster players. that we ''have nine former Leinster or Leinster [and Ireland] U20s in their senior squad''.

out of that 9, nathan white is the only player who left them that can be even called match day squad, behind irish international and in front of hagan, which they refuse to play unless ross and white wasnt fit/unavailable.

any leinster fans reading this cop the fuck on.
Matt Healy,- not sure where he came from but sure not a leinster 1st teamer
Kyle Tonetti,- came from sale?
Dave McSharry,- they refused to give him acedamy contract but claim we stole him. pricks
Paul O'Donohoe,- 3rd choice at leinster at best
Davey Moore, - came from quins. not leinster
Mick Kearney, - not sure
Dave Gannon, - exeter
Jason Harris-Wright- bristol and not leinster.

there the most ignorant pricks in the world. never notice munster fans acting like that when they were winning, they really think there intitled to everything.

There's also Mark Flanagan at Leinster - 6'7" and 19 stone, supposed to be handy enough but has only played a handful. Might be worth a look

Hayes has been Captaining Exeter for the last while - he had a good game for the Chiefs at the weekend when they turned over Llanelli. There doesn't seem to be loads of good locks out there at the minute; if Hayes was interested I'd take him in a heartbeat. Qualter has gone alright for us, Browne could be an option....another project player maybe?

Don't know much about Tom Hayes but he played well against Leinster a while back.
Would take Andrew Farley and/or Damian Browne back.

Ok the decision has being made and I wish Mike the best of luck , we all have moved on from jobs in source of greater money recognition success etc. And that's how we have to look at Mikes decision, my way of dealing with the news, am gutted but we need to move on.
Who would clan members like to see come in as a replacement. A lock is now priority imo.
As I stated from earlier I heard Tom Hayes name being mentioned from a colleague down south.

Another one in the wrong thread lads, but that's me being pedantic.

A few years ago they tried to poach him away but he stayed out of loyalty and let's face it, his own situation was a lot different than it is now. We had no Heineken rugby and he was a tackle bag holder in the Irish camp. Roll on to today and he'll have had 2 very successful campaigns in the Heineken Cup, along with some outstanding performances in high profile games. Add in the caps he's won and the MOTM against the boks. It was only a matter of time before he moved to bigger and better things. If he has any ambition to win medals, and what professional in their right mind doesn't, then I hold nothing against him for moving. I just hope he gives 100% for the rest of the sesason. I imagine he will

Diom wrote: There are a couple of points here:
3) IRFU - If a province in Ireland wants to hold onto a player at the same rate as another province is offering then why does the IRFU allow a move?

Do we know he was offered the same rate? He was offered a 'matching 3 year deal', but that might just mean the length of the contract was matched, not the cash. To be honest, we all know Leinster can offer more.

Diom wrote: 4) Central Contracts - The IRFU have never awarded a central contract to a Connacht player. This was a prime opportunity for them to put that record straight. Instead it strengthens the bias against Connacht when players are thinking about their future careers come contract renewal.

Macca has been great for us, but a handful of caps, gained because of injuries to others, isn't a basis for a central contract. There are few enough of them to hand out, and they need to go to true marquee players. Macca was never going to be offered one.

Great post Diom and fully agree with what has to be said there.

The thing that is obvious to me though is that Leinster got rid of Brad Thorn last year and signed no big name player who would be on similar money. They must have some cash remaining from a player like this, large gate receipts and after winning the Heineken cup.

From reading the articles it would appear to me that the contracts offered were similar from Connacht and Leinster. I heard from a source that the IRFU were not able to step in because it was a straight shoot out between two provinces. I feel he picked them over us.

Also a word about Tom Sears. I think he handled this very well. He made a pre emptive strike when it was first mentioned. He has now come out with a statement saying how unhappy he is but good luck to the player. I think he handled it all well and is proving to be a good man for the job.

Hopefully our recruitment is working hard to sign a name in the second row who can do a job for us.

Spot on Diom. Its hard to take as a Connacht supporter. It would have been a big thing for Connacht had we been able to hold onto him and for him to play regularly with Ireland not just holding tackle bags.

Great post, Diom.

Frustration abounds.