Blackadder gone native....
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@taniwharugby While I wouldn't argue with your points, that was not the argument I was putting forward - more that, disregarding any skill levels, there is one overwhelming reason why fewer players from the North go South and that is money. That of course is also the main reason players from the South go North
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@Catogrande said in Blackadder gone native....:
@rotated A bit of a moot point until the super sides start offering wages that are comparable to the NH. If an NH player wants to play Super rugby then he does that as a point of career development and there are not many that would sacrifice the £££ or euros to do that.. Not suggesting that SH sides offering loads of dosh would be a good thing, just that there is more than one reason why NH players doe not make that transition.
I guess, but until they do all the evidence points to the SR tournament being superior (at least at the pointy end) especially when guys like Gopperth, Waldrom, George Smith Sr and Nick Evans dominate the premiership.
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@rotated the other argument could be they are given a better chance to mature in the NH comps given the £££s or Euros (dunno how to do the Euro symbol) invested in them, whereas in NZ it seems a bit more ruthless with the 'next big thing' waiting to come in.
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@Catogrande said in Blackadder gone native....:
@taniwharugby While I wouldn't argue with your points, that was not the argument I was putting forward - more that, disregarding any skill levels, there is one overwhelming reason why fewer players from the North go South and that is money. That of course is also the main reason players from the South go North
Biggest reason is we protect our competitions, so there are very few spaces available and the player coming in has to be filling a shortage and be better than local alternatives.
So more likely to get established Test players anyway.
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@rotated Specifically NOT arguing about superiority or not, just that there is more than one reason the player drain is mainly one way and money is the root of that. For sure there are other aspects - not the same gaps in the SH to be filled (or perhaps guys queuing up to fill any gaps).
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@taniwharugby said in Blackadder gone native....:
@rotated the other argument could be they are given a better chance to mature in the NH comps given the £££s or Euros (dunno how to do the Euro symbol) invested in them, whereas in NZ it seems a bit more ruthless with the 'next big thing' waiting to come in.
I think you're right in that the competition is fiercer down south.
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@Kirwan Absolutely. And this is to be admired. You SH guys, particularly in NZ have things worked out so much better than our mish-mash. Historically so perhaps for SA.
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@Catogrande said in Blackadder gone native....:
@Kirwan Absolutely. And this is to be admired. You SH guys, particularly in NZ have things worked out so much better than our mish-mash. Historically so perhaps for SA.
SA used to be even better than us at looking after their Currie Cup, etc. Quotas have ruined all their rugby though, which I'm sure their politicians are perfectly happy with.
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Haskell would be the last prominent English rugby player to feature in NZ Super rugby after having a season with the Highlanders on the back of a season in Japan. As Cato said, he wouldn't have come here for the money! Yates played for Wellington and the Canes in the early 2000s. I'm sure there have been a few others in between (excluding the likes of Symons and Francis).
As others have said, there is a limited number of squad positions available with only 5 teams and a mandate to select NZ-elligible players first. Back in the days when the NPC was our main competition and "amateur" the use of NH imports was more common. Who remembers Damian Hopely and Adedayo Adebayo playing a season for Southland in the mid-1990s? The common answer will be not many.
