THe Welsh Regions want CENTRAL CONTRACTS for Welsh Players

First topic message reminder :

Nigel Davies believes that the issue of central contracts should be put on the table to keep Welsh talent in Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/16059201.stm

This could be great for Welsh Rugby

Interestingly in Ireland the IRFU is doing the opposite and is now reducing the numbers of centrally contracted players. This is for money reasons. It's extremely expensive.

The IRFU don't tell players which province to play for but they do demand that the internationals play a limited number of matches per year. The provincial coaches then decide which these will be. This is one reason O'Gara said he wanted to stay playing in Ireland. He wants to have a long rugby career, not get worked to death in France in a short time.

There is still friction between provincial coaches and the IRFU over this scheme and it is not perfect. What would the owners of the Welsh regions think if their best players play eight less matches per year?

Many in Ireland have said that the provinces have had success in the league and h-cup in spite of this system where both in and out of international windows they don't have access to their best players. It is a system designed to help the national side succeed, not the clubs.

As I thought the WRU refuse to give anymore cash to the regions to stop players moving abroad.

This was all kind of talked about in the Charteris thread that was launched this week.

Why do the regions hire foreign players when they could be using that money to keep Welsh players in Wales.

There will be a reasonably big head to head over this pretty soon. Probably over the summer when the regions are likely to lose another five top welsh internationals to France.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2011/12/17/wru-to-reject-regions-plea-for-top-up-fees-to-halt-player-drain-91466-29966886/

Apologies for taking a contrary point of view, but I think central contracts are bit of a red herring at the moment. To me, the problem really is money. In general, players want to move to France for cash. I don't think central contracts will change the amount of money available to the players, since this shouldn't change overall revenue.

The challenge, as mentioned somewhat on other threads, is crowds in the stadia. If we get more ticket buying people coming to watch, there will be more money available to pay the players. Then the salary cap can eventually be increased. It might be possible that central contracts will use the money more efficiently, but I think the most important step is overall revenue. We have a great game, and we need to have more people come and watch. This enables everything.