Tom Prydie

Joined Wasps untill the end of the season according to their website. Good luck to him, I hope he gets some good playing time and makes a mark there.

http://www.wasps.co.uk/news/Wasps32907.ink

I'm glad for him he has done very well to come back from his 9 month injury lay off with a damaged cruciate ligament.

I've seen him play well for Swansea this season and apparently he has done well for the Wales sevens team, this loan will give him some good experience.

Didn't realise he'd been out for 9 months, thought he'd just been left to rot at Swansea RFC by the Ospreys.

Hope he gets gametime for Wasps and come back to Wales an improved player

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Didn't realise he'd been out for 9 months, thought he'd just been left to rot at Swansea RFC by the Ospreys.

Hope he gets gametime for Wasps and come back to Wales an improved player

Na he's finishing his school work, in between playing in the Wales 7's squad and Swansea that's all.

See, this is what annoys me a bit about the regions. I don't know enough of the behind the scenes stuff to comment properly but we've been a bit threadbare on the wings at the the Dragons lately. Brew has been in and out of the Wales squad and has been injured on and off, Chavanga is now injured, Mike Poole who was promoted from the prem is injured, Will Harries has just come back from a long layoff thank god. Just checked the last 3 games and we haven't had a winger on the bench. On the face of it we could do with wing and/or full back cover at the moment. Prydie would have been perfect.

Did the regions try to broker a deal? Were the Dragons told to pee off? Did Dai Young just take a punt? Maybe we'll never know, but for me we'd do a lot better as a nation if we all shared resources a bit more. After all, it's all come from the same pot of money in the first place these days (I.e. WRU academy money). I'm not talking about poaching stars but giving opportunities to players in Wales to stay in Wales when other regions need them and they're struggling for game time at their own region.

I agree Griff, the problem is the Ospreys have the Lions wings Shane Williams and tommy bowe, and Scottish international Nikki Walker.

So where exactly do Bridgend free scoring wings Kristian Phillips and Luke Morgan, and Swansea wings Tom Prydie and Eli Walker, and Hanno dirksen get their game time from?

Alyn, the answer is the Dragons or another region. If Kristian Phillips was struggling for game time I would have loved him to come to the Dragons on loan. We may not have needed Chavanga then, even though he does look good with ball in hand.

Similarly the Scarlets have just bought in a Samoan winger.

I've got no evidence but I suspect that there's no love lost between the regions, and that sometimes certain coaches would prefer a player to go to England rather than another region. This whole 'if we can't find space for him then you're not having him' attitude. Petty tribalism at its best.

Tongan winger actually Griff, and we had to bring him in for squad cover

Would Prydie get much game time with any of the regions ? With all due respect to the lad I have seen nothing from him that would make me think he is special.

Sorry Dreamer, Tongan! But the point is that if we had a draft system then your squad cover could come from young welsh talent surplus to requirements at the other regions. Sadly though it doesn't happen and they just think f' it, I'm off to England. If it worked well you could have had Phillips or Prydie, but instead the door is closed in Wales and the players opt to move away. Very sad IMO, but like I said we don't know the full facts yet.

Yes but we needed someone who was already close to HEC standard, and I know Iongi isn't great defensively but he's still loads better than Prydie! Added to that he has world cup experience.

Just because they are young and Welsh doesn't automatically mean other Welsh regions are going to pick them. They've got to bring through their own academy players after all, as well as ensuring they have enough quality players in place to help bring those youngsters through.

Consdiering Scarlets and Blues have been brining through plenty of young wingers (Williams, North, Cuthbert), his best bet would have been the Dragons really.

This is only a loan till the end of the season, so only 6 months or so, so not a big deal, hopefully he will get a few games, though I would be disappointed if he is just in the squad and not playing, in which case he'd be better off playing for Swansea.

Shame Prydie isn't playing in the Under 20s.

rugbydreamer wrote:Tongan winger actually Griff, and we had to bring him in for squad cover

And therein lies the inherent failing of the current system. If the regions/superclubs, whatever people want to call them, are not there to support and improve the national team, then what's the point?

Tongans being drafted in when there are Welsh kids warming superclub benches and playing in the Premiership?

A complete waste of effort and money. Shambles.

Casatrelli - did you not read my other post regarding it then? Guess not.

rugbydreamer wrote:Casatrelli - did you not read my other post regarding it then? Guess not.

On the contrary 'dreamer - I gave it a go.

Always interested in the Llanelli fans point of view.

Glad to hear Prydie's back following his injury. It'll be good experience for him to play outside Wales. I hope he really benefits from it, and the club do too.

I think he should have gone to PYS or the Dave. Both these coaches seem to have the knack of getting the best out of young Welsh players. It would also release another NWQ player!

With Varndell and Wade both out injured for Wasps Pyrdie should get some game time alongside Hugo Southwell and Richard Haughton. Wasps have also signed up Lee Robinson from Tigers but seeing as he looks like tarzan but plays like Jane I doubt he'll get further than the bench.

Casartelli wrote:

rugbydreamer wrote:Tongan winger actually Griff, and we had to bring him in for squad cover

And therein lies the inherent failing of the current system. If the regions/superclubs, whatever people want to call them, are not there to support and improve the national team, then what's the point?

Tongans being drafted in when there are Welsh kids warming superclub benches and playing in the Premiership?

A complete waste of effort and money. Shambles.

The regions have huge numbers of young players coming though. During the RWC the Scarlets were playing Liam Williams on the wing, and then come the Australia test in Decemeber he was in the training squad. It is all fine and well bringing though young talent, however when that young talent is then selected for the national side what are you meant to do? The Scarlets have 13 players missing to senior 6Ns squad (11 Welsh, 1 Scot, 1 English), and number missing to the Welsh sevens side, and a further handful missing to the Welsh Under 20s squad. During the time these boys are away we will be playing against Leinster (at the RDS), Glasgow (Firhill), Treviso (at home), and possibly (not too sure on fixture timings and resting returning players) Connacht too. These are all important games for the region. If we can pick up wins we can look at progressing, which will be more cash in the coffers to help develope more young welsh kids.

Also if the regions were to call up prem players to plug gaps during internationals, as opposed to having a few experienced non-welsh heads to call upon, wouldn't the fans of Llandovery, Carmarthen Quins and Llanelli RFC (in the Scarlets case) start to get 'disenfranchised' with rugby as their best players are unavailable to them?

Yep and this is why there needs to be a balance between International Player distribution so no one side feels the pinch when they are called up.

Yep and this is why there needs to be a balance between International Player distribution so no one side feels the pinch when they are called up.
.

That is unlikely as teams fortunes fluctuate but the national team selectors are always likely to select from the most successful teams. Hence when the Ospreys were doing well a couple of seasons ago the team was selected mainly from them. Now the Scarlets are the top dog all their playings are being called up. It's just a price of success. It's happening in England as well where Bath have now had a few less call ups because their form has dropped but Sarries and Quins are getting far more call ups on the back of recent performances.

Welshmushroom wrote:Yep and this is why there needs to be a balance between International Player distribution so no one side feels the pinch when they are called up.

And how do you suppose this is going to happen?
You honestly think that Gatland should select his squad based on quotas on the amount of players he can call up from each region?

There is a reason why teams need to sign foreign players who wont be called up internationally and it's not to block Welsh talent coming through. You honestly think it would be fair on likes of the Scarlets or Ospreys to lose all their internationals and be stuck with inexperienced young welsh players? Sure it would be good for their development, but thats what the Welsh Prem and LV cup matches are for. The regions are professional and they want to win as many games as possible.
And I'm certain if the Welsh regions could afford more foreign players they would buy them.

I've been wanting to see loan deals for ages as it annoys me hugely that when the Blues need a good hooker (because of injury) the Scarlets have Rees, Owens, Phillips and Myhill all vying of 1 place and let a very promising Rhys Lawrence go to Bristol because he couldn't get gametime - similarily with Shingler (who lets face it 2 years ago was much better than Sweeney) who instead went to Irish.

Then you have the stacks of players at the O's (G Owen, B Davies, Prydie and Phillips all stuck on the bench or in the Prem last season coz of Byrne - while the Dragons could have done with cover for Thomas) - it's so frustrating.

There are big problems however - 1. As dreamer says - just because they are young and Welsh and play in a position that another region is short in, doesn't mean they are what that region is looking for.
2. All the regions are competing against each other for fans, players, sponsorship and particularly HEC places and league positions - as a result they are unlikely to want to help a rival in a time of need when they could be taking advantage of that weakness. (especially with the petty tribalism in Wales)
3. This may stop the development of an up and coming academy player at that region (like at the Scarlets Stoddart and Fenby got injured and so they gave a chance to Liam Williams - whose now in the Wales squad)

I suppose the WRU could smooth over these problems and it would be nice to see, but it will take a lot of work