Ulster squad additions

First topic message reminder :

All things relating to Ulster squad changes

If the offer to Wilson was smaller he would not have come - we only matched the offer from Saints.
He is not a guaranteed HEC starter - he is on a salary that clearly indicates the province see him as a starter - an important distinction.

Birch and Henderson are being kept anyway so that point doesn't arise.

rodders wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:A Ferris, HEnry, Wilson backrow will be very useful and all IQ

I think its too slow for the HEC but time will tell. I hope you are right.

Is Pedrie noticeably quicker than Wilson? THe big man is great but searing pace isnt one of his attributes. Power is king in the Heineken i think

Pedrie may be slightly quicker than Wilson but he didn't use his pace much in European games for us. He played very tight.

Wait and see, he'll run in a try from 80 metres at the weekend now

geoff998rugby wrote:If the offer to Wilson was smaller he would not have come - we only matched the offer from Saints.

Thats my point Geoff. If Wilson is one of the top earners then we've been held to ransom and paid over the odds for a good but aging club level no8, whilst we've let a number of up and coming players go to balance the books.

I'd have played hard ball with Wilson and kept faith in our current back row minus Pedrie on the basis we could get someone better at a later stage if we need strengthened.

We've let one backrow go except for Pedrie, a lightweight 7, and replaced him with an attritional 8. You'd have to think the reason for letting Faloon go is Henry is now seen as an out and out 7. Wilson isn't replacing Faloon, he's a replacement for Wannenburg- in a perfect world we'd have Wannenburg for another year but he's about the best Irish qualified replacement we could get.

Standulstermen wrote:

rodders wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:A Ferris, HEnry, Wilson backrow will be very useful and all IQ

I think its too slow for the HEC but time will tell. I hope you are right.

Is Pedrie noticeably quicker than Wilson? THe big man is great but searing pace isnt one of his attributes. Power is king in the Heineken i think

I think so Stand and Henry is fairly slow for a 7. I think we'll struggle at the breakdown with those 3 and in the midfield too were Pedrie had plenty of pace and quick feet out wide.

When Ferris and Wilson played together before we always had a real scavanger, link man on the other flank like McMillan or Best.

Henry and Wilson are pretty similar imo.

But that would leave us with a backrow as thin as this year - we got lucky this year.

The reality is we desperately needed to strengthen for this coming year.
Providing we sign a NIQ flanker we will be ok.

Who are the players we let go ?

As I understand it a number have left because of lack of game time.
- Porter, Cronin, Whitten

Not re signed as NIQ - Terblanche, Wannenberg, Danielli

Let go I can only think of Kyriacou and Faloon

You need a core of, at least 4, and preferably 5, players who can play 6/8
Ulster have Ferris, Diack, Henry, Wannenberg this year.
Given that that includes Ferris we got very very lucky this year.

Next year we will have Ferris, Henry, Diack, Wilson, NIQ player
That is the minimum.

If we had played hardball he would have re signed for Saints.
Get someone better at a later stage - I repeat - WHO ??? given they have to be IQ. The players are not there.

(I ignore McCormish in all this who is not remotely good enough and from what I hear is considered a bit of a joke within the club)

Look its SF week guys! I'm really happy that Wilson is returning I'm just surprised the club are valuing him so highly.

He'll get a warm welcome from me next season but I hope he earns his (considerable) crust

Poor auld Mike McComish. The one guy he was playing well in he got knocked out... by Paul Marshall

geoff998rugby wrote:
If we had played hardball he would have re signed for Saints.
Get someone better at a later stage - I repeat - WHO ??? given they have to be IQ. The players are not there.

I mean keep Faloon, promote Birch and sign an NIQ 6/8.

It doesn't matter we have Wilson now and A.N. Other.

I'm not unhappy but if Wilson is nailed on at no8 then we are weaker than this season at backrow imo.

I have to agree that Henry and Wilson are quite similar players. Not sure they should play in the same backrow. I think Wilson deserves a shot to show how much he has improved though without being immediately written off. I have no idea how good he is now, but I am keen to see. Also, Faloon was let go because apparently Birch is seen as his replacement. Or that is what I thought.

Henry would be a good bench option for the HEC to be fair, as his ability to play 6, 7 or 8 will be very handy. Ferris at 6, an NIQ 7 and Wilson at 8 would be good. Then we have Henry to cover all 3 positions, Diack as a 6/8, Birch as an out and out 7 (who played 8 against Connacht though, so he is versatile). I think those are some pretty good options, if can we get an NIQ 7.

I'm just happy our depth is increasing.

In the backrow we'll have one of Henry/Wilson/NewNIQ missing out. On the wing one of Bowe/Trimble/Gilroy. At prop Macklin and McAllister another year older and better, hopefully Fitzpatrick is better. In the second row we have good depth until Muller leaves- at halfback Jackson is coming through better now, Marshall has pulled up his socks and we have the emergence of Marshall and Farrell to look forward to.

I'm confident our strength in depth is getting better and hopefully Anscombe is going to have some real selection dilemmas on his hands- he'll be able to rotate his squad more than McLaughs.

Also, I predict great things from Birch this year. From the limited game time he has received this season, he has played pretty damn well, and has made some great steals at the breakdown. Could see him creeping into the starting team over the next few seasons.

rodders wrote: I'm not unhappy but if Wilson is nailed on at no8 then we are weaker than this season at backrow imo.

Not if our 7 is better and we have a stronger player on the bench

Notch wrote:
I'm confident our strength in depth is getting better and hopefully Anscombe is going to have some real selection dilemmas on his hands- he'll be able to rotate his squad more than McLaughs.

I agree, my comment was specific to the first choice backrow unit but I take Geoffs comment on board that if we get a top 7 then we could be as strong or stronger there.

Our back row will look completely different next season, and play a different type of game to accommodate new players and their strengths. Although I will miss Pedrie a lot, I am trying to look at Wilson as not any worse a player, but as a different player who has different strengths. Also depending on what 7 we sign, we could see Ferris carry even more ball, or even less ball, depending on the makeup of the back row. I am excited to see how it ends up.

Rava wrote:Rodders he was a very good player when he left us. He's still a very good player now.
I don't know if any of you watched Saints v Exeter on the weekend. His link play and ball carrying were exceptional.

Nah, that's an over-generous assessment imo - he made a couple of nice links, two ok carries, but was second best to Richie B

Good man ASBO sir! We'll have none of this hyperbole stuff on Ulster threads! .......

The only exceptional link play in these parts comes from Willie Faloon!.....

Sad to see Henry being written off as being too slow when not that long ago it was being said he should be getting a chance in the Ireland shirt

If we are honest though we have no real idea what next season will bring, does Anscombe have a style he prefers his teams to play over another? But if Ulster win the HC then that would be a stronger barganinng position for signing another NIQ or even just being in th final could do that

Does winning the competition benefit Ulster directly or does the winning go to Dublin?

marty2086 wrote:Sad to see Henry being written off as being too slow when not that long ago it was being said he should be getting a chance in the Ireland shirt

No thats not what I said. I said he's a bit slow for a 7 and the dynamics of the backrow mentioned looks slow at the top level as Wilson isn't quick either. Its about the combination rather than a criticism of Henry.

Henry is good enough to play for Ireland and I didn't say he wasn't.

marty2086 wrote: Sad to see Henry being written off as being too slow when not that long ago it was being said he should be getting a chance in the Ireland shirt

I dont think anyone is writing him off but the reality is you need a squad of players not just a team. We only had 3 top backrowers this year. It is my contention you need a minimum of 5. We were very very lucky with respect to Wannenberg and Henry being, largely, injury free. Henry will get plenty of game time next year.

marty2086 wrote:Does winning the competition benefit Ulster directly or does the winning go to Dublin?

Both

Don't worry as far Marty, as far as rodders is concerned 7s should be whippet fast link men, who love a ruck and can pilfer ball while looking like the picture of innocence. He's old school

He's going to be banging on about Ali Birch in a year, I guarantee it. I've just described Ali Birch.

I'm already preparing for my Justice 4 Birch campaign Notch!

Guys a few sneak previews here. I will leave them up for an hour or so but then I will have to delete them

i'LL PUT THEM ON AGAIN IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS.

Looks class

Pah!! A poor man’s Donnybrook…

Rava you are a God amongst ants man! That looks AWESOME!

There's lovely!

Which is my box again?

Wrong Thread

Looks like Henry won't make Saturday. I've posted on the other link.

Good news about stadium

Bad News about Henry who i think has been the best 7 in ireland this past season. He has proved me wrong totally. I dont think he is to slow at all

MrsP wrote:There's lovely!

Which is my box again?

The cardboard one in the bottom right hand corner on photo1

No chance of putting the stadium stuff again?

I missed it for good reason. Finishing my dissertation.

Rava - where's the distinctive architectural feature that tells you its Ravenhill? ... oh and where's the flags?

The Great Aukster wrote:Rava - where's the distinctive architectural feature that tells you its Ravenhill? ... oh and where's the flags?

Aukster, sorry, the Beer Tent is being replaced

I'll leave the addition of flags to others

The Memorial Clock will still be there but they are moving it to near the Mountmerrion gate I think.

MrsP wrote:The Memorial Clock will still be there but they are moving it to near the Mountmerrion gate I think.

No that's one thing we were able to influence. It will stay in its present location. Its wide enough for crowd purposes and there were some who felt it would be better if it remained. I agree. A contractor may have to take it down for ease of moving heavy plant around the site but if that happens it will be rebuilt on its current location.

Looks really good Rava. I like the large areas for disabled fans in the main stand and the retention of the traditional "cup" steps. I can't see too many season tickets being sold in lower A though!

Are the corners left out to retain the diagonal wind and the sheeting rain! Looks as though they could be filled in when Ulster are looking for a regular 26k seater!

Rava wrote:

MrsP wrote:The Memorial Clock will still be there but they are moving it to near the Mountmerrion gate I think.

No that's one thing we were able to influence. It will stay in its present location. Its wide enough for crowd purposes and there were some who felt it would be better if it remained. I agree. A contractor may have to take it down for ease of moving heavy plant around the site but if that happens it will be rebuilt on its current location.

Didn't know that about the clock.

Well done - many will appreciate the gesture of leaving it where it is

Clearly I didn't know that either.

Brill!

SUFTUM!

I've always thought that clock was incredibly pessimistic. You see, it has the start and end dates of the first two world wars inscribed on the blocks at the top and then there are a number of blank spaces on the other blocks

I suppose if you had lived through 2 WWs in less than 40 years you might be forgiven for thinking it was the smart thing to do, no?

I think after World War Two if there was a sequel there wouldn't be anyone left to put up memorials

I agree but the folks back then wouldn't necessarily have known that!

Maybe they were actually being optimistic then?

Maybe

Whats McLaughlin contract like? I know hes going to be academy coach next year but if Ulster were to win the HC he would surely be sought after else where.

Obviously this is all redundant as the trophies staying where it belongs.

So I missed the Ravenhill plans?

Mclaughlin is not on a contract he is a salaried employee with Job security and also drawing a teachers pension.

If he goes elsewhere the Job security element goes out the window - it would be a big move for him as the job security bit was very very important to him when he took the job.

Geoff, interesting that Barker is listed on the team announcement story as injured!

Looks more professional than saying he has gone Awol

Same with Danielli he isnt injured either