Blues' blues

https://www.606v2.com/t25846-baber-s-the-man-with-a-dragon-slaying-plan

What is going wrong at the Blues?

The above article is a report of a pre match press conference before the Dragons v Blues match. This was almost a month ago. The Blues lost this match 18-14. They then lost at home to the noisy Scarlets (Link) They went to Glasgow and lost shipping a try bonus point. Finally their humiliation was completed in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Not quite the 50+ point league drubbing they had received in the RDS, but it may as well have been.

Leinster did not take that game for granted. The logic is simple. Wales recently mugged Ireland from their point of view in that very stadium with Halfpenny being crucial to that success. Halfpenny was here again, his team made up of British Lions, Welsh internationals and some All Blacks. 

They needn't have worried. The dog in the Blues' side rolled over to have its belly tickled.

So what is going on in Cardiff? 10% of the population of Wales are on their doorstep. That figure jumps up if you count the valleys within easy reach to the North. 

Just before this 'block' fell out of the season, two league matches were played in the Cardiff Arms Park. Ulster and Connacht were beaten with the old ground full. Yet the next home game was against the Scarlets at Cardiff City Stadium. Despite the extra capacity, the crucial nature of the game, and a decent away crowd, the attendees could have fitted into the Arms Park. Only marginally more people than had turned out for the Connacht game. That shows that there is a passionate core support available and will turn out if given what they want. I don't think a long term move back to the Arms Park is likely (given the lease of the CCS) or desirable given the limit on fan numbers there and the ongoing negotiations with Cardiff Athletic Club about the Millennium Stadium. Another way must be found.

It's a Grand Slam season and Wales have done well. Yet the return of the international players has coincided with this slump. The Ospreys are the next visitors to the Blues. With the exit from Europe and slide away from the play offs in the league I doubt whether there will be more than 8,000 in the crowd despite the supposed added draw of those players. 

Rather than failing to attract punters it seems that the Blues are managing to actively discourage them. 

These last few weeks have seen the emergence of "Valleys Rugby". Fans in the Blues' 'region' (and to a lesser extent the Dragons and Ospreys regions) have mobilised with the assistance of Pontypridd MP Owen Smith to produce a blueprint for a new region to coincide with a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on the Regions commissioned by the WRU. The implication is clear. Fans in the Valleys consider themselves disenfranchised. I won't reherse the arguments around this here.

In my view the mental block of getting Valleys fans to support the Blues was not insurmountable. It required a fundamental change of approach however. This it seems was a change too far for the Blues who would have seen it as a loss of their identity as the Capital City club, something they have fought hard to preserve. 

There is another theory of course; the one that says that if you're good enough they will attend. That brings us back on field. The Blues are under performing, but why? 

They have players leaving at the end of the season. Laulala however is one of them and is clearly determined to impress his new bosses with decent end of season displays. I don't think this should be acceptable as an excuse therefore.

The Henson episode has grabbed headlines. Yet Saracens and Toulon survived the same whirlwind without collapse, why should the Blues be different? Perhaps we are yet to hear the "full facts" Peter Thomas alluded to in the extrodinary article in the Western Mail. (Link)

My concern is that the much discussed coaching set up of Justin Burnell and Gareth Baber is not an easy fit with the current squad. The failure to unlock Henson's potential, the half time 'discussion' between Burnell and Dan Parks (who was gesticulaing wildly, clearly not happy) broadcast to the nation, the seeming demotivation of Grand Slam winners are little signs that not all is well at the Blues. The big sign of course is the run of results. Burnell and Baber have decent CV's and are young Welsh coaches from the Valleys. That looked like a plan. It will be tragic however if the clear underlying divisons within the Blues region keep fans away, but also impact on a perfectly good coaching team.

As ever these questions are not easy to answer. The Blues need to do something and quick. It's fashionable for the rest to bash the Blues, but the loss of a club in our Capital City will not help Welsh rugby. I feel the time has come to embrace the future and release the past, to reach out to those parts of the region who feel alienated. Sever the umbilical cord with Cardiff RFC and rebrand if necessary, put a game or two on at Sardis Road. Otherwise the twin problems of lack of revenue (given the costs of renting the CCS) and the on field malais could feed each other in a vicious cycle of decline.


Sources:

Justin Burnell CV
(Link)

Gareth Baber CV
(Link)

Valleys Rugby Website
(Link)

I think its good but I might try to dial down the comparisons with the Valleys Rugby unless thats your intention.

We dont want a thread of the same people having the same arguemetns on other threads about Valleys Rugby.

Keep it about the Blues. Your questions are fine. You ask:

- Are they doing badly
- Why are they doing badly
- What will happen if they keep doing badly.

Its a good thread but I think I can see where it will go. Just debating regional rugby in too broad a detail.

well written article Glas, but the ending seems a tad abrupt? tis like you have 3 diff ideas floating around but not a solid conclusion if you follow me.

But then, guess that is just like the Blues' situation really anyway, no one solid reason as to why they are struggling.

I like it though, tis thought provoking, and I couldn't spot any typo's/grammatical errors.

Just think the ending needs tweaking a bit, but can't really say how (I'm so helpful see )

OJK will take those on board. Thanks guys.

Don't forget the apostrophe in the title (it should be Blues' Blues) and elsewhere.