Ulster squad additions

First topic message reminder :

You did not imagine that - it was said. A few weeks ago too.

I hope Geoff is coming back after the abuse he got above. I look out for his posts because 9/10 times he's right.

I hope we haven't lost our best poster over bl**dy Exeter!

BelfastNI wrote:I hope Geoff is coming back after the abuse he got above. I look out for his posts because 9/10 times he's right.

I hope we haven't lost our best poster over bl**dy Exeter!

Agreed absolutely 100%. His comments are held in reverence only because they are more often than not utterly accurate. COME BACK GEOFF!!!

clivemcl wrote:

red_stag wrote:Rodders, you know Irish rugby is in a thoroughly healthy state of affairs when there are SEVEN flyhalves better than Niall O'Connor, talented as he is.

- Jonathan Sexton
- Ian Madigan
- Ronan O'Gara
- Paddy Jackson
- JJ Hanrahan
- Ian Humphreys
- Ian Keatley
- Niall O'Connor

Interestingly of those 8 flyhalves, only two of them have been capped for Ireland. Actually three I forgot that Keatley got two caps on a summer tour to USA once upon a time.

And yet the IRFU refuse Ulster an NIQ 10!!

That's what has puzzled me completely. I was positive that we'd be the option for the NIQ 10, the only province that would be awarded that position. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

red_stag wrote:He smelled of Bushmills whiskey and Aran wool jumpers.

That unique blend of Ulster and Connacht combined.

Pete330v2 wrote:

clivemcl wrote:

red_stag wrote:Rodders, you know Irish rugby is in a thoroughly healthy state of affairs when there are SEVEN flyhalves better than Niall O'Connor, talented as he is.

- Jonathan Sexton
- Ian Madigan
- Ronan O'Gara
- Paddy Jackson
- JJ Hanrahan
- Ian Humphreys
- Ian Keatley
- Niall O'Connor

Interestingly of those 8 flyhalves, only two of them have been capped for Ireland. Actually three I forgot that Keatley got two caps on a summer tour to USA once upon a time.

And yet the IRFU refuse Ulster an NIQ 10!!

That's what has puzzled me completely. I was positive that we'd be the option for the NIQ 10, the only province that would be awarded that position. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Think about it though. NIQ players play so much rugby. How would Jackson and Humphreys manage to keep getting a look in. It would completely stall the development of Jackson. Start the Heineken Cup semi final and final and then end up pushed behind a foreign lad who can easily play 25+ games a year for his club.

red_stag wrote:

Pete330v2 wrote:

clivemcl wrote:

red_stag wrote:Rodders, you know Irish rugby is in a thoroughly healthy state of affairs when there are SEVEN flyhalves better than Niall O'Connor, talented as he is.

- Jonathan Sexton
- Ian Madigan
- Ronan O'Gara
- Paddy Jackson
- JJ Hanrahan
- Ian Humphreys
- Ian Keatley
- Niall O'Connor

Interestingly of those 8 flyhalves, only two of them have been capped for Ireland. Actually three I forgot that Keatley got two caps on a summer tour to USA once upon a time.

And yet the IRFU refuse Ulster an NIQ 10!!

That's what has puzzled me completely. I was positive that we'd be the option for the NIQ 10, the only province that would be awarded that position. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Think about it though. NIQ players play so much rugby. How would Jackson and Humphreys manage to keep getting a look in. It would completely stall the development of Jackson. Start the Heineken Cup semi final and final and then end up pushed behind a foreign lad who can easily play 25+ games a year for his club.

Yea of course your right Stag, the right thing to do is deliberately choose to be at a disadvantage for the sake of players who might some day benefit of the national side...

Pete330v2 wrote:

clivemcl wrote:

red_stag wrote:Rodders, you know Irish rugby is in a thoroughly healthy state of affairs when there are SEVEN flyhalves better than Niall O'Connor, talented as he is.

- Jonathan Sexton
- Ian Madigan
- Ronan O'Gara
- Paddy Jackson
- JJ Hanrahan
- Ian Humphreys
- Ian Keatley
- Niall O'Connor

Interestingly of those 8 flyhalves, only two of them have been capped for Ireland. Actually three I forgot that Keatley got two caps on a summer tour to USA once upon a time.

And yet the IRFU refuse Ulster an NIQ 10!!

That's what has puzzled me completely. I was positive that we'd be the option for the NIQ 10, the only province that would be awarded that position. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

They are holding that NIQ spot open for Munster when ROG finally retires ......

No don't be silly Clive. The right thing to do is deliberately choose a rival province to be at a disadvantage for the sake of players who might some day benefit of the national side....The NIQ spot can come to Munster in a year or two.

Therefore I elect Ulster to be disadvantaged. See its easy.

red_stag wrote:Nah got muddled up with the Scottish flyhalf MrsP.

P.S. - I think Paddy Jackson looks like Notch.

Have you seen how much Notch has "grown" recently?

I've always wanted to see Jackson as first choice since Humphreys form went to pot around February.

Think about it;

-right now we have Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Wallace at 9 and 12, both of whom have played 10 at test level.
-If we signed an NIQ 10, it would probably be for two years.
-In two years time Pienaars contract will have expired and he'll most likely return to SA. Wallace will be at the end of his career.
-Jackson, having had limited gametime, will come into the team at the same time as we lose our experience 9, 10 and 12.
-If we blood him now, he'll get the benefit of playing outside experienced players.
-If we don't, his development will stall and he'll likely have to come on and be first choice down the line with a rookie 9 and a rookie 12.

Once Pienaar and Wallace move on, I want our 10 to be experienced and battle hardened. Even if we could, signing an NIQ 10 would be a short-term move that was actually damaging for us in the long term. Jackson needs blooded now, the time is right.

Rava wrote:

red_stag wrote:Nah got muddled up with the Scottish flyhalf MrsP.

P.S. - I think Paddy Jackson looks like Notch.

Have you seen how much Notch has "grown" recently?

If there was a ginger front row, that would be a better point of comparison. You know all us gingers look alike...

I think its that he is a ginger Nordie.

clivemcl wrote:

red_stag wrote:

Pete330v2 wrote:

clivemcl wrote:

red_stag wrote:Rodders, you know Irish rugby is in a thoroughly healthy state of affairs when there are SEVEN flyhalves better than Niall O'Connor, talented as he is.

- Jonathan Sexton
- Ian Madigan
- Ronan O'Gara
- Paddy Jackson
- JJ Hanrahan
- Ian Humphreys
- Ian Keatley
- Niall O'Connor

Interestingly of those 8 flyhalves, only two of them have been capped for Ireland. Actually three I forgot that Keatley got two caps on a summer tour to USA once upon a time.

And yet the IRFU refuse Ulster an NIQ 10!!

That's what has puzzled me completely. I was positive that we'd be the option for the NIQ 10, the only province that would be awarded that position. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Think about it though. NIQ players play so much rugby. How would Jackson and Humphreys manage to keep getting a look in. It would completely stall the development of Jackson. Start the Heineken Cup semi final and final and then end up pushed behind a foreign lad who can easily play 25+ games a year for his club.

Yea of course your right Stag, the right thing to do is deliberately choose to be at a disadvantage for the sake of players who might some day benefit of the national side...

Whilst stifling a provincial side's potential to play how they possibly can. Jackson may have Pienaar as guidance etc but he would benefit more from playing alongside and in tandem with a quality foreign player. I think the effect Pienaar has had on Small Paul says it all about what happens to a young player's potential when a catalyst is added.

Notch wrote:I've always wanted to see Jackson as first choice since Humphreys form went to pot around February.

Think about it;

-right now we have Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Wallace at 9 and 12, both of whom have played 10 at test level.
-If we signed an NIQ 10, it would probably be for two years.
-In two years time Pienaars contract will have expired and he'll most likely return to SA. Wallace will be at the end of his career.
-Jackson, having had limited gametime, will come into the team at the same time as we lose our experience 9, 10 and 12.
-If we blood him now, he'll get the benefit of playing outside experienced players.
-If we don't, his development will stall and he'll likely have to come on and be first choice down the line with a rookie 9 and a rookie 12.

Once Pienaar and Wallace move on, I want our 10 to be experienced and battle hardened. Even if we could, signing an NIQ 10 would be a short-term move that was actually damaging for us in the long term. Jackson needs blooded now, the time is right.

That is so so right. In a years time we will know if Jackson can really cut it.

In addition I do think Jackson was terribly managed in the past season. He had no gametime at all and all of a sudden was deemed good enough to play in the HC semi and final. My mind still boggles.
Jackson needs gametime but if he's injured (god forbid) then we are left with Pienaar who won't want to play there permanently, Wallace who's far better at 12 and then.........I can't say it........NOC......there I said it.

O'Connor will be fine for the Pro12. I can see him doing fine on a wet night against the likes of the Dragons or Treviso. He's coming back as back-up and I'm not worried unless Jackson gets into the Ireland squad!

Petev2 I don't agree that NOC is as gash as you say. He will still do a reasonable job in the Pro 12. Assuming we sign him of course.
I also don't think that Jackson was mis-managed. Remember he had commitments with the U20's. The problem was two fold really -
Humphreys was expected to come out of his slump which he didn't, and
Paul Marshall got injured so we couldn't continue with Pienaar at 10.
Given those circumstances I think Jackson did well.

As much as I'd love to believe otherwise I don't think Jackson did well at all Rava. He was found wanting to a large extent and looked badly out of his depth. He was thrown in at the deep and and was utterly unprepared for the challenge IMO. I know he had other commitments but U20's didn't last the entire season. He'll be a better player by a country mile this time next year I'm sure, or at least I hope. It's an overused cliche that he will come back stronger but it's an accurate one too. I have heard that he is quite arrogant, a vital component part of an out-half.
NOC has always been a bugbear for me lads, I never did think he was Pro12 standard and he's done nothing to convince me otherwise. Having a backup 10 who might be able to do perform a holding pattern on a wet night against the Dragons just isn't good enough in my book. Maybe I'm setting the bar a little high with my dreams but we need more quality at 10 that won't force positional changes elsewhere. We won't have it so will have to live with it. We will have the best squad I've ever seen at Ravenhill next season so I just hope the results match the quality of players we will have.

Pete how much did you see of him last season at Connacht?
He was a different player to the one that left Ulster he was more confident and more assured and if you can watch his performance against Harlequins in Galway then youll be won over

I saw a good bit of him and I did see that game Marty but I'm not won over at all. I think Ulster need and indeed deserve better. Maybe he'll return, feel much more settled seeing the old faces again and become a better outhalf. I really do hope that happens but I will await my convincing. I've always said that I hope he proves me wrong, he seems to be a very nice lad and a big lump of a physical presence to have at 10 but his vision and skillset are both extremely limited IMO.
I will be 100% behind him all the way mind you as I have been while he's been with Connacht.

To be fair, it's not like there are a lot of options we have to choose from. We needed an IQ 1O who's available for not much money and happy to be a squad player and backup. There's not many candidates...

I'm available...call me David.....

Notch wrote:To be fair, it's not like there are a lot of options we have to choose from. We needed an IQ 1O who's available for not much money and happy to be a squad player and backup. There's not many candidates...

- Niall O'Connor
- Declan Cusack

Also don't you have McKinny

McKinney is off to get some gametime in the English championship for two years before coming back to challenge PJ for number one spot I understand.

Its a good plan for him Notch. I think that players could do far worse than taking a leaf out of his book.

I would prefer McKinney to NOC. But it's better he gets to play week in and out. I do hope he returns to Ulster and makes a real go of it once his two year contract is up.

I agree Notch but 10 once again has the potential to be our weakest link which is a shame considering the players we can play in every other position. I can only hope the Jackson gamble pays off and he's as good as our esteemed leaders think.
At least we can be assured one thing, we aren't in for another Payne free season

BelfastNI wrote:I hope Geoff is coming back after the abuse he got above. I look out for his posts because 9/10 times he's right.

I hope we haven't lost our best poster over bl**dy Exeter!

What abuse? What are you talking about? It's ok for geoff to make insinuations based on third-hand information about another club about which he knows very little, but its "abuse" when I pick him up on it? Have a think about what your response might have been if the show had been on the other foot. Try again

So what if he had bad info, who cares. Its only Exeter. Its not he stood up your granny on a date. You were aggressively defensive over something that wasn't even important. I would suggest you learn how to ignore things rather that searching our battles to fight.

clivemcl wrote:So what if he had bad info, who cares. Its only Exeter. Its not he stood up your granny on a date. You were aggressively defensive over something that wasn't even important. I would suggest you learn how to ignore things rather that searching our battles to fight.

Ha, ha, clive, don't make me laugh, you've already admitted that you wear your heart on your sleeve all the time - so don't knock others that do similarly. Your comment is distinctly lacking in respect, the very thing on which these boards were founded. Suggest you have another think

PS FYI, both my grannies are long dead

In fairness clive is right it is only Exeter

Hoog wrote:In fairness clive is right it is only Exeter

Sadly, we know that you are joking! After all, you are the proud owner of an Exeter shirt!

I'd like an Exeter shirt myself. Not easy to find in Armagh though

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

BelfastNI wrote:I hope Geoff is coming back after the abuse he got above. I look out for his posts because 9/10 times he's right.

I hope we haven't lost our best poster over bl**dy Exeter!

What abuse? What are you talking about? It's ok for geoff to make insinuations based on third-hand information about another club about which he knows very little, but its "abuse" when I pick him up on it? Have a think about what your response might have been if the show had been on the other foot. Try again

Sorry ASBO but I have to pull you up on this one. That post makes no sense whatsoever..........


......I think you mean shoe on the other foot ........

Aye I may own a chiefs jersey however its only because they need the support, just face it they are a basement riding their luck and will be found out next season when they meet the big boys in the HC. Fighting a two pronged battle just won't work for Exe and the championship beckons. Back where they belong really.


In summary Exeter = Gash

rodders wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

BelfastNI wrote:I hope Geoff is coming back after the abuse he got above. I look out for his posts because 9/10 times he's right.

I hope we haven't lost our best poster over bl**dy Exeter!

What abuse? What are you talking about? It's ok for geoff to make insinuations based on third-hand information about another club about which he knows very little, but its "abuse" when I pick him up on it? Have a think about what your response might have been if the show had been on the other foot. Try again

Sorry ASBO but I have to pull you up on this one. That post makes no sense whatsoever..........


......I think you mean shoe on the other foot ........

Ha, ha, shocking typo omp!

Pete330v2 wrote:I'd like an Exeter shirt myself. Not easy to find in Armagh though

Drop me your address, Scotty, and we'll get one on the way to you - if it doesn't fit, you can always pass it on to the wee lad

Hoog wrote:Aye I may own a chiefs jersey however its only because they need the support, just face it they are a basement riding their luck and will be found out next season when they meet the big boys in the HC. Fighting a two pronged battle just won't work for Exe and the championship beckons. Back where they belong really.


In summary Exeter = Gash

You'll need to try harder, Munster-boy!!

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

clivemcl wrote:So what if he had bad info, who cares. Its only Exeter. Its not he stood up your granny on a date. You were aggressively defensive over something that wasn't even important. I would suggest you learn how to ignore things rather that searching our battles to fight.

Ha, ha, clive, don't make me laugh, you've already admitted that you wear your heart on your sleeve all the time - so don't knock others that do similarly. Your comment is distinctly lacking in respect, the very thing on which these boards were founded. Suggest you have another think

PS FYI, both my grannies are long dead

The point stands, you got more aggressively defensive than the Geoff's claims warranted.

I repeat, I suggest you find your satisfaction somewhere else rather that being this passionate on a sports forum.
You can start by reading this and then deciding not to argue back. Honestly its an easier way to get through life sometimes. Because you know what, it doesnt matter that much. Not worth offending people over anyway. You can say what you want to me, I get up, leave the desk and start living my real life. I wont give it a moments thought, trust me.

clivemcl wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

clivemcl wrote:So what if he had bad info, who cares. Its only Exeter. Its not he stood up your granny on a date. You were aggressively defensive over something that wasn't even important. I would suggest you learn how to ignore things rather that searching our battles to fight.

Ha, ha, clive, don't make me laugh, you've already admitted that you wear your heart on your sleeve all the time - so don't knock others that do similarly. Your comment is distinctly lacking in respect, the very thing on which these boards were founded. Suggest you have another think

PS FYI, both my grannies are long dead

The point stands, you got more aggressively defensive than the Geoff's claims warranted.

I repeat, I suggest you find your satisfaction somewhere else rather that being this passionate on a sports forum.
You can start by reading this and then deciding not to argue back. Honestly its an easier way to get through life sometimes. Because you know what, it doesnt matter that much. Not worth offending people over anyway. You can say what you want to me, I get up, leave the desk and start living my real life. I wont give it a moments thought, trust me.

Pot - kettle - black

I had no problem with anything you said until this:

i just think you should be careful here - there are some impressionable followers of your club on here that seem to treat what you say as gospel, and this looks to me like a made-up story to justify Jon Andress not being kept on at Exe

I maybe get a bit hyped up on certain things, but i don't think I've ever accused anyone of misleading people with made-up info. I also haven't labelled sets of fans on here as impressionable.

Besides, what would it matter even if I or other Ulster supporters did believe Exeter preferred some players for non-playing reasons. Its not a huge issue over here in NI. Apart from maybe Pete330v2 might decide not to buy a shirt after all.



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