Ian Madigan

In light of Madigan's latest blunder and all round day to forget for him, is his time at Leinster coming to an end?

Since his meteoric rise to stardom 2 seasons ago he seems to have regressed massively as a player. Some may argue that it is down to how Matt O'Connor has managed him as a player however one way or another he looks to be a shadow of the bright young talent that showed such promise.

It is clear that neither O'Connor nor Joe Schmidt trust him to fill the 10 shirt at provincial or national level and this doesn't look likely to change in the next 12 months. With Sexton returning to the fold next season, his chances will be even further limited in this position. He has openly admitted that this is his preferred position. If you take his accurate goal kicking out of the equation then he is nothing more than a reasonable 12.

He is now 26 and has failed to make any serious inroads into the national setup. Schmidt rates him as 4th choice outhalf behind Sexton, Jackson and Keatley and he is also well down the pecking order as a 12.

Would it be in his best interest to move over the water in a similar fashion to Hanrahan in order to develop his game as an out-half?

Yes

No

Maybe

...or maybe not.

He made the EPCR long list for player of the year...

Also, regarding the intercept, had Teo ran straight rather than sideways he would have caught the ball 1st and there still would be a 3 on 1. That wasn't 100% his fault.

A move over to Connacht in the short term? I'm not sure if there are any AP clubs shopping for a ten at the money I'd imagine he wants. Doesn't mean there isn't though and his percentages with the boot are a good asset.

MOC isn't the greatest when it comes to bringing players through into the first team. It was a rather serious failing of his at Tigers.

the-goon - schoolboy teaching is that you don't throw a skip pass when you have a 4 on 2 overlap. Teo indeed probably should have straightened but clearly wasn't expecting the pass. Anyway, he still kicked 3 balls out on the full and was turned over far too often in contact for a 12. A bad day for him whatever way you look at it.

I wouldn't mind him at Leicester i think we could do him some good in terms of improving his all round consistency.

trouble would be he will prob do a Cullen, Jennings and J.Murphy on us.

Madigan should stay, MOC should go.

Then again maybe MOC should stay too, but next year he might be allowed let his players off the bit after the WC.

We might see a completely rejuvenated side, even with MOC. Was the stat again against Toulon that Leinster didn't offload Once or line break Once.....?

I keep smelling a rat here. These guys just aren't that bad either with Leinster or Ireland.

Welly wrote: I wouldn't mind him at Leicester i think we could do him some good in terms of improving his all round consistency.

trouble would be he will prob do a Cullen, Jennings and J.Murphy on us.

So you wouldn't need him, you'd help him? Nice and friendly

SecretFly wrote:

Welly wrote: I wouldn't mind him at Leicester i think we could do him some good in terms of improving his all round consistency.

trouble would be he will prob do a Cullen, Jennings and J.Murphy on us.

So you wouldn't need him, you'd help him?  Nice and friendly

Don't I suspect Owen Williams we be off next season as well. If Burns keeps starting then.

It would work if Madigan was keen for the long haul like G.Murphy did.

In the centre, Leinster have pretty much written off Reid and Macken now this season. Darcy has only the swansong left. So Madigan and Te'o are the centres for the foreseeable future (with McFadden/Luke doing a job if asked).

Maybe MOC and the powers that be might look at some of the academy youth and bring through a bit more talent/pace/excitement. Other than starting the 'other' McGrath on the wing for a few games, MOC really hasn't given any of the backs in the academy pipeline an opportunity.

Welly wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

Welly wrote: I wouldn't mind him at Leicester i think we could do him some good in terms of improving his all round consistency.

trouble would be he will prob do a Cullen, Jennings and J.Murphy on us.

So you wouldn't need him, you'd help him?  Nice and friendly

Don't I suspect Owen Williams we be off next season as well. If Burns keeps starting then.

It would work if Madigan was keen for the long haul like G.Murphy did.

Agreed Welly. He'd be a good option if OW decided he needed to be back in Wales to win caps. If the Scarlets are still desperate for a 10 come next summer he may get a big deal to return. In that case Madigan would be fairly ideal next summer as a like for like replacement (in terms for style anyway). Wouldn't want him to arrive this summer though we need a specialist 12.

Bandwagon, that happened at Tigers. MOC always wanted to go for the tried and tested option. He was never keen even in the LV to experiment with the younger players in a meaningful way. We're seeing significantly more of the young backs now he's gone, we've certainly lost out on at least one winger due to his mentality and you wonder if his attitude helped Billy and Ford to make up their minds as well (though a huge wedge of cash helped Twelvetrees ).

With MOC Ford, Twelvetrees and Lewington all left us for other AP teams all 3 were very bright prospects.

Considering MOC was in charge of the backs and there selection in not surprised about it. I thought Cockerill caught to much of the blame for them leaving IMO.

He played a successful but predictable style of rugby with us it worked because we had the likes of Alex and Manu as massive back carriers and our pack was big we are still trying to fix this.

I think he was always overrated to begin with.

I think MOC lived off what Mauger and Murphy instigated in 2009. After that he had Flood at 10 and Murphy at 15 to give the backs shape with as you say Manu and Alex to make the his simple game plan work. We underperformed given the personnel we had.

Can't blame the coaches for Ford leaving he was offered good money, the family connection and the starting shirt at Bath. The other two well...

Madigan might well enjoy getting away from MOC. He certainly doesn't have a great reputation for developing backs.

After tonight I think we might all like getting away from MOC

I think Jimmy Gopperth is going for the most amount of minutes played in a season at this stage. MOC refuses to even sub the guy and we are now screwed for next season during the World cup as both Marsh and Byrne have 0 minutes under belt. Knowing MOC I persume he will play Isa at 10 which is easily his worst position. He hates playing inexperienced backs.

MOC will be still wondering what to do with Kearney, Sexton, Isa, Ben Te'o, Kirchner, O'Brien, Healy, Cronin, Heaslip etc at about this time next year........

Heard Leinster have offered MOC a 3 year extension deal.

Welly wrote: Heard Leinster have offered MOC a 3 year extension deal.

It must be true then!!!! He's been fooling us all. Next season we'll see the Real MOC. Oh God, it'll be Beautiful music he'll make with the boys.

SecretFly wrote:

Welly wrote: Heard Leinster have offered MOC a 3 year extension deal.

  It must be true then!!!!  He's been fooling us all.  Next season we'll see the Real MOC.  Oh God, it'll be Beautiful music he'll make with the boys.  

He's not a priest you know.

.... hmmmm, well he told us he was a coach and he lied there too so............ you never know, Welly. You just never know.

Madigan did burst on to the scene with a flourish but once he got that ridiculous Kim Jong Il haircut, it was difficult to take him too seriously. If anyone has the address of the hairdressing ombudsman, please post it to I Madigan c/o IRFU etc