Future of the Welsh Premiership

First topic message reminder :

For me the Premiership is not fit for purpose. We still have a semi pro league that is run on the basis that certain clubs still prioritise their own success above providing players ready for regional rugby.

For me the key areas to address are as follows:
1. Reduce teams to 8 with matches to be played 2 weeks apart. This would give teams a longer training schedule prior to matches to make sure players are recovered and prepared for the next match. A lot of players at this level do not play full time and have jobs so this will allow plenty of preparation time & recovery. Additionally the reduced amount of league matches (14 games) would in my opinion.
2. Hire professional coaches and full teams to condition these players to their best ability.
3. Selection of squads. This opinion will be contentious but I’ll give my view here. For starters each squad should comprise of no more than 40 players. Here’s the catch however. The entire squads have to be made up from U25 with the exception of 5 marquee players that are allowed to be over this age group. Coaches can therefore decide how they wish to spread that experience (ie props). No foreign players allowed in any capacity.
4. Rip up the current regional squad system and employ a draft policy instead similar to the NFL. Set the draft picking based on league performance by each region the previous year with lowest picking first and highest placed last. Set the number of picks allowed each year. Allow a similar trade system between regions to allow them to negotiate deals to accommodate their own requirements. In order for this system to work however it would require Regions to be severally be limited on import players and additionally set a limit to the allowable contracted players within a squad (no more than 40 for example). This would limit regions to sign up more than their allowed allotment of talent.
5. Contracts – No player should be on more than a 1 year contract per premiership club. Also reduce the salary structure so the incentive is not an income based league. Instead redirect those funds into better equipping those players to become full time professionals. It probably would end with large amounts of over 25’s plying their trade abroad (ie England lower divisions) but these costs would not be maintained by the Union and if we are being perfectly honest semi pro’s who cannot cut it at regional level shouldn’t be plying their trade in a league to nurture talent.
6. Free movement – Assuming Regions are hit by injury crisis or player strikes and have to dip into the league for resources allow players from any side to be selected without regional obligation. In return compensation fees to be paid by the regions in these instances to either the Clubs involved or the Union.
7. Return of the British and Irish Cup – Allow the top 4 to enter the B&I Cup for player development purposes. It also will give coaches and fans something to measure their progress coming up against more full time players. Regions would then be able to see in which young players are able to cope with this standard over time. Moving forward I would look at a 10 year plan to potentially make these also our Challenge Cup entries for Europe.
8. No relegation – There should be no relegation in this league. All leagues under this league should be totally unpaid and amateur in existence but still contain the usual promotion and relegation tiers.
9. Drop the affiliation between the Regions and Premiership Clubs – Allow a more fluid concept that does not draw teams at Premiership level into set districts. This goes back to free player movement but also allows these franchises to be not regionally branded.


Granted this would be a massive shake up and require a raft of changes that probably a lot of semi pro players wouldn’t be happy about but I believe that product would result in the creation of purpose built players for regional rugby. You might be asking why I have excluded 25+ players but the reality is that while there are occasional late bloomers, it is senseless to spend years of investment of player development on people who will likely only then have very short professional careers. For me this setup will ensure the generation of future players for generations.

What are your thoughts?

Meanwhile, back on the ranch....

http://www.wru.co.uk/eng/news/35249.php#.Vk5MC-LAPIU

PRW also released a statement with corresponding quotes from their CEO. There is a stark difference in the terminology used.

GavinDragon wrote:PRW also released a statement with corresponding quotes from their CEO. There is a stark difference in the terminology used.

Got a link Gav?

http://prorugbywales.com/greater-public-engagement-with-premiership-and-championship-rugby/

Cheers. 'R' word conspicuous by its absence....

Yea. And the mention of 'player pathway' the b******t (IMO) I hear many pro rugby wales enthusiasts peddling

GavinDragon wrote:Yea. And the mention of 'player pathway' the b******t (IMO) I hear many pro rugby wales enthusiasts peddling

Why is it BS?

See other thread, cant be bothered to go into this with you again. May as well stick to areas where we have some form of common ground - like future of the welsh premiership RPS/A sides etc

Stone Motif wrote:Meanwhile, back on the ranch....

http://www.wru.co.uk/eng/news/35249.php#.Vk5MC-LAPIU

The headline reads;

"WRU working to improve engagement with Premiership and Championship clubs"

but Ponty didn't get an invite;

"Pontypridd RFC regrets that it cannot report directly to its supporters, members and sponsors on the discussions that took place as it received no invitation to attend the meeting.
An apology has since been received from the WRU with a view to this unfortunate oversight, and the club will seek further explanations in the hope of being able to participate in such an important review in the future."
http://www.ponty.net/wru-premiership-and-championship-review

You can't make up this stuff. Comedy gold.

The one club you really don't want to forget to invite

GavinDragon wrote:The one club you really don't want to forget to invite

Really...

I made a comment on Ponty's loss to Bridgend and it got retweeted by the infamous PhilBB .

He is on this site as well...from time to time.

mikey_dragon wrote:I made a comment on Ponty's loss to Bridgend and it got retweeted by the infamous PhilBB .

Who?

Obv not on Twitter then David?

He posts on here and on the Blues forum doesn't he?

Can't say I go on the Cardiff Blues forum. But yea we've had a conflab on here a couple of times

GavinDragon wrote:Obv not on Twitter then David?

I read twitter, but have never tweeted.

GavinDragon wrote:The one club you really don't want to forget to invite

The "improve engagement" bit cracked me up as the new WRU clearly failed to engage at the first hurdle. Ha! Suggests an already existing communication problem perhaps. Ponty fans slightly cheesed understandibly.

Seeing as they don't distance themselves from their favourite son Owen Robins' nonsense, you could argue they've had a meeting with the WRU already, seeing as Owen has allegedly met Dodge's replacement. There's only so many times you can hear meritocracy, unity or north of the m4 repeated ad infinitum.

I generally empathise with him. But his refusal to face certain facts severely impacts his credibility

GavinDragon wrote:I generally empathise with him. But his refusal to face certain facts severely impacts his credibility

A Welsh trait I think. Anyway, bedtime for me.