Where is George North going to be playing next season?

A great deal of conjecture on the matter, NDC signed but where will George North be playing his regional rugby next season?

Blues or Ospreys.

A replacement for Cuthbert at the Arms Park, perhaps?

Based on performances for Saints, Glamorgan Wanderers would be a good fit.

Connacht.

You need to credit the Fail for this poll surely

What an interesting topic for discussion...

Cheetahs.

Based on this year he will occasionally turn out half-heartedly for some team or other assuming he has nothing else on.

Whomever ever he choices it will be purely for the benefit of his international career and wallet. He doesn't care much for anything else. He's the biggest name in the Saints squad and none of their fans seem fussed he's leaving. Most seem to think they've got better value next season by him leaving and the replacement they've signed.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Whomever ever he choices it will be purely for the benefit of his international career and wallet. He doesn't care much for anything else. He's the biggest name in the Saints squad and none of their fans seem fussed he's leaving. Most seem to think they've got better value next season by him leaving and the replacement they've signed.

Very harsh Sam, Saints have been a poor side for a long time, to blame the winger is ridiculous.

North was playing well in the six nations

Lots of players have been a waste of money at Northampton, just that as the highest paid North has been the biggest.

From memory, before joining Saints, North has played more internationals than he had Pro12 games. He is a fantastic player, but not a good investment for a club side.

I think the question should be about, where will he play if the regions dont want him.

Guess, as the WRU will put him at the Dragons, as they have a say there, but cant say that will be a good move for North, apart from its closer to his home in Abergavenny than the other regions.

Which is why I voted Dragons, as I think no region will want to pay a share of his salary and hence the WRU will place him there.

No9 wrote:I think the question should be about, where will he play if the regions dont want him.

Guess, as the WRU will put him at the Dragons, as they have a say there, but cant say that will be a good move for North, apart from its closer to his home in Abergavenny than the other regions.

Which is why I voted Dragons, as I think no region will want to pay a share of his salary and hence the WRU will place him there.

But the Dragons will have to pay a share of his salary too, and they may not want that either.  Don't be fooled by 'WRU ownership' of the Dragons.  It is far from that.

Hasn't he 'signed' a contract with the WRU...? Presumably that means he has agreed terms with them with regard to what they'll be paying him. With regard to the fact that it will be a NDC, the rest of what he will be paid presumably has to be agreed between North & whichever region... So given that he has already signed with the WRU, that means the regions are competing with each other as to who he will play for- they can each make offers, and it's up to him to accept one.

If they all stick to their guns, refusing to pay 'top' wages for him, I would have thought that at least one of them might put in a low offer, and if he has no other offers from any of the other regions, he will be in a situation where he 'has' to accept it, given that he already has a contract with the WRU?

Not sure if my understanding of how the legalities of the NDCs work is correct here, but does that potentially mean one of the regions getting him at a 'bargain' price, with the WRU paying the bulk of his wages...? Or is it a fixed 60/40 split, where whatever the WRU have agreed to pay him will need to be matched by whichever region to make up the full 60/40 split?

If it's the latter, then if none of the regions agree to pay the full 40% of the wages at the rate the WRU have agreed to pay 60% of, then surely that will make the contract void?

I have a feeling we may need to wait until the end of the season, and knowing who is playing in what tournament (and hopefully who the coaching teams are) before he will actually make his decision. After all he would prefer to play in the RCC, and I would say the Ospreys would be where he would most likely want to go. But with them up in the air, it would make it hard to commit surely.

I went for the Dragons, as I think the other regions will just get to the point where they can't wait around for a 10 game a season signing. Pretty much how the Scarlets ended up with Halfpenny.

A 10 game a season signing is exactly NOT what the Dragons need! We need quality players who are there all season. If he plays 10 games (or possibly even less) then it will just be one of the sub-standard players we've already got now who will be retained to play the rest of the games. And then we're almost back to square one.

Dragons need the likes of Hadleigh Parks and Jonny McNicol, decent players who have been brought in because they're good club players but without the distraction and disruption of international rugby. If/when the Dragons ever get to a decent standard THEN we can look at bringing in the marquee players who pop in now and again for a run out. But not before. We don't need the marquee signings to improve. It can be done with good quality club players and good coaching.

Who needs him the most ?

Scarlets are well stocked in that dept.

Eli Walker has had to retire from Ospreys. Cuthbert is leaving Blues, but they have unearthed Owen Lane.

Dragons have Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt.

When you weigh everything up, the only fit for him is Ospreys.

LordDowlais wrote:Who needs him the most ?

Scarlets are well stocked in that dept.

Eli Walker has had to retire from Ospreys. Cuthbert is leaving Blues, but they have unearthed Owen Lane.

Dragons have Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt.

When you weigh everything up, the only fit for him is Ospreys.

But does North really care who needs him the most? Does he not think about who is going to win him the most silverware, who is going to be the most enjoyable to work for/along side, etc.

LordDowlais wrote:Who needs him the most ?

Scarlets are well stocked in that dept.

Eli Walker has had to retire from Ospreys. Cuthbert is leaving Blues, but they have unearthed Owen Lane.

Dragons have Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt.

When you weigh everything up, the only fit for him is Ospreys.

I agree with you here LD. Although I said Blues originally, Ospreys perhaps have the greatest need.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:Who needs him the most ?

Scarlets are well stocked in that dept.

Eli Walker has had to retire from Ospreys. Cuthbert is leaving Blues, but they have unearthed Owen Lane.

Dragons have Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt.

When you weigh everything up, the only fit for him is Ospreys.

But does North really care who needs him the most?  Does he not think about who is going to win him the most silverware, who is going to be the most enjoyable to work for/along side, etc.

I believe it should always fall to the club to decide that they want a player, rather than have a player forced upon them. So it should he about who needs or wants him the most. Paying 40% of the wages of a player that a club/coach neither needs or cares for is never going to end well. I think it's a bit unfortunate that the player has been put in this position. And the clubs too are in an awkward position.

The Oracle wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:
Who needs him the most ?

Scarlets are well stocked in that dept.

Eli Walker has had to retire from Ospreys. Cuthbert is leaving Blues, but they have unearthed Owen Lane.

Dragons have Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt.

When you weigh everything up, the only fit for him is Ospreys.

But does North really care who needs him the most?  Does he not think about who is going to win him the most silverware, who is going to be the most enjoyable to work for/along side, etc.

I believe it should always fall to the club to decide that they want a player, rather than have a player forced upon them. So it should he about who needs or wants him the most. Paying 40% of the wages of a player that a club/coach neither needs or cares for is never going to end well. I think it's a bit unfortunate that the player has been put in this position. And the clubs too are in an awkward position.

But on that front, surely the WRU should have been in discussions with the regions already when they signed him- and realistically, the whole deal should have been done at the same time, i.e. WRU & region sign him together... that's sort of the definition of a NDC. If the WRU had been in discussions with the regions about George North, while they were in discussions with North himself, then this whole mess could have been avoided...

maestegmafia wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Whomever ever he choices it will be purely for the benefit of his international career and wallet. He doesn't care much for anything else. He's the biggest name in the Saints squad and none of their fans seem fussed he's leaving. Most seem to think they've got better value next season by him leaving and the replacement they've signed.

Very harsh Sam, Saints have been a poor side for a long time, to blame the winger is ridiculous.

North was playing well in the six nations

The resources spent on him were a waste. He isn't the sole issue at Saints but symptomatic of their poor recruitment. Wasting money on a marquee winger who rarely features and goes MIA when he feels like it instead of using the money to reinforce the pack which was the bedrock of the Saints success under Mallinder and West.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Whomever ever he choices it will be purely for the benefit of his international career and wallet. He doesn't care much for anything else. He's the biggest name in the Saints squad and none of their fans seem fussed he's leaving. Most seem to think they've got better value next season by him leaving and the replacement they've signed.

Very harsh Sam, Saints have been a poor side for a long time, to blame the winger is ridiculous.

North was playing well in the six nations

The resources spent on him were a waste. He isn't the sole issue at Saints but symptomatic of their poor recruitment. Wasting money on a marquee winger who rarely features and goes MIA when he feels like it instead of using the money to reinforce the pack which was the bedrock of the Saints success under Mallinder and West.

I think the North coming back to Wales is a poorer version of the one who left. Not Saints fault.

He is a player who has HIA issues, he is older but not better than the player who left and no longer has youth on his side. He is an international because of Gats and his favourites rather than his own performances and as some have said he might not start at some of the regions. He is not the all conquering wing of yesteryear

Best thing for him would to be dropped by Wales until the next 6 Nations and just get a good run of club games with no hype or distraction

With Williams and Evans they have two better wingers anyway - at least till North gets his mojo back

geoff999rugby wrote:With Williams and Evans they have two better wingers anyway - at least till North gets his mojo back

Who do you mean? Wales? Liam Williams? He’s woefully out of form too. Another player suffering a Lions hangover. Quite poor in the 6N when he returned from injury. Not too dissimilar to North in that he’s not finding himself in great club or international form since the Lions.

Williams loss of form is temporary he will be fine next year

North looks to me like someone with bigger issues

geoff999rugby wrote:Williams loss of form is temporary he will be fine next year

North looks to me like someone with bigger issues

Well, for me he had a much better 6 Nations than Liam Williams.

And he has been markedly inferior in his club form

Has Williams really been that good for Sarries? Both him and North, and pretty much every Welsh player, have deteriorated after leaving Wales. I haven’t been hearing rave reviews about Williams. I have been looking of them, but admittedly I watch very little AP rugby so would be happy got hear if he’s been making a big impression.

The Oracle wrote:Has Williams really been that good for Sarries? Both him and North, and pretty much every Welsh player, have deteriorated after leaving Wales. I haven’t been hearing rave reviews about Williams. I have been looking of them, but admittedly I watch very little AP rugby so would be happy got hear if he’s been making a big impression.

When fit he's looked pretty good. Problem is he's had a couple of niggling injuries that have kept knocking him back. The Sarries fans will be happy with him as there was a big hole to fill in their backline with Ashton leaving (love him or hate him he knows how to score tries). Williams has been solid and scored tries. If Sarries recruit better this summer and reinforce the back row then he'll shine with a full preseason and front foot ball.

From a Quins pov Jamie Roberts has been a big disappointment. He's managed maybe 3 or 4 really good performances. The rest of the time he's either been unavailable or been really uninterested. Mollenar, the journeyman club player we got off Gloucester as injury cover 3 seasons ago was far better in hindsight.

The Oracle wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:Who needs him the most ?

Scarlets are well stocked in that dept.

Eli Walker has had to retire from Ospreys. Cuthbert is leaving Blues, but they have unearthed Owen Lane.

Dragons have Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt.

When you weigh everything up, the only fit for him is Ospreys.

But does North really care who needs him the most?  Does he not think about who is going to win him the most silverware, who is going to be the most enjoyable to work for/along side, etc.

I believe it should always fall to the club to decide that they want a player, rather than have a player forced upon them.  So it should he about who needs or wants him the most.  Paying 40% of the wages of a player that a club/coach neither needs or cares for is never going to end well.  I think it's a bit unfortunate that the player has been put in this position.  And the clubs too are in an awkward position.  

What I mean is if there are three regions who want him, then the final call will be his.

The Oracle wrote:Has Williams really been that good for Sarries? Both him and North, and pretty much every Welsh player, have deteriorated after leaving Wales. I haven’t been hearing rave reviews about Williams. I have been looking of them, but admittedly I watch very little AP rugby so would be happy got hear if he’s been making a big impression.

How about Priestland... Must be the exception to that rule.

No9 wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Has Williams really been that good for Sarries? Both him and North, and pretty much every Welsh player, have deteriorated after leaving Wales. I haven’t been hearing rave reviews about Williams. I have been looking of them, but admittedly I watch very little AP rugby so would be happy got hear if he’s been making a big impression.

How about Priestland... Must be the exception to that rule.

RP was crap when he left and is still crap, so I guess he's on the same level.

mikey_dragon wrote:

No9 wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Has Williams really been that good for Sarries? Both him and North, and pretty much every Welsh player, have deteriorated after leaving Wales. I haven’t been hearing rave reviews about Williams. I have been looking of them, but admittedly I watch very little AP rugby so would be happy got hear if he’s been making a big impression.

How about Priestland... Must be the exception to that rule.

RP was crap when he left and is still crap, so I guess he's on the same level.

After some time under the tutelage of George Ford he seems to have improved. Masterminded a victory over the Scarelts in the wet in the autumn/winter.

No9 wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Has Williams really been that good for Sarries? Both him and North, and pretty much every Welsh player, have deteriorated after leaving Wales. I haven’t been hearing rave reviews about Williams. I have been looking of them, but admittedly I watch very little AP rugby so would be happy got hear if he’s been making a big impression.

How about Priestland... Must be the exception to that rule.

Yeah, there’s players who were out of Welsh club and/or international contention that have done well. The likes of Brew, Dollman, and (if you say so!) Priestland. Players with something to prove I guess. But the stars of the International team that have been lured away over the years have rarely, if ever, been a hit. I can only think of Stephen Jones at Clermont. Gareth Thomas perhaps at Toulouse? Everyone else has just been fairly average or declined massively, sometimes to improve again when they’ve returned home. It’s not a criticism. Just an observation.

Steve Jones didn’t improve at Clermont. He was always good, but welsh tribalism needed the French to tell us that before people accepted it.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Steve Jones didn’t improve at Clermont.  He was always good, but welsh tribalism needed the French to tell us that before people accepted it.

I didn’t say improve. I said he was an exception to the rule that they turn to sh*t. He was good for Clermont. Won player of the season one year if memory serves. He didn’t decline.

One of my favourite players of all time. Not sure what you mean by tribalism.