Ulster squad additions

First topic message reminder :

All of the following will be contracted to Ulster next year - I don't know the nature of each contract though

Niall Annett
Jerry Cronin
Craig Gilroy
Paddy Jackson
Adam Macklin
Luke Marshall
James McKinney
Ian Porter

Will supply a fully list shortly - still no mention of Bryan Young. Also no mention of Gaston yet

WillyGilly wrote:Is he on a development contracr geoff or still part of the accademy?

He was in the Academy and pressing for a development contract when illness struck.

He left the Academy but with the understanding he would be welcomed back if he recovered.
I would expect him to get back to the Academy next year if he has made a full recovery.
He will be a couple of years behind other props but being a prop that is not a problem and under the circumstances is the least of his worries.

Great news on Whitten. I didn't realise he was ill I just presumed he hadn't made the squad for this season. Best wishes on his return .

another snippet from Munster:

"The successful conclusion of the Laulala deal followed closely that of James Downey but their ambition to add Tommy Bowe and Rhys Ruddock would seem to have been thwarted with the news that Bowe has indicated that should he accept an IRFU contract, the pull of home is the deciding factor in him choosing Ulster rather than Munster.

Ruddock is also understood to have decided to remain with Leinster rather than accept the Munster offer."

players if good enough should stay with their home Province, other wise we dilute the provinicial bond between fans and teams. Bowe is good enough to be playing for Ulster so shouldn't be tempted to go any other province, Ruddock will only see limited gametime and a move may have been good.

being reported by one of the very few people who actually have genuine contacts on the supporters board that Whitten is leaving.

As I mentioned some time ago about 6 contracts yet to be renewed and Whitten is one of them .

Along with Porter and Faloon I would leave if I were them, to further there careers. Younger players are coming through and in some cases going past them.

Sorry to hear Whitten is going Geoff he's done really well this season but its probably best for him as his gametime in the centres is always going to be limited with everyone fit.

I still think he has international potential. Any word on where he's going?

He would have been a far better signing for Munster than Downey imo.

Not yet I'll try and find out.

Centres look like - Cave, Spence, Marshall, Wallace full contracts and Farrell development contract for next year.

I hope he goes somewhere where the IRFU still have an eye on him Geoff. Ireland don't have many naturally big, powerful 3/4's so it would be a shame if Whitten was lost to the system.

Maybe when Wallace retires he might find a way back to Ulster but for now he should move on if he won't get gametime with us.

Same for Faloon. Not quite good enough to start but far too talented to be wasting away in the Ravens.

Bit short-sighted to be honest, with Wallace set to last only a few more seasons.

WillyGilly wrote:Bit short-sighted to be honest, with Wallace set to last only a few more seasons.

...was thinking that initially Willy .....unless a certain Mr Bowe might be playing in the centre.....???

I was thinking about Faloon at the weekend particularly after the Cardiff game.
Would his type of play be more suited to the English Premiership? Certainly agree he needs a new challenge.

I don't think Whitten will ever be good enough to play at full International level again. Far too many guys ahead of him, and at Ulster as well. I hope he can get a move to somewhere he can get first team exposure though.

WillyGilly wrote:Bit short-sighted to be honest, with Wallace set to last only a few more seasons.

So you would hold back the likes of Spence, Marshall and Farrell. Surely we need either Spence or Marshall to be first choice 12 by this time next season.

Whittens only 23 Rava, far too young to be written off.

I think Faloon would do really well in a fast paced attacking side like Leinster or Harlequins. He'd be a revelation at Leinster I think and a great natural successor for Jennings. He's more suited to their style of play than Ruddock.

Schmidt could take his game to a new level imo.

Rava wrote:

WillyGilly wrote:Bit short-sighted to be honest, with Wallace set to last only a few more seasons.

So you would hold back the likes of Spence, Marshall and Farrell. Surely we need either Spence or Marshall to be first choice 12 by this time next season.

Abolutely Rava, but think about the back up we need to have. Wallace won't be there much longer and that will leave us with Spence, Cave and Marshall as our only experienced centres. All 3 of them have had long term injuries in the last 3 years, hardly a recipe for success.

Rodders I'm not writing him off but I don't think he's good enough to hold down a first team place and will be at least 6th choice centre. I would be seriously worried about our young centres if we had to consider bringing him back as a replacement for PW in a couple of years.

I think the fact that he could be 6th choice is more a reflection of the quality and talent of the other players than a negative against Whitten.

At 23 he could be a lot better in 2 seasons, if he gets gametime.

Any word on Bowe?

Hope Whitten moves to Connacht, It'll be tough with Mcsherry and Griffin, but if Connacht want to push on they need to be able to rotate somewhat, and Whitten would play plenty maybe as first choice 12,and still be under the IRFU eye.

Really hope it Westward he goes.

Kingshu wrote:Hope Whitten moves to Connacht, It'll be tough with Mcsherry and Griffin, but if Connacht want to push on they need to be able to rotate somewhat, and Whitten would play plenty maybe as first choice 12,and still be under the IRFU eye.

Really hope it Westward he goes.

With Connacht on the up and if Ulster get their hands on the Heineken Cup thats another shot at it next year for them so could be a wise move

Not really short sighted - maybe the player himself has asked where he in the pecking order for centre and the honest answer, is 5th at best. With Farrell coming through as well. He has a perfectly understandable desire to play regular 1st XV rugby so he has decided to leave.

Also see that someone on the supporters site is backing up my suspicions that Doak and Bell are on their way out as well

Willy I don't think you can claim Spence has suffered long term injuries.

geoff998rugby wrote:

Also see that someone on the supporters site is backing up my suspicions that Doak and Bell are on their way out as well

?? Surely that was a given if you listened to Logan the other night? Or was I reading too much into it?

Its always sad to see young talent leaving the province but i truly believe that this could be the best thing for both parties involved. His departure could be the kick on that Luke Marshall needs, as it will move him up the pecking order.

This could also enable Dizzy to get regular game time where he could develop his game further, I am not going to say he isn't international standard, but if he remains at Ulster and only gets the odd game here and there he never will be the required standard of player for international duty, but if he were to go to Connacht, or a mid table English prem side i reckon he could get regular game time and develop his skill set further.

It wouldn't surprise me to see him move to a penny pinching welsh side as he wont be commanding a high wage and wont be away on international duty for chunks of the season. Lu Lala has left the blues and he could be a cheap replacement.

Rava wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:

Also see that someone on the supporters site is backing up my suspicions that Doak and Bell are on their way out as well

?? Surely that was a given if you listened to Logan the other night? Or was I reading too much into it?

Can't recall what exactly he said. I thought, but I could be wrong, that theonly public statement was all coaching contracts come to an end this summer but no reference to renewals.

Irrespective of how much potential whitten has or how injured our centres are we cannot afford to have an infinite squad. If the ulster management think in two years down the line that Marshall, cave, spence and farrell will be better options we can't afford to keep paying him a wage on the off chance one doesn't make it or is injured. It's tough but we can't pay someone just in case

I posted on the UAFC asking whether people would be surprised if terblanche was instated as our backs coach, how would people on here feel about that? i reckon it could be a good move as he has a lot of respect in the squad, he is pure quality and has preformed at the highest levels of rugby as a player.

In the words of Kevin keegan ' I would LOVE IT!!!

Standulstermen wrote:In the words of Kevin keegan ' I would LOVE IT!!!

+ 1

That would be a great move, certainly for Terblanche. I would expect whoever the new coach is will want his own team though.

If we were going to be keeping anyone surely we would have moved BM into a "Skills" or "Backs" coaching spot ahead of any of the others, no?

I reckon it's a whole new lot!

Terblanche tweeted something the other day about finalising plans to extend his stay here.

Rava wrote:That would be a great move, certainly for Terblanche. I would expect whoever the new coach is will want his own team though.

Unless the new coach is Muller.....dum dum dum.......

Dont Tease Roddersm!

roddersm wrote:

Rava wrote:That would be a great move, certainly for Terblanche. I would expect whoever the new coach is will want his own team though.

Unless the new coach is Muller.....dum dum dum.......

I see Richard Mulligan has moved on from tweeting about Sean Holley to Wayne Smith. What you'd call a "scattergun" approach to uncovering what's going on...

I can't see Ulster appointing Muller or anyone who has no coaching experience.

It wont be Muller and Terblanche tweet was about staying to the end of the season nothing more.

Big clubs do it all the time Rava.

Muller is already forwards coach so could feasibly take on a player coach role with Terblanche as backs coach.

Stranger things have happened....

I am prepared to wager hard cash that it won't be a rookie coach

Rava wrote:I am prepared to wager hard cash that it won't be a rookie coach

Ha forget it! I'm not stumping up my hard earned cash against a man of your wealth Rava!

Might see what odds Paddy Power will give me though......

The only scenario wherein i could see Terblanche and/or Muller being involved is if Plumtree came in.

Now given that Logan said in that interview that none of the mentioned names were right it most likely wont be him. I suspect you would have heard something out of SA if Plumtree was a possibility aswell.

If it was going to be Muller we would have kept McLaughlin for one more year as Head coach.

roddersm wrote:I think the fact that he could be 6th choice is more a reflection of the quality and talent of the other players than a negative against Whitten.

At 23 he could be a lot better in 2 seasons, if he gets gametime.

Any word on Bowe?

Whitten is the same age as Cave rodders, he is older than 23.

Correct Cave is exactly 2 months older than Whitten.
Both will be 25 this coming Spring/Summer.

geoff998rugby wrote:Correct Cave is exactly 2 months older than Whitten.
Both will be 25 this coming Spring/Summer.

Flip where do the years go! Time for those lads to get their skates on!

The white smoke coming out of Ravenhill is suggesting that Kaino is, almost certaintly, financially out of our league. Also he may only want a short term contract.

Mega bucks in Japan or France for 9 months seems the likely solution.

Can't say I am surprised but what does this mean for Ulster.

Wannenberg/another NIQ/ with Wilson signing maybe nobody/wait to see who the new coach wants - a 10 perhaps ??

One thing is for sure if we go into next season with only 3+1 - Afoa, Pienaer, Muller + Payne even the southern press cant complain we are over reliant on NIE players could they ??

..on second thoughts they will still find an excuse to have a dig

Just re-sign Wannenburg? Honestly I am not too disappointed if we don't get Kaino, but I will be if we don't get Kaino AND lose Wannenburg. I didn't rate Wannenburg before, but lately I have realised he is a very vital member to the team.

To be honest, I'm not that bothered about kaino. I have said it before. When we come good, i don't want people saying it was ONLY because of our 'foreigners'.

The lads we have have plenty to prove (and improve) under a quality professional coaching setup.

That NIE spot will be used up, remember the times we were glad to get players like Clinton Schifcofske and Tamaiti Houra. I'd rather we had kept Jimmy than Danielli.

Has Wannenberg signed for a French club if not keep him if so maybe he can do a Rush!

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Just re-sign Wannenburg? Honestly I am not too disappointed if we don't get Kaino, but I will be if we don't get Kaino AND lose Wannenburg. I didn't rate Wannenburg before, but lately I have realised he is a very vital member to the team.

Did Diack help you realise that?

Ok they will find a way to complain alright.

Apparently Tom Court, Robbie Diack, Dan Tuohy and Adam Darcy are Irishmen but not Ulstermen.

It would seem that anyone who has not spent their every moment from conception till now only breathing Ulster air is not really an Ulsterman. Someone even had to audacity to give us a hard time about Boss the other day, counting him in Ulster's list of "foreigners".

We were glad to get Schifcofske because Matt Willaims sold him to us as a kicking machine.

If we had known the truth we would have not been bothered.

I dont think Jimmy like it hear and couldn't wait to leave to be honest.