All of those things are true but the reality of that situation is that we haven't won a European Cup since 2012 or even been to a final. You hit the nail on the head in terms of our competitive advantage, the Academy producing home grown players who have been coached and skilled in the Leinster way from the age of 7 or so and who play for something more than just cash. However, that's only a competitive advantage if the lads actually play. Your thoughts on young lads coming through are fair in terms of giving them game time but playing together regularly as a team helps make teams better.molloyjh wrote:We always hear about the financial side of things though. "Oh look at England and France and all that cash".
We have things that they don't have. We have huge catchment areas and the potential to develop relatively large numbers of players to a top class standard. Look at some of the players Irish academies have produced over the years. Look at Leinster at the moment. We went toe to toe with some of England and Frances best in April with 11 Leinster born and bred in the starting 15 and another 4 or 5 on the bench.
People complain about internationals being rested in the league, but if you look at it there isn't a huge difference between the number of games they play in a season compared to the number some of the English lads play in the AP. And when the lads aren't playing we get to see upcoming stars like Leavy or Carbery. These guys simply wouldn't have gotten the same level of game time if the internationals were playing more. The real problem is that we just have more internationals than your standard English or French side. And that won't change. It can't.
So we have a totally different model because we are in a totally different situation. It'd be nice if people actually looked at the positives that brings, because the different models each have their own set of pros and cons. Look at the French national team for example. Or the levels of debt in England that almost led to the collapse of Wasps. We have a model where we dominate our league, we are generally competitive in Europe and we arguably punch above our weight internationally. All in a financial model that's pretty stable and sustainable.
From a supporter point of view you want to see great games played by front line players, we're seeing uncompetitive games played by second tier players and crowds are dropping off.
You mention financials and I take your point on sugar daddies - though there are a lot of them in France and England and they will keep coming. Sure, very now and again a club will go to the wall but for every Richmond there's a Bristol waiting to replace them - that's the reality of what we're up against and I don't think that will change for some time. So how do we get competitive? WE have the academy advantage but I still think there is significant revenue being left behind due to the way we approach the league. It's not just fans who want to be associated with world class teams fielding world class players in a competitive league, it's TV, Sponsorship and brands. The new format is highly marketable and has genuine potential to recruit new fans but again, the formation of the league and its announcement was pretty chaotic, Leinster will pick a team for the weekend with very few players who will compete for Champions Cup places and I have seen absolutely no marketing or messaging coming from the branch to promote this exciting new development.
Like everything in life and sport in particular you strive to be the best you can be, I don't think we are the best we could be to be honest.