Munster 2017 -2018

[deco]

How long is Murray out for? 3 or 4 weeks? A fiver says this interim super-short term lad will be eating Christmas dinner at the Strand hotel and a tenner says he'll be driving up the Wild Atlantic Way in the spring.

Murray might be out for longer than that, but yep, the money is on yet another medical joker being a fixture all season. The IRFU desperately wants to keep the wheels on the band wagon. They're a bunch of mercenaries. A joke of a team.

[Peg Leg]

"Munster" have signed Alby Mathewson on a "short term" contract.

Just because Conor Murray is injured for a couple of months? f%~k's sake.

Probably a lot to do with providing young Joey with an experienced partner.

Definitely some experience required to help the NZ beating, grand slam, P14, Ercc winning outhalf.

[fourthirtythree]

If Murray is fit for the WC I don't give a sh!t tbh.

[LeinsterLeader]

I'd genuinely love to know, do we not ask for Medical Jokers or are we just refused by the IRFU?

You would think if we really wanted an MJ for 7 or 10 at the moment we would have had a good case, no?

[Peg Leg]

I'd genuinely love to know, do we not ask for Medical Jokers or are we just refused by the IRFU?

You would think if we really wanted an MJ for 7 or 10 at the moment we would have had a good case, no?

Maybe even just a loan request for Carbery and Jordi type replacements.

[LeinsterLeader]

I'd genuinely love to know, do we not ask for Medical Jokers or are we just refused by the IRFU?

You would think if we really wanted an MJ for 7 or 10 at the moment we would have had a good case, no?

Maybe even just a loan request for Carbery and Jordi type replacements.

Indeed. It's not as if they'd realisticlly be blocking anyone in the short term (only fresh faced academy guys like Harry Byrne or Doris, who are arguably not ready yet anyway). By the time their loans were up we'd be back in rude health in both positions. Seems a strange one if they're not asking.

[wixfjord]

Maybe the idea from Leo et al is that giving a young guy gametime will be more beneficial in the long run than bringing in a SH journeyman to fill a hole, which would be fair enough.

The Mathewson signing is ridiculous though I wonder if part of it is a deal with Munster to give Murray time to get sorted now with Ireland in mind. It sounds like an injury that he could probably play with but needs to get sorted at some stage.

[Aird]

I'm glad to see D4 policy on foreign players blocking development of young local players has changed.
Or did I misunderstand the reason why RP went to Montpellier.
Surely this was a good opportunity to develop some of Munster's existing Scrum Halfs and give them experience.

[Aird]

I'm glad to see D4 policy on foreign players blocking development of young local players has changed.
Or did I misunderstand the reason why RP went to Montpellier.
Surely this was a good opportunity to develop some of Munster's existing Scrum Halfs and give them experience.

[Oldschool]

I'm glad to see D4 policy on foreign players blocking development of young local players has changed.
Or did I misunderstand the reason why RP went to Montpellier.
Surely this was a good opportunity to develop some of Munster's existing Scrum Halfs and give them experience.

You got it right the first time.

[Oldschool]

I'm glad to see D4 policy on foreign players blocking development of young local players has changed.
Or did I misunderstand the reason why RP went to Montpellier.
Surely this was a good opportunity to develop some of Munster's existing Scrum Halfs and give them experience.

You got it right the second time.

[wixfjord]

I'm glad to see D4 policy on foreign players blocking development of young local players has changed.
Or did I misunderstand the reason why RP went to Montpellier.
Surely this was a good opportunity to develop some of Munster's existing Scrum Halfs and give them experience.

I think that's a bit of a false comparison. Munster in fairness have produced the best Irish 9 there has likely every been.
Ulster produced nobody, and then wanted to extend the contract of a guy who had already gotten two contract extensions.

Given the investment in Ulster, I think they can't complain either.

[johng]

Just when I wish Leinsterfans would man up and get over carberygate I am reminded that there are still Ulster fans bitter about Pienaar.

[hugonaut]

Maybe the idea from Leo et al is that giving a young guy gametime will be more beneficial in the long run than bringing in a SH journeyman to fill a hole, which would be fair enough.

The Mathewson signing is ridiculous though I wonder if part of it is a deal with Munster to give Murray time to get sorted now with Ireland in mind. It sounds like an injury that he could probably play with but needs to get sorted at some stage.

Munster do this sort of thing a lot, and a brief review of the scheme shows that the value of it is dubious.

1. Guinazu [2014, 4 months]: https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2014/090 ... term-deal/
2. MacDonald [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishrugby.ie/mobile/news/29817.php
3. Howard [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.1995029
4. Amorosino [2015, 3 months]: http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/36048.php#.W4WaLC_MwdU
5. Sagario [2015, 3 months]: https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rug ... 60911.html
6. Taute [2016, 4 months]: https://www.eirsport.ie/munster-bring-i ... -term-deal
7. Te Aihe Toma [2016, unspecified]: https://www.ultimaterugby.com/te-aihe-toma
8. Tomas du Toit [2016, unspecified]: https://munsterrugby.ie/2016/10/04/late ... -signings/
9. Deysel [2017, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3013037
10. Matheson [2018, 4 months]: https://www.planetrugby.com/news/alby-m ... term-deal/

They were trying to get Dries Swanepoel for the end of last season as well [source: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3457046 ] but that didn't pan out.

They've had 10 short term NIQ contracts in the last 5 years by my count - an average of 2 a year. I have the feeling that I missed out on somebody, but 10 is a nice round number in any case.

How many have the rest of the provinces had in that period?

[cormac]

I think that Nicolaas van Dyk was our last NIQ injury cover signing. Pretty sure he arrived in Dec 2014. Obviously we had a few before that (Tuqiri in 2013-14, Brad Thorn in 2012, Clint Newland the season before that) . At a push you could say that Hayden Triggs was signed on a short-termish deal initially (8 months). His signing was announced in October 2015 until the end of that season as a replacement for Kane Douglas who'd returned to Australia mid-contract.

[ronk]

It's curious how the 2 positions where we were raided by Nucifora apparently due to our excessive depth, are the 2 positions where we are patched together.

They've already recruited 2 current front line Irish internationals, a capped SA and an experienced IQ player.

This was a time to give Hart a chance. Though in fairness he was signed by the previous coach.

[tomthefan]

Maybe the idea from Leo et al is that giving a young guy gametime will be more beneficial in the long run than bringing in a SH journeyman to fill a hole, which would be fair enough.

The Mathewson signing is ridiculous though I wonder if part of it is a deal with Munster to give Murray time to get sorted now with Ireland in mind. It sounds like an injury that he could probably play with but needs to get sorted at some stage.

Munster do this sort of thing a lot, and a brief review of the scheme shows that the value of it is dubious.

1. Guinazu [2014, 4 months]: https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2014/090 ... term-deal/
2. MacDonald [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishrugby.ie/mobile/news/29817.php
3. Howard [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.1995029
4. Amorosino [2015, 3 months]: http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/36048.php#.W4WaLC_MwdU
5. Sagario [2015, 3 months]: https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rug ... 60911.html
6. Taute [2016, 4 months]: https://www.eirsport.ie/munster-bring-i ... -term-deal
7. Te Aihe Toma [2016, unspecified]: https://www.ultimaterugby.com/te-aihe-toma
8. Tomas du Toit [2016, unspecified]: https://munsterrugby.ie/2016/10/04/late ... -signings/
9. Deysel [2017, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3013037
10. Matheson [2018, 4 months]: https://www.planetrugby.com/news/alby-m ... term-deal/

They were trying to get Dries Swanepoel for the end of last season as well [source: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3457046 ] but that didn't pan out.

They've had 10 short term NIQ contracts in the last 5 years by my count - an average of 2 a year. I have the feeling that I missed out on somebody, but 10 is a nice round number in any case.

How many have the rest of the provinces had in that period?

Here you are spending hours on the internet compiling a dossier to attack Munster when you really should still be having nice thoughts about Leinster's successes this year.
It's not good for you. Watch a replay of the pro14 final for God sake will you?

[Oldschool]

Maybe the idea from Leo et al is that giving a young guy gametime will be more beneficial in the long run than bringing in a SH journeyman to fill a hole, which would be fair enough.

The Mathewson signing is ridiculous though I wonder if part of it is a deal with Munster to give Murray time to get sorted now with Ireland in mind. It sounds like an injury that he could probably play with but needs to get sorted at some stage.

Munster do this sort of thing a lot, and a brief review of the scheme shows that the value of it is dubious.

1. Guinazu [2014, 4 months]: https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2014/090 ... term-deal/
2. MacDonald [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishrugby.ie/mobile/news/29817.php
3. Howard [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.1995029
4. Amorosino [2015, 3 months]: http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/36048.php#.W4WaLC_MwdU
5. Sagario [2015, 3 months]: https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rug ... 60911.html
6. Taute [2016, 4 months]: https://www.eirsport.ie/munster-bring-i ... -term-deal
7. Te Aihe Toma [2016, unspecified]: https://www.ultimaterugby.com/te-aihe-toma
8. Tomas du Toit [2016, unspecified]: https://munsterrugby.ie/2016/10/04/late ... -signings/
9. Deysel [2017, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3013037
10. Matheson [2018, 4 months]: https://www.planetrugby.com/news/alby-m ... term-deal/

They were trying to get Dries Swanepoel for the end of last season as well [source: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3457046 ] but that didn't pan out.

They've had 10 short term NIQ contracts in the last 5 years by my count - an average of 2 a year. I have the feeling that I missed out on somebody, but 10 is a nice round number in any case.

How many have the rest of the provinces had in that period?

Here you are spending hours on the internet compiling a dossier to attack Munster when you really should still be having nice thoughts about Leinster's successes this year.
It's not good for you. Watch a replay of the pro14 final for God sake will you?

Why not kill two birds with the one stone and watch the semifinal.

[tomthefan]

Why not kill two birds with the one stone and watch the semifinal.

[janeymac08]

Maybe the idea from Leo et al is that giving a young guy gametime will be more beneficial in the long run than bringing in a SH journeyman to fill a hole, which would be fair enough.

The Mathewson signing is ridiculous though I wonder if part of it is a deal with Munster to give Murray time to get sorted now with Ireland in mind. It sounds like an injury that he could probably play with but needs to get sorted at some stage.

Munster do this sort of thing a lot, and a brief review of the scheme shows that the value of it is dubious.

1. Guinazu [2014, 4 months]: https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2014/090 ... term-deal/
2. MacDonald [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishrugby.ie/mobile/news/29817.php
3. Howard [2014, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.1995029
4. Amorosino [2015, 3 months]: http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/36048.php#.W4WaLC_MwdU
5. Sagario [2015, 3 months]: https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rug ... 60911.html
6. Taute [2016, 4 months]: https://www.eirsport.ie/munster-bring-i ... -term-deal
7. Te Aihe Toma [2016, unspecified]: https://www.ultimaterugby.com/te-aihe-toma
8. Tomas du Toit [2016, unspecified]: https://munsterrugby.ie/2016/10/04/late ... -signings/
9. Deysel [2017, 3 months]: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3013037
10. Matheson [2018, 4 months]: https://www.planetrugby.com/news/alby-m ... term-deal/

They were trying to get Dries Swanepoel for the end of last season as well [source: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3457046 ] but that didn't pan out.

They've had 10 short term NIQ contracts in the last 5 years by my count - an average of 2 a year. I have the feeling that I missed out on somebody, but 10 is a nice round number in any case.

How many have the rest of the provinces had in that period?

What is their injury history like?

Most of those players play specialist positions like hooker or prop. Off the top of my head for example, the first two were brought in because Damian Varley and Mike Sherry were long time injuries. Even Scannell was injured at the time. Amorosino was brought in to cover for Felix Cronin (who, like Varley had a career ending injury). Taute was brought in for Frances Saili and Sammy Arnold and of course Tyler has been a long term injury worry. Stephen Archer was out for a long time with a neck injury and John Ryan also had health problems.

So, reason Munster have had so many short term signings is down to a large number of injuries over the last few years: Since about 2015 long term injuries/retirements: Damian Varley, Mike Sherry, Stephen Archer, Paul O'Connell (early retirement/injury), Peter O'Mahony, Tyler Bleyendaal, Keith Earls and Felix Jones. Others prone to a lot of injury are Tommy O'Donnell and Andrew Conway.
Most recent/Long term injuries: Tyler, Taute, Farrell & Cloete. Jean Kleyn was out for a long time as well.