'When I left I had just over 20 caps. For me, I look back on that and that's p*** poor'
Former Ulster hooker Niall Annett has urged young Irish talent to look abroad for contracts rather than be satisfied with bit-part roles as part of wider provincial squads in the PRO14.
Annett won 20 caps for Ulster before recognising that he was on the verge of being “spat out” of the Irish professional rugby system. His decision to join Worcester Warriors, who were then in the RFU Championship, has paid dividends, with the 29-year-old having now amassed over 100 caps for the side, the vast majority coming in the Gallagher Premiership.
Speaking on the Telf Rugby Podcast, Annett said he hoped that other young players in the Irish system followed his path instead of resting on the glory of the odd senior cap.
“Do I feel regret that I’ve had to leave Ulster? Yes, because I’m Ulster born and bred. I’m very passionate about Ulster, even now, when I’ve left,” Annett told the podcast. “Have I grown as a person for having to leave? Undoubtedly. Life’s very easy when you’re in Belfast.
“I’ve had to struggle since I left Belfast, which has done me a huge amount [of good] as a person, but also as a player. As a player I’m better than I could have ever been had I sat at home and waited.
Honoured and privileged to join the 100 club at @WorcsWarriors : the club has given me so much. Thanks for all the kind messages. We go again ?? pic.twitter.com/J4lok0TOul
— Niall Annett (@NiallAnnett2) March 16, 2021
“In pro sport you get offered things once. If you’re very, very, very lucky, you get offered it twice. At the time that I was offered something I wasn’t ready or mature enough to take the opportunities that I had to.
“I feel very settled with the decision I made because if I hadn’t have left I would have been spat out of the game.”
“I would have been playing All Ireland League rugby, which wasn’t good enough for me.
“The thing that you need to be conscious of is that when you make that decision, I had reached a ceiling in the All Ireland League. I was getting the occasional game for the Ravens as it was back then, or the Ulster A I think it is now. I was getting even less appearances for the senior Ulster team.
“When I left Ulster I think I had just over 20 caps. For me, I look back on that and that’s p*** poor, but that’s just my mentality.
“When you reach the point where the rugby that you’re playing no longer serves its purpose, and I’m in no way having a crack at the All Ireland League or the lads I played with, who are good mates at Belfast Harlequins, who I chat to and who any time I’m home, I go and see. When I made my decision that I was going to be a professional rugby player, and I had reached my ceiling there, the decision was easy for me.
“Had no more to do there without being given guaranteed quality game time at a higher level.
“So when you’re handed that opportunity and given that decision, you’ve got to back yourself, and I want to see more people make the brave decision to leave for good clubs in England.”
Annett had some direct advice for young players stuck in academy contracts with only faint prospects of progression within a provincial set-up.
“You have to acknowledge where you are. You can’t live in fantasy world anymore. I could easily have stayed at Ulster and could easily have been rocking around Belfast going ‘I play for Ulster’, wearing all my Ulster tracksuits and living in fantasy land.
“But the reality is you have to decide ‘Is this something I want to do’ and ‘where do I want to take this?’ To a 20-year-old two to three years on an academy contract, I’d say ‘What’s your progression path? What does your ideal scenario look like and how do we work towards it?’
“Mine was always to play for Ireland, which now looks dead and gone.
“I want to see more people being brave. I don’t want to see Niall Annett from seven years ago playing in the All Ireland League anymore. He’s playing but he’s actually regressing as a player. I want to see him playing in the Championship, where I got my head kicked in for a full year. But it was the best thing I ever did because my progression went from being a gritty, Ulster A player who can do a job for the seniors to being a professional, playing at Worcester in the Premiership.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments