Leicester players' revolt makes them look out of step - Andy Goode
The Leicester Tigers players’ revolt and potential legal action might have been understandable at the start of the coronavirus crisis but it doesn’t look good at all now. While the source of the leak to the national press hasn’t been revealed, most people assume it has come from the players’ side rather than the club and I don’t think it’s going to do them any favours.
Actions like this would have been understandable a few weeks ago but the situation has moved on and it has become apparent just how bleak the picture is for the sport, so I’m not sure there will be anywhere near as much sympathy for the players now.
According to reports, the Tigers squad rejected plans to slash salaries by 25 per cent following legal advice, but the club pushed through the deductions anyway. It might not be fair to compare players with people doing other jobs to some extent but other rugby club employees on £20,000 per year are being furloughed, so it would be interesting to know what they make of all this.
On top of that, there are the fans to consider. A lot of them will be sat at home reading about the players’ situation having been furloughed, lost a lot of their income or maybe even having lost their jobs in some cases. All clubs and playing groups will have had similar conversations behind the scenes and players at other clubs will be unhappy, but it seems that a lot of the Tigers players have opted to stand together and at least start the ball rolling towards legal action.
There was also a recent story in the media about Bath as well, which was swiftly dealt with by captain Charlie Ewels, so the Leicester players aren’t on their own, but they look out of step now with the severity of coronavirus and the financial problems facing rugby having now moved on.
So much for the idea that it would be easy enough to reschedule any postponed internationals https://t.co/KGpx0lGsC4
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 24, 2020
One of the players’ main issues is that they have been deducted wages without their consent and that has happened already in the latest pay packet. You can see why that wouldn’t go down well and I can empathise with them on that front. Nobody is enjoying this situation at all and you would have hoped that an agreement could have been reached between the players and the club rather than this deduction just being imposed.
I have already said that when we first heard about the prospect of pay cuts, I would have been with them in saying I wasn’t happy about it but I just feel it’s unavoidable now and this doesn’t look good at all. It’s obviously through no fault of their own but rugby players can’t do their jobs at the moment with no sport being played, so I don’t think they can reasonably demand 100 per cent of their wages when the businesses that are paying them are struggling so badly.
Almost everyone is being affected by coronavirus in some way and for rugby clubs, the revenue has dried up. There are no gate receipts, hospitality income, etc, and that may not even return when the rugby does resume as some games may be played behind closed doors.
Consequently, there is just no way that they can go on with the same outgoings and now we know how precarious the financial situation is there has to be an element of the players showing solidarity with their clubs so that they have jobs to go back to.
We have spoken a fair bit about the changing picture at Leicester over the past few years in terms of the hierarchy of the club and the relationship with the fans and the family ethos does seem to have fallen by the wayside. This latest development has the potential to drive a real wedge between players and fans, though.
Also, league positions and performances on the pitch shouldn’t come into the equation here because it is people’s livelihoods we are talking about but, unfortunately for the Tigers players, the fact that they have underperformed for the last couple of years will make it look worse to a lot of people.
It’s easy for me to sit here as a retired player and say that players are just going to have to accept a pay cut but I honestly don’t see another option given the predicament we have found ourselves in as a sport. I do empathise with the players in that I’m sure some clubs could have handled things better but that doesn’t change the financial situation they are in and the cuts were inevitable.
Nobody wants to take a pay cut and a rugby player’s career is a short one, but this is a story that doesn’t reflect well on anyone. Hopefully, the players can take the broader financial situation into account and it isn’t one that will rumble on for much longer.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt 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 commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments