Connacht v Leinster

[feicarsinn]

onnacht have no fans so why give then a stadium? No one shows up unless its a big game or the franchise itself is in trouble. Moving the to a smaller town would be a disaster.

 

[monkeypigeon]

And they may have made a profit last year but they have to find some way of funding a 7s team soon.

The naming rights for Aviva is a once off thing to cover some of the cost of paying for the new stadium. Half that goes to FAI too.

None of that will go to funding Connacht or 7s.

+ What Feicarsinn said.

There's not that much money there...Howlett and De Villiers leaving Munster at the end of the season (probably), doubt Munster will be bringing in two more big names to replace them!

 

[roscommon guy]

I'know some people in roscommon who travel to every home game.And they would like more rugby in this erea because u20 rugby at dubarry park is not enough.And by selling tickets at low prices we can have good attedence me included.As for Munster you're writh they need to bring youg backs into the team

 

[feicarsinn]

Oooooh some people. Wow I didn't know there were that many who wanted to see rugby in Roscommon! It's a no go. The town has a population of about 5,000 as far as I'm aware so you'd need at least a fifth of the town to go before you could even think about a professional game up there, which would be unlikely considering it's a Gaelic Football stronghold. It would also be a pain in the for travelling fans to get to. The only stadium in the area is Dr Hyde park which, aside from being **** (I know, I've played in it), is far too big for Connacht to fill.


Sorry for the sarcasm at the beginning of the post actually but it's just such a ridiculous idea.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads if Connacht did move to Roscommon (a stupid suggestion) you loose some fans from Galway the biggest part of Connacht!!!

Also why move stadiums when they can barely fill what they have.

And seanAF the IRFU don't have as much as you think and the money they do have will be invested in many diferrent area's but not Connacht I guarantee, This is same IRFU that wanted to get rid of Connacht all together a few years ago.

What Connacht need is a good coaching team to try encourage players to come.

 

[feicarsinn]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (munstermuffin @ Jan 4 2010, 08:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Lads if Connacht did move to Roscommon (a stupid suggestion) you loose some fans from Galway the biggest part of Connacht!!!

Also why move stadiums when they can barely fill what they have.

And seanAF the IRFU don't have as much as you think and the money they do have will be invested in many diferrent area's but not Connacht I guarantee, This is same IRFU that wanted to get rid of Connacht all together a few years ago.

What Connacht need is a good coaching team to try encourage players to come.[/b]

He means play a few games up there, like Munster do in Musgrave park. Still wouldn't work, mind.


Connacht need a hell of a lot of things to function to a level where they're doing more than competing to stay off bottom plae. As Munstermuffin said, a decent management team needs to be introduced. T'would be nice to Eric Elwood, what with him seemingly doing a good job with the under 20's and being a passionate Connacht man, but the most important thing is a bit of vibrancy after years of Michael Bradley involvement. Of course money is vital for any team and Connacht do operate on a shoestring budget but they can't use this excuse forever. While the other provinces, must notably Ustler, have recruited well, the vast majority of Connacht signings have been duds ( Andy Dunne, Troy Nathan etc.) So a much better transfer policy is needed to advance the squad to a level where it can be competitive with the Dragons and Scarlets of this world. I'd like to see them go for many of the younger Irish players showing the potential to be in or around the national team in five years (Faloon, McFadden etc.).

Finally they really need to muster up more support from somewhere. I know this would come with success but the latter seems unlikely without enlarging the fanbase by at least half of what it is now. I don't know how much of an effort the Connacht branch is making to promote itself but it certainly could be increased. Look at Leinster for an example. We've really made a big effort up here to promote the team and it's reaped rewards with higher attendances and increased merchandise sales. Maybe the team could travel around the province in the future but not until they can be sure that that fanbase is there first.

 

[munstermuffin]

Difference in playing a few games outside Galway is you are sacrificing fans and gambling where as Munster know they have massive fanbase (in biggest county in country) Cork and will sell tickets.

As for transfer policy it simple as you say they got to keep recruiting duds and bring in players with potential.
And even for IRFU instead of letting players leave for England send them down to Connacht and build.
Get 2 or 3 experienced foreign players in (a Howlett or Heymans (prop with Newcastle)) and let their experience rub off instead of signing big names for sake of it.