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Rugby Union
Premiership Rugby / Premiership Cup
Exeter chiefs 2017/18 season thread. Chance to top the premiership.
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<blockquote data-quote="RedruthRFC" data-source="post: 904351" data-attributes="member: 58362"><p>Some good points / posts here. I've wondered for a few years whether the loyalty that the club show to players who clearly fit with the club's ethos is leading to a squad that's too big / watered down a squad.</p><p></p><p>[USER=72520]@TobyBeastTeague[/USER] thanks for your leg work with the stats you've provided. The last time I remember the size of Exeter's squad coming up here it became clear that comparisons to other teams are tough to make based on how each club reports their squad (i.e. are lists complete and do they include academy players). Also, it's tough to say what sort of value each player represents without knowing what each of them is getting paid. That being the case, some on the list might not be too much of a financial burden. Taking Billy Keast (who did play 15 minutes of LV rugby according to stat bunker) as an example, he's still an academy player to won't be taking up much cap room, I don't know if whatever Pirates are paying for his services can be offset against the cap. He's still young for a prop and is getting significant game time in The Championship, so the investment being made now could easily repay the club in spades in the future. That's not to say that some of the non-academy / older players on your list don't look like they offer particularly good value. For example, I scratched my head at the signing of van der Sluys and am still doing so now, Malton is another that springs to mind (although Stat Bunker says he has played a fair bit more than your source gives him credit for).</p><p></p><p>In terms of new signings, some good shouts have been made so far, I'm not well enough up to speed with who is / isn't a free agent so can't add any names to the shopping list, but certainly agree with the areas that were highlighted as needing strengthening.</p><p></p><p>The playoff games were the first couple of games that I'd seen Exeter play for a little while, but they left me wondering whether Exeter has become too obsessed with putting the ball through more phases than there are players on the field to the exclusion of everything else. I'm not saying that they were playing BaaBaas style rugby earlier in the season, but they were bringing runners off the wing a lot more often which created more opportunity than trying to bludgeon their way over the line yard by yard. Sure enough, Woodburn's form is not what it was earlier in the season and Nowell had two poor games in the playoffs.</p><p></p><p>Lastly, I'm left wondering if Baxter is in danger of being too obsessed with developing his own talent / bringing it through from lower divisions to the detriment of the club's development. Given how well this approach has worked since the club's promotion, but given where the club is now, I feel like more genuine star quality is needed in order to kick on to the next level. Maybe the addition of Kevesic, Cordero and Cuthbert signals a change of attitude (although the first two have yet to look like great signings). I know that the club said earlier in the season that there was cap room and funds in place for additional signings, but maybe the prospect of building a hotel is taking priority over marquee signings - they've always been clear on how they balance the books and I applaud them if this means limiting ambitions in the short term for future gain.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RedruthRFC, post: 904351, member: 58362"] Some good points / posts here. I've wondered for a few years whether the loyalty that the club show to players who clearly fit with the club's ethos is leading to a squad that's too big / watered down a squad. [USER=72520]@TobyBeastTeague[/USER] thanks for your leg work with the stats you've provided. The last time I remember the size of Exeter's squad coming up here it became clear that comparisons to other teams are tough to make based on how each club reports their squad (i.e. are lists complete and do they include academy players). Also, it's tough to say what sort of value each player represents without knowing what each of them is getting paid. That being the case, some on the list might not be too much of a financial burden. Taking Billy Keast (who did play 15 minutes of LV rugby according to stat bunker) as an example, he's still an academy player to won't be taking up much cap room, I don't know if whatever Pirates are paying for his services can be offset against the cap. He's still young for a prop and is getting significant game time in The Championship, so the investment being made now could easily repay the club in spades in the future. That's not to say that some of the non-academy / older players on your list don't look like they offer particularly good value. For example, I scratched my head at the signing of van der Sluys and am still doing so now, Malton is another that springs to mind (although Stat Bunker says he has played a fair bit more than your source gives him credit for). In terms of new signings, some good shouts have been made so far, I'm not well enough up to speed with who is / isn't a free agent so can't add any names to the shopping list, but certainly agree with the areas that were highlighted as needing strengthening. The playoff games were the first couple of games that I'd seen Exeter play for a little while, but they left me wondering whether Exeter has become too obsessed with putting the ball through more phases than there are players on the field to the exclusion of everything else. I'm not saying that they were playing BaaBaas style rugby earlier in the season, but they were bringing runners off the wing a lot more often which created more opportunity than trying to bludgeon their way over the line yard by yard. Sure enough, Woodburn's form is not what it was earlier in the season and Nowell had two poor games in the playoffs. Lastly, I'm left wondering if Baxter is in danger of being too obsessed with developing his own talent / bringing it through from lower divisions to the detriment of the club's development. Given how well this approach has worked since the club's promotion, but given where the club is now, I feel like more genuine star quality is needed in order to kick on to the next level. Maybe the addition of Kevesic, Cordero and Cuthbert signals a change of attitude (although the first two have yet to look like great signings). I know that the club said earlier in the season that there was cap room and funds in place for additional signings, but maybe the prospect of building a hotel is taking priority over marquee signings - they've always been clear on how they balance the books and I applaud them if this means limiting ambitions in the short term for future gain. [/QUOTE]
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Exeter chiefs 2017/18 season thread. Chance to top the premiership.
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