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Jack signs with Tasman

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woosaah

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Jack signs with Tasman
07 June 2006 
By DANIEL GILHOOLY

The value of new signing Chris Jack stretches well beyond the handful of games he will play for Tasman according to the new rugby union's boss.


World class All Blacks lock Jack was today unveiled as the first major transfer ahead of this year's inaugural Air New Zealand Cup.

Canterbury granted him an early release to sign a two-year deal with Tasman, a new union formed by the merging of Nelson Bays and Marlborough.

His contract begins in this year's 14-team Air New Zealand Cup starting in July but Jack is likely to play little part as his probable All Blacks commitments don't end until early September.

There will still be seven weeks remaining in the new provincial competition at that point but Tasman Rugby Union chief executive Lee Germon admitted they would see little of the 48-test veteran as he was sure to be designated a rest period by the All Blacks management.

"The reality is that any union looking to sign an All Black needs to think pretty carefully about it baring in mind the limited game time that we know they'll have," Germon said.

"But when you have a player and a person of the calibre of Chris offered to us as an opportunity, we'd be fools not to grab it.

"We see Chris contributing on the park but that's only a tiny fraction of the reason we've wanted to get him. We see him contributing immensely to our younger players and the union as a whole in terms of creating leadership and the culture."

All Blacks winger Rico Gear played four games for Nelson Bays in last year's NPC second division and Tasman can realistically expect to get a similar output from Gear and Jack this year.

Jack, clad in a Tasman Makos shirt at the formal announcement in Hamilton today, said he instigated the move in search of new challenges.

He admitted it was important for him to remain in the Crusaders Super 14 catchment area so he could continue playing for the champion franchise.

"It's been a tough decision for me, I'm leaving my friends and family behind," he said.

"But also I saw a chance for me to grow and enjoy a bit of rugby somewhere else. It's going to be exciting for me. I've played for Canterbury since I was 20 and to play somewhere else is exciting."

The deal took just four weeks of negotiation to complete.

Jack sought advice from All Blacks forwards coach Steve Hansen and former All Blacks and Canterbury prop Greg Feek, who has signed to play for Tasman, before making his decision.

His wife's parents live in Nelson which was another factor but Jack was unsure if he would shift north from Christchurch.

He denied the shift was connected to the salary cap which has been introduced for the new competition and designed to spread talent around the country.

Germon didn't expect Jack's shift - which was a free transfer under the new regulations - to spark wholesale movement in the New Zealand domestic game.

"The player still has to be prepared to move so it comes down to that decision resting still with the player," Germon said.

"It's over to unions such as Tasman and the new unions coming into the competition to make sure we cater for the opportunity for bigger name players to join us.

"We're trying to get up to speed quite quickly here as a new union. Having someone like Jacko, with the Greg Feeks of this world is going to help us get there a bit quicker."

Tasman will be coached by Dennis Brown and managed by former All Blacks captain Todd Blackadder.

Last month they signed two English club players, Exeter lock Chris Bentley and Bedford prop John Brooks to go with the acquisition of England sevens star Ben Gollings.

However, Germon said three-quarters of their current 50-man squad were home-grown.

A squad of 26 will be announced in mid-July to play in the Air New Zealand Cup.

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http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3693088a1823,00.html

surprised no1 said anything about this already big news i th ink and a bit of a coup for tasman

might help them compete in the air new zealand cup

just a little more
 
yeah well thats stupid

mainly because this is for this year which we are in 2006 and not 2007 thats why i didnt even look at that
 
Well, not meaning to interfere, but I wouldn't have found it elsewhere. It's deserving of it's own thread in my book.

This thread is a good place to discuss what such transfers will do for the AirNZ NPC.

What a strong competition it will be across the board, should a few more of these transfers happen.

You can pool talent in one union and it's good for that union, but this could mean a more diverse and meaningful competition.

Great move Tasman! I hope this somewhat weakens the Canterbury Colossus.
 
jack woudlnt play much for canterbury anyway

but saying that it does weeken them for the end of the competition, the business end.
 
Originally posted by woosaah@Jun 8 2006, 02:18 PM
yeah well thats stupid

mainly because this is for this year which we are in 2006 and not 2007 thats why i didnt even look at that
well look next time. I didn't put in here because we will just need up with threads for each new signing so I decided to put in an existing thread about transfers. and this transfer does affect 2007 as well because jack signed for 2 years for tasman.

this transfer doesn't really do anything to weaken canterbury. if jack had moved to a team outside of the crusaders region it would have for sure.
 
Good to see someone proving still more people wrong...... :rolleyes:

Still, last I heard opinions were still allowed....right or wrong.
 
well its still worth its own thread

hell, its chris jack, the giant penis
 
it's good he's moved unions but kinda stink he won't play much as opposed to collins playing for northland, he'll play a heck of alot more for them. where are the tasman orcas based anyway?
i reckon wellington shud give up nonu or smith to manawatu or sumthin until umaga fully retires. i hope tamati ellison gets more game time at 1st 5, i think he has the potential to be a better fly half than gopperth.
 
Originally posted by 187@Jun 9 2006, 12:25 AM
it's good he's moved unions but kinda stink he won't play much as opposed to collins playing for northland, he'll play a heck of alot more for them. where are the tasman orcas based anyway?
i reckon wellington shud give up nonu or smith to manawatu or sumthin until umaga fully retires. i hope tamati ellison gets more game time at 1st 5, i think he has the potential to be a better fly half than gopperth.
tasman MAKOS are based here in marlborough and nelson, I'm still hearing aaron maugers name thrown around town to possibly sign for us
 
I did heard we may be getting a back from Canterbury and I've heard Mauger's name thrown around as well, though I don't think it's possible unless they have changed the rules, only one current All Black could be signed a season. That's how we ended up with Gear because Canterbury had already signed Tuiali'i. Still maybe from next season.
 

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