Newcastle set to confirm Hayman deal

[Sw1fty]

All Blacks prop Carl Hayman's move to English club Newcastle is expected to be made formal tonight.

The Newcastle Falcons have scheduled a media conference for Wednesday night (about 10.30pm NZ time) when they will announce "a major signing".

Speculation has been rife this week that Hayman will join Newcastle after this year's World Cup.

On Wednesday all the major British media outlets were linking Hayman to the Newcastle announcement.

His annual wage was put at almost $1m, surely a figure that will be too hard to resist even for such a staunch southern man as the Otago and Highlanders tighthead prop.

Regarded as the best in the business, Hayman provides a platform to build a team around.

Newcastle have always been hugely ambitious but have achieved little.

Clearly they believe Hayman would be worth every bit of money they can throw his way to secure to his services.

The only problem for Newcastle will be fitting Hayman into the salary cap. They may have to sacrifice one of their other highly-paid stars and speculation suggests that could even be the injury prone Jonny Wilkinson.

 

[Prestwick]

This will help Newcastle. They have a very young and talented midfield but absolutely no grunt up front. Hayman would help immensely.

 

[nik]

well it is sad to see hayman go, but i guess if nz wins the rwc than he has achieved everything in the international level.

im sure we will see some new young and up coming props. mike cron will turn them powerful scrummagers.

like i said in another thread before, recruiting southern hemisphere players does not help develop young players in nh.

 

[mimic]

As long as we see him back for the 2011 RWC, it's all good.

Interesting times ahead for the All Black between the 07 and 11 RWC's. I wonder if new players will step up and leap ahead of the players leaving, or whether they'll just keep the jersey warm til they return.

 

[Ripper]

Nothing set in concrete yet.

 

[Juggernaut]

Hayman is not going anywhere.

 

[Ripper]

Well, apparently he is, a million a year.

Let the reign of Clark Dermody I guess begin.

 

[Prestwick]

Hayman is not going anywhere.
[/b]

O RLY?

http://www.newcastle-falcons.co.uk/35_5525.php

 

[Dumbo]

Bummer to see him go... just a sad fact that some countries build players and others just buy them.
How's that... buying players to buy a ***tle...

 

[Prestwick]

That is professionalism for you. You guys down there knew exactly what you were getting into in 1996, it has just taken just a little longer before the richer clubs in the NH got tired of buying players in their twilight age and started buying with a bit more intelligence. How long will it be before the NH clubs start buying young promising SH talent?

Trust me, I don't like it either, and its just going to get worse.

 

[wygy]

could it be heading the way off football perhaps, maybe its inevitable no one bats an eye lid if arsenal fields a team without a single englshmen in the starting line up, rugbys probably some years away from that but thats professionalism for you

 

[Prestwick]

Exactly. The key is shifting with inevitable change. You can't stop players who want more money, you can take away their passports, call them traitors and banish them to exile, but if if Chris Jacks wants to play for Saracens, then he will play for Saracens. That is the nature of professionalism.

Well, okay, maybe not if he hasn't got a passport, but you get the idea.

This causes two significant problems. First and foremost, because whether the New Zealand RFU is too stupid, stubborn or poor I don't know but it can't stand having its talent on the other end of the earth. I would eer on the side of cost as those 24 - 36 hour flights do cost allot over time. The other problem is that it diminishes the chances of that bright and upcoming kid who wants to play for his local Premiership club.

Have no fear though, because fans here are driving the clubs to do something about it. There is a consensus that clubs should have a cap on overseas players in their starting XV which would do a world of good, both for the Super 14 clubs losing the players and for the NH young 'uns who want to start for their local club.

Although the other alternative is for the SH not to get mad, but get even and chase the dollar even harder than Northampton's Keith Barwell locked in Fort Knox. If the Super 14 continues to be exciting and raise the profile of Rugby Union in the SH even further, obviously there should be much more cash sloshing about and thus the likes of the Super 14 can compete with the cash being offered by the NH clubs.

 

[wygy]

Im afraid the SH clubs will never have the cash to compete with the English clubs, the pound is just too strong and with pound exchange rates versus the Rand, Auzzie and NZ dollar its not gonna change anytime soon. An average english rugby player wage is x 10 for an S.A player who inevitably will return home once there contracts over up north.

 

[Gulli]

i think its a good thing that players like hayman are coming to play up here, it will increase the quality of our club competition. and as for it not allowing young talent to come through... thats rubbish, hes not going to be here forever, but whilst he is, those young players are going to be playing with or against one of, if not the best props in world rugby.
The only way to improve is to play against people who are better than you... and this is an good opportunity for english clubs.

 

[Prestwick]

I don't know about that being rubbish. Saracens are one of the most mongrel clubs in the country, we've had more foreign players than most and the result as been that our own local lads from North London, Herts and Essex haven't been able to get the chance to play in the first XV. Its usually the Saracens A and then the occasional appearance on the benches.

It is all good and well having excellent talent from overseas coming to the UK but how are those young players going to benefit from that experience when they can't even get the chance to play with for against them?!

Ben Skirving is one of the few exceptions, born in Bishops Stortford (just a few miles from where I live) he is an excellent talent and an asset to the Men in Black!

It isn't a serious crisis...yet but I think the clubs and co will nip this one in the bud and limit the amount of overseas players coming in. It is a boon to have a star SH player or two in your team, but its pretty bloody pointless if most of your starting 15 are from overseas and those young guns who want a space can't get one!

 

[wygy]

its probably in the clubs best interest to have that balance, although it could go the way of football, the buying power of the top rugbyclubs just dont compare with the top football clubs and its probably wiser in the long run to invest on local talent and bring them up through the ranks. The return on investment is far greater for the club if they load the team with players coming through the academy together with seasoned pro's.

Looking at Northampton (spencer, reihanna)and Leeds (lensing, marshall, snyman), foreign signings dont guarantee premiership survival

 

[Prestwick]

Oh god no it doesn't. I always maintain Bristol's multiple international signings...and their multiple relegations as a prime example of the flaws in buying out of date Southern Hemisphere players.

Going back to Saracens again, they're allot more prudent in how they splash their cash nowadays. Gaffers signs a player once in a blue moon and Saracens are so desperate to get their academy off the ground that they're paying anyone who has a B&B or a a spare room at a Pub to house young talent training! So at least we're trying now.

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

Looking at Northampton (spencer, reihanna)and Leeds (lensing, marshall, snyman), foreign signings dont guarantee premiership survival
[/b]

To be fair, everyone moans about the number of Kiwis we have signed in the past, but the vast majority of them have not been star players, particularly upon arrival. Spencer is the only really world famous player to come from New Zealand.

Virtually nothing was known about Reihana by Saints fans when he arrived, but he has always shown 100% commitment to the club which has ultimately ended up with him being awarded the captaincy. Mark Robinson was an equally obscure name to most when he arrived as cover for Dawson during the 2003 World Cup, but he is another whose unwavering effort has earned him no end of fans at the club.

Matt Lord is a name probably alien to may Kiwi's, but he is yet another whose willingness to put his body on the line has earned him nothing but respect. The same with former Bay of Plenty flanker Paul Tupai. And former Australian World Cup winning lock Mark Connors. And perhaps most crucially in the case of Corne Krige, a man whose signing greatly divided opinion among the supporters, but whose devotion to the casue won over most if not all of his doubters.

There is only one guy I cn immediately think of who looked like he arrived looking for an easy retirement package - former Springbok prop Robbie Kempson. He put in little or no effort most of the time, was rightly criticised by fans and as a result had his contract prematurely terminated. (Apparently by mutual consent while he was 'injured', but I firmly believe this was spin to conceal just how angry at his laissez-faire attitude everyone involved with the club had become.

Foreign players are not bad for the English game and young talent can blossom playing alongside them. I firmly believe playing alongside guys like Reihana and Spencer helped Jon Clarke develop the confidence to play like he was before his injury.

Arsenalesque levels of foreign players should not be accepted, but the cosmopolitan style of NH rugby is what makes it as intense as it is, and will continue to be for the forseeable future.

 

[shiznit]

i have no problem at all with hayman going for the big bucks. hes earnt it. and newcastle have just bought the best prob in the world. great buy. huge loss in the short term for the all blacks and the maori. but this so called 'exodus' is a joke really.

our system is set up so we always have the best talent coming through.

i remember when hayman was 1st dropped... he was a rubbish scrummiger. mike cron and richard lowe are the main reason for his turn around and really the turn around a whole bunch of props.

its our coaches and our competitions that made hayman what he is.

look at our u19 team at the moment. that team is carving up all the rest of rugby worlds future talent at the moment even with players unavailable who are in the super14.

were still doing fine...

 

[Prestwick]

Don't forget that allot of these All Blacks wandering off to find their fortune are only on three or four year contracts, starting now. They all want to come back and take their club form (if they have it) and jump straight back into playing for the All Blacks for the 2011 RWC.

Shrewd move I think and GH will probably would back this, because allot of these guys will have by 2011 had four years of playing amongst their potential competitors, sussing out how they play, their little quirks, everything that makes them tick. If that isn't a smart way of getting an edge, I don't know what is.