I might be being stupid here, but what's the point in that? With the amount of injuries, international rest etc and the need to rotate how is 35 really enough and why does anyone care if a club has 50 players as long as they are in the cap?Torygraph reporting that prem clubs are going to have maximum squad sizes implemented. 35 plus additional u20s/academy players allowed. Gonna be a big change for some clubs.
While some clubs who have traditionally carried small squads such as Sale Sharks and Northampton Saints would be unaffected by such a change, teams such as Bath, who have a total of 73 senior and academy players, and Harlequins, who have 47 senior players, would need to make significant cuts in the coming seasons.
The transition group would have its own salary cap while clubs would carry a further "rookie" class for Under-20 and Under-19 up to a maximum of 15 players.
Does seem to be money/sustainability related - it's a suggestion from the government body that got involved after Worcester/Wasps went underYeah I don't get that?
Unless it's part of a large package of financial regulation, of which it's one part, it doesn't seem to make sense?
If the cap goes up and squad size goes down that means it might bring more big name signings whilst keeping alot of EQP players coming through.![]()
Premiership clubs to face squad limits under new regulations to cut costs
Exclusive: Professional Game Partnership proposal would reduce senior squads to 35 players plus 12 more from the academywww.telegraph.co.uk
Not sure how I feel about that tbh - on the one hand it's still a reasonable amount and multiple clubs operate under that limit, but on the other putting a hard cap on it feels odd. How many senior players play literally zero games? Just making more players unemployed and cutting down opportunities for slow starters to break through
Don't like the limits on academy numbers too - should be cutting down on paying mercs £1m a season not kids making £25k if we're trying to make clubs more sustainable
When does it come into effect?
With the restriction to 18 league games per year, there is less impact from internationals.Unless this is all part of a plan to get those 'squad players' to be playing in the new D2 thing (or whatever it's called).
Just talking saints for a second, we are already at a point where we are using those fringe players. We are using our 4 choice LH and our 5 choice lock already.
If you cut the squad to 35 you'll end up players academy players when they arnt ready or forcing half fit players to play.
Also what happens at clubs like tigers with two English locks? They have to miss some tigers games (maybe not a a many now) but surely that's unfair on them in that one position.
Just confused my the logic of this but really I get the impression the RFU will kill rugby in England in the next few years. It seems every single thing you hear and see is just terribly wrong and there is no good marketing around the game at all.
So sad.
"Capping the number of senior and academy players a club can carry was understood to be a key recommendation of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport advisers, Ralph Rimmer and Chris Pilling, who were appointed last summer by the government to create a more sustainable league after the loss of three Premiership clubs to administration last season."
Looks like it's being imposed from above, rather than anything anyone within the sport would ever come up with.
It won't, it's a solution looking for a problem, being imposed by someone with neither knowledge of, nor skin in, the game.How does cutting the squad make it more sustainable?
It's not like the cap will come down, teams will still spend up to the cap if they want.
Think we'll see a lot of reshuffling of contracts and/or ***lesAlso looking at wiki Sale is way over the limit and hardly a small squad as is Saints
Haven't read too much into it but presumably you'd still be allowed to make injury signings.Say you take hooker. Do you only contract 3 senior hookers. And what happens if 1 or 2 get medium to long term injury. Some U20s are not ready for the attritional positions.
Thats a point tbh what is the breakdown of the squad as the academy players are essentially there to learn rather than be relied on in the first team.How will this work for specialist positions. Say you take hooker. Do you only contract 3 senior hookers. And what happens if 1 or 2 get medium to long term injury. Some U20s are not ready for the attritional positions.
It is strange as other clubs don't do it in other countries so is this English leagues effectively handicapping themselves also.