Short-term provincial deals bad business

Rugby: Last Saturday Leinster winger Brendan Burke made the third appearance on his comeback trail from a long-standing groin problem, writes Gerry Thornley.

The new hot thing on the block last season, his story reinforced the feeling that, for the sub-international, provincial contracted players, you wouldn't want to have a limp for too long.

Time was a professional player in Ireland could have his contracted terminated if he was sidelined by injury for three months. There's been no instance of this happening and it has since been revised to six months, but (with one month's notice) it underlines how precarious a profession rugby is.

Unlike the front-line Irish players who are contracted through to the 2007-08 season, a sizeable number of the provincial players have comparatively little job security.

Ulster, with the support of the IRFU, have bucked the trend in recent times by signing their crop of indigenous young players, Tommy Bowe, Roger Wilson, Neil McMillan, Neil Best, Matt McCullough, Paddy Wallace, Paul Shields and Bryn Cunningham, to three- and four-year contracts.

Nevertheless, from contacting all four provinces, around 60 players will see their current deals expire in June. In the post-Bosman football world, this would be considered bad business. While some are already in negotiations, many aren't and, as we move in to February, remain unsure where their futures lie.

Amid this scenario an anomaly exists. The IRFU and their all-powerful Players' Advisory Group do not permit internal transfer activity (or signing from abroad) without their approval.

One can understand where the union are coming from to a degree. They want to control player movement within the provinces, primarily for the good of the Irish team. Furthermore, a free internal transfer market would run the risk of inflating salaries, although it's easier to control inflation in a centrally controlled, internal market because ultimately the IRFU are the paymasters.

Not that the provinces, the players and their agents strictly abide by the union's internal transfer code. There are at least three players out there under contract who have agreed new deals with rival provinces, unbeknown to their current provincial employers.

You can't blame the player or his agent for covertly seeking longer-term job security and exercising personal choice. The only other option is to talk to English or French clubs which, of course, is what led to the departures of Trevor Brennan, Bob Casey, Justin Fitzpatrick, Mick O'Driscoll, Jeremy Staunton, Gavin Duffy, Johnny O'Connor, Andy Dunne, Simon Keogh and others. Most would have sought pastures new abroad anyhow, but it might have helped them stay within the domestic set-up if rival provinces had been freely allowed to approach them or vice versa.

The ripple effect has compelled provinces to seek players in those positions from abroad. The IRFU complain long and hard about the provinces importing non-Irish qualified players, but, in some instances at any rate, the union's own policies and the control of the Players Advisory Group (PAG) brings this scenario about.

Remarkably, given his oft-publicised complaints about the union's attitude to player involvement in the decision-making process, the Irish Rugby Union Players Association chief executive, Niall Woods, yesterday admitted: "I only heard about the IRFU's Players' Advisory Group two weeks ago. Why am I not on it? How can you have a Players Advisory Group with no player input?"

Understandably concerned that a huge chunk of his membership are unsure of their futures after June, Woods added: "These fellas have families, mortgages, car loans, and don't know whether they'll have a job in a few months' time, and the provinces need to understand the commitments these players have and the security in such short careers."

The PAG don't generally prevent provinces from re-signing existing players, it is true, but their controlling presence over transfers internally doesn't help the provinces in finalising their squads. Granted, to some extent it suits the provinces to keep their options open. One of the most striking, and least dignified, examples of this, was when Leinster informed Nathan Spooner that his services were no longer required in May 2003 only after they had secured Felipe Contepomi. Even disregarding the Australian outhalf's popularity in the dressing-room, imagine the message his treatment conveyed to his team-mates?

Take, as hypothetical cases, Leinster backrowers Aidan McCullen and Victor Costello. Both are out of contract at the end of the season. Both have no doubt heard of the rumours now linking Leinster with Simon Easterby. McCullen, who speaks French from his time playing with Dax and is reputedly coveted by London Irish and Harlequins, could hardly be blamed for sounding out employers abroad.

Like others in recent times, McCullen might well have decided this would be a preferable career move any way, but what harm could it do if he or anyone else in a similar position could be sounded out by the other three provinces? What harm could it do if Alan Gaffney and Declan Kidney were to discuss possible player transfers between the two provinces, or if Gaffney could, say, openly approach Kieran Lewis or vice versa? The alternative is to look abroad.

Retaining indigenous players would also be greatly facilitated if Connacht were given a level playing field with regard to qualifying for the Heineken European Cup and the desire to have four teams competing in that competition was embraced more actively by the union. As it was, in the last two years, also having the Sword of Damocles hanging over them can't have done much for their recruitment drives.

In another way, too, the foot-dragging of 50 per cent of the provincially contracted players doesn't make sense for, ultimately, each departure will have to be replaced and the union are still going to have to have around 150 players contracted at the start of each season.

And tieing down provincially contracted players, as in Ulster, to longer-term deals probably saves money in the long run.