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       #Post#: 109164--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: sussexquin
       Date: May 23, 2023, 4:32 am
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       --- Quote from: FatQuin link ---
       >
       > I find it hard to believe a player as talented as Jarrod Evans
       has signed just to make up the numbers.  My guess is we have a
       year of both of them but this signing was about preparing for
       Smith to leave when his contract is up.
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       I agree the club are probably making contingency plans should
       Marcus depart, but equally, given the state of Welsh club
       finances was Jarrod just grateful for a decent offer with
       chances to showcase his talents when Marcus is on England duty?
       He is still young, Quins play to his talents and he might get to
       inherit the starting position in a years' time. A reasonable
       gamble IMHO.
       #Post#: 109167--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: T-Bone
       Date: May 23, 2023, 4:56 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: sussexquin link ---
       >
       > I agree the club are probably making contingency plans should
       Marcus depart, but equally, given the state of Welsh club
       finances was Jarrod just grateful for a decent offer with
       chances to showcase his talents when Marcus is on England duty?
       He is still young, Quins play to his talents and he might get to
       inherit the starting position in a years' time. A reasonable
       gamble IMHO.
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Agreed. Also, Tommy Allan, a much more established name, was
       happy to come over and play second fiddle
       #Post#: 109168--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: Banstead Quin
       Date: May 23, 2023, 4:57 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       And here in lies the conundrum for the club. With letting March,
       Wilco and some squad players go, do we throw money at the crown
       jewels (Marcus, Dommers, Andre) and ensure that we keep them at
       all costs and sacrifice a Tyrone, Cadan or Kenners and rely on
       lesser squad players or journeyman to cover the gaps?
       As covered above, Racing can't lure him with the guarantee of
       silverware so it is more money related. If we pay him what
       Russell, Farrell, Ford get paid then we'll keep him.
       Tough one....
       #Post#: 109169--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: never sleep
       Date: May 23, 2023, 5:08 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Banstead Quin link ---
       >
       > And here in lies the conundrum for the club. With letting
       March, Wilco and some squad players go, do we throw money at the
       crown jewels (Marcus, Dommers, Andre) and ensure that we keep
       them at all costs and sacrifice a Tyrone, Cadan or Kenners and
       rely on lesser squad players or journeyman to cover the gaps?
       >
       > As covered above, Racing can't lure him with the guarantee of
       silverware so it is more money related. If we pay him what
       Russell, Farrell, Ford get paid then we'll keep him.
       >
       > Tough one....
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       With the "crown jewels" - I think:
       Marcus - make him the marquee player and build the team around
       him
       Dommers - his future is clearly as the club captain. Make his
       the captain after Lewies leaves and I think he will forever.
       Andre - I think he is a great player and a really good
       all-rounder. But, I assume that he will only stay until
       something better comes up or he decides to return to SA. I don't
       think that he will have the same club loyalty as someone like
       Kenners, Cadan, or Dommers who have supported Quins since they
       were kids.
       #Post#: 109174--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: T-Bone
       Date: May 23, 2023, 6:37 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Andre is 29 so you'd think he might stay for one more contract
       and then cash in in France / Japan, or head back to SA. So, I'm
       not sure it makes sense to sacrifice someone like Cadan, Tyrone,
       Kenningham, etc for him.
       Smith and Dombrandt are a different matter. I agree that I can
       see Dommers being a one club man, whereas I'm sure Smith will
       head off at some stage, and fair play to him.
       #Post#: 109182--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: poorfour
       Date: May 23, 2023, 9:30 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Without doing the stats, I think we've tended to have the
       highest loyalty from players we've plucked from outside the
       traditional channels - a lot of whom have finished their careers
       here or only left if it is essential for their international
       ambitions. I'm counting in that those we've pulled from lower
       leagues (Care [plucked from relegation], Matt Hopper, Karl
       Dickson, Dave Ward - the exception being Strettle but we were
       always going to lose one of the 5 big renewals that year) or uni
       (Dommers, Northmore), players we've rehabilitated like Olly K or
       Mike Ross, and (I hope) ones we've spotted early
       Academy grads are probably next, and most of the ones who have
       left have done so because they've not become regular 1st XXIII
       players - or because they've reached the end of a long Quins
       career. Sinck and March are probably the highest profile ones
       who fall outside that category, and arguably Brown though the
       issue there was, personality clashes aside, that the club saw
       the endpoint as earlier than he did.
       Those who've come in as established pros have tended to do their
       time and then move on, with the biggest exception being NEv.
       The interesting question is whether Kyle and Joe have set a
       precedent that others will follow. It looks like Marcus will,
       but I hope he does that at the end of his career rather than in
       the middle of it. Assuming he stays and becomes the England fly
       half next season, he's young enough to potentially do two full
       RWC cycles for England and still be in shape for a big payday to
       end his career. But I'd imagine he'd stay with Quins for as long
       as he stays in England.
       #Post#: 109185--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: Quinky
       Date: May 23, 2023, 9:49 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Banstead Quin link ---
       >
       > And here in lies the conundrum for the club. With letting
       March, Wilco and some squad players go, do we throw money at the
       crown jewels (Marcus, Dommers, Andre) and ensure that we keep
       them at all costs and sacrifice a Tyrone, Cadan or Kenners and
       rely on lesser squad players or journeyman to cover the gaps?
       >
       > As covered above, Racing can't lure him with the guarantee of
       silverware so it is more money related. If we pay him what
       Russell, Farrell, Ford get paid then we'll keep him.
       >
       > Tough one....
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       I may be in the minority, but I see Tyrone, Cadan and Kenners as
       being as important to the team as Dommers.
       #Post#: 109189--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: Banstead Quin
       Date: May 23, 2023, 11:23 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       There's actually no wrong answers Quinky, we all see them as we
       see them, but they are players I wouldn't want to lose, just
       look how much we lose when Tyrone is not around (not popping at
       Nick David but he doesn't make us a better side than when we
       have Tyrone there).
       My crown jewels assessment came from a view of who would be
       difficult to replace internally and with who we could bring in.
       Jarrod may prove that wrong but Marcus is something special.
       There is a reality that we may have to lose one but if we had
       the ability to sacrifice from the next rung down, would we not
       want the club to do that?
       Teams that evolve tend to win more than those who remain loyal,
       the post 2012 period is a great example of that. Injuries aside,
       had we hung onto Robshaw, Care, nEV & Brownie and bought in
       replacements for Kohn, Robson & Joe Gray we may have pushed on.
       I'm not saying they were the reasons we didn't, just using those
       as examples where better were available had we looked.
       It's never as black and white as that but, as the formula one
       analogy goes, if you've got a high performing car, there is no
       problem with giving it a new set of tyres (not sure that quite
       worked but you know what I mean).
       #Post#: 109207--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: Quinky
       Date: May 23, 2023, 1:19 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Banstead Quin link ---
       >
       > There's actually no wrong answers Quinky, we all see them as
       we see them, but they are players I wouldn't want to lose, just
       look how much we lose when Tyrone is not around (not popping at
       Nick David but he doesn't make us a better side than when we
       have Tyrone there).
       >
       > My crown jewels assessment came from a view of who would be
       difficult to replace internally and with who we could bring in.
       Jarrod may prove that wrong but Marcus is something special.
       There is a reality that we may have to lose one but if we had
       the ability to sacrifice from the next rung down, would we not
       want the club to do that?
       >
       > Teams that evolve tend to win more than those who remain
       loyal, the post 2012 period is a great example of that. Injuries
       aside, had we hung onto Robshaw, Care, nEV & Brownie and bought
       in replacements for Kohn, Robson & Joe Gray we may have pushed
       on. I'm not saying they were the reasons we didn't, just using
       those as examples where better were available had we looked.
       >
       > It's never as black and white as that but, as the formula one
       analogy goes, if you've got a high performing car, there is no
       problem with giving it a new set of tyres (not sure that quite
       worked but you know what I mean).
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       I agree with what I think you're saying... However my feeling is
       that we should have a nucleus of the tem to build around, and
       that should be a nucleus of players at or near their peak. The
       players mentioned are all young enough that their highest level
       of performance will have a few years left to run, unlike an
       older player who is only going to get comparitively
       worse/slower/less effective/more injury prone.
       Tyrone, Cadan, Kenners, Riley, Baxter, Marcus, Lynagh; they
       could all do another 8-10 seasons at Quins. Dommers, slightly
       less. But if that lot can stay together, with the addition of
       others to complement them and fill out the squad, just think
       what they could achieve.
       #Post#: 109210--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Smith to Racing?
   DIR By: FatQuin
       Date: May 23, 2023, 1:56 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Don’t forget SGB.  He’s got loads left in the tank.
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