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#Post#: 152621--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: April 8, 2026, 3:21 pm
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Not sure what's hmmm about that. Saints have been his life and
he has no pressing reason to leave. We managed to convince him
otherwise when judicious use of funds, which we should be very
happy about.
I'd be much more worried if Saints were "good riddance" about it
and he was sniping at them in the media.
#Post#: 152622--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: PostVideo
Date: April 8, 2026, 3:37 pm
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#Post#: 152623--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: PostVideo
Date: April 8, 2026, 3:39 pm
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#Post#: 152624--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: PostVideo
Date: April 8, 2026, 3:41 pm
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#Post#: 152625--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: PostVideo
Date: April 8, 2026, 3:43 pm
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#Post#: 152626--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: KentQuin
Date: April 8, 2026, 3:45 pm
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--- Quote from: Jedzi link ---
>
> For me, it's too much of a gamble, ie:
> - If he stays fit and plays well, we won't see that much of
him as he'll be off with England in the summrer, then the
Autumn, Six Nations and World Cup.
> - If he doesn't stay fit, he's not much use to us.
> - If he doesn't play well, he's not much use to us.
>
> As always, it depends on what we're paying him. If he's cheap
as chips then it's probably worth the gamble. If we're paying
him top dollar, it's too much of a gamble. Unfortunately, the
article in the Guardian and the comments from Saints strongly
suggests we've spent a lot on him.
>
> A fairly pointed response from Saints:
>
> “We wanted to keep George and I think he probably wanted to
stay,” said Phil Dowson, Saints’ director of rugby. “But there’s
lots of other context around it that has to work for him and us
and unfortunately we couldn’t do that. At no point was there any
animosity. It’s just one of those things.
>
> “We tried to make an offer, but other clubs who are desperate
for players will pay the money that potentially gets him out. If
Saints suddenly had a multimillion-pound backer that might
change things, but they don’t so we make decisions based on the
financial situation at the club.
>
> So, he's basically saying that Furbank really wanted to stay
at Saints, but went to us because we made a huge offer because
we're desperate. Hmmm
>
--- End Quote ---
The best and highest paid players are invariably internationals,
so I don't think that's relevant. As has always been the way,
you need a squad with the right balance of star/international
players and good club players.
His injury record is a concern but my recollection is that his
long spell out was due to a broken arm and a couple of setbacks
when returning. On the face of it, it's less concerning then a
back three player who's had a series of hamstring or achilles
injuries etc. which are more prone to recurrence or impacting
speed/movement long-term. I'm sure Quins did their due diligence
before splashing the cash.
Saints didn't want to offer him more than a one-year deal. Their
loss is our gain.
#Post#: 152629--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: FishQuin
Date: April 8, 2026, 4:20 pm
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I hope I’m wrong but I feel like we’ve signed another sick note
here.
#Post#: 152636--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: Rugbycat
Date: April 9, 2026, 3:14 am
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Dowson’s comments on the financial problems Northampton faced in
trying to retain Furbank, don’t really reflect the reality of
what the new franchise arrangement is going to be about.
Making a small profit is not going to be the be all and end all
of club finances, it will be around growing the value of the
club, if a clubs value grows from £50m to £100m and during that
period has operating losses of £15m, then if sold you still have
a healthy profit if you choose to sell.
Removing relegation has made the clubs more valuable as the
possibility of financial disaster has been removed,most premier
league football clubs make huge losses but the growth in the
clubs values has been massive which easily offsets them.
The Northampton model is not going to be viable going forward,
if they want to compete, and the cap is likely to be increased
in the future, new investors will want to be able to compete
with the French.
The clubs/regions that are owned by or partly by their unions in
Wales Ireland and Scotland, are going to find it hard to compete
long term, as they will never achieve the same resale values,
since any investor only has control over the commercial business
and not the rugby side, and is beholden to the union.
Prem rugby clubs are now looking very interesting to investors,
with a level of investment and operating costs similar to a
league 1 football club, but with far higher returns possible.
Clubs like Northampton, Leicester, Exeter, and Gloucester are
being mentioned in the press as already being considered as
takeover targets by various investors, while we are being
included in the not for sale at any price group.
Having a attractive and competitive team will of course be
vital, which is something we have miserably failed at this
season and that will also impact the value of clubs, as we have
already seen our gates fall.
Actually not having relegation is likely to improve the league
rather than make it less competitive.
#Post#: 152637--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: dispatchesfromthestoop
Date: April 9, 2026, 3:15 am
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--- Quote from: KentQuin link ---
>
>
> The best and highest paid players are invariably
internationals, so I don't think that's relevant. As has always
been the way, you need a squad with the right balance of
star/international players and good club players.
>
> His injury record is a concern but my recollection is that his
long spell out was due to a broken arm and a couple of setbacks
when returning. On the face of it, it's less concerning then a
back three player who's had a series of hamstring or achilles
injuries etc. which are more prone to recurrence or impacting
speed/movement long-term. I'm sure Quins did their due diligence
before splashing the cash.
>
> Saints didn't want to offer him more than a one-year deal.
Their loss is our gain.
>
--- End Quote ---
Absolutely - and Saints have a raft of their core players with
contract renewals coming at similar times (Mitchell, Freeman,
Pollock, Smith, Furbank, Dingwall, Coles). With Hendy, Todaro
and the young lad I've lost the name of, I imagine they saw
losing Furbank as the best of a 'pick your poison' situation.
#Post#: 152639--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T-ish Furbank
DIR By: FrostAndFire
Date: April 9, 2026, 3:39 am
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I wonder if some people have forgotten just how good a player
Furbank is during his time out. There's always a gamble when you
sign a player for a lot of money that they might get injured and
you've blown your money. But he is an absolutely top-quality
player with several years of prime performance ahead of him.
This is not like signing Launchbury.
If we want really good players (and this board is constantly
full of people moaning that this player or that player isn't
high enough standard and should be fired) then not only will we
have to pay and take a gamble, but we'll have to accept they'll
do international duty, too.
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