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#Post#: 155049--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: DazzaS
Date: June 4, 2026, 1:48 am
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The Telegraph seem to point out her punctuality and work ethic
since winning the world cup. She has also favoured going to
commercial opportunities over a team social.
By her own admittance, she has said she has struggled to get
motivated for a club game with a smaller crowd compared to world
cup attendances.
But her entire commercial income is based on playing well for
both club and country. That will evaporate if she is seen to not
be reliable. The Telegraph noted her being an hour late for
their interview a few months back.
I can imagine her being picked up by another club soon but the
fact she was not even granted the permission of a send off to
the fans feels a bit petty on the club's point of view.
But if they went down the disciplary process with her, you
generally do not grant a send off for someone you essentially
sacked.
I wonder if that Telegraph article can from a club briefing to
them to to save reputation and for damage control.
Still a massive shame as my nieces loved going to watch her in
the PWR and six nations
#Post#: 155050--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: championes
Date: June 4, 2026, 1:52 am
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Yeah unfortunately it does all tie together with the lack of
“send off”, no quote from her in the club press release etc -
sounds like it was all falling apart rather quickly.
A shame but you can’t have someone who thinks they’re bigger
than the team.
#Post#: 155051--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: Rugbycat
Date: June 4, 2026, 2:45 am
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Every cloud has a silver lining.
HTML https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL4ZwSgtIi6/?hl=en
HTML https://www.ruck.co.uk/england-u21s-talent-reflects-on-debut-hat-trick-and-ellie-kildunne-inspiration/
#Post#: 155052--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: euroquin
Date: June 4, 2026, 3:02 am
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Well, if accurate, that Telegraph story reflects well on no-one
concerned. Obviously on Ellie, but also on Chis and club more
widely. To be a good boss, you have to be able to manage
superstars, and that might need to be done differently to the
way you manage other players. Gregor Townsend's struggle with
Finn Russell comes to mind. If you can't get one of the best
players in the world performing for you, that reflects badly on
you more than them.
#Post#: 155053--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: Yareet
Date: June 4, 2026, 3:16 am
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--- Quote from: quinton link ---
>
> It’s now clear why she’s leaving, and why she’s not happy to
be leaving. Thing is, which club is going to want to take on a
celebrity who can’t turn up on time. She presently lives in
Reading and has stated that she misses Yorkshire but the most
northerly PWR clubs are Loughborough Lightening and Leicester
Tiger, Tigers who have not one a single game in the PWR 25/26
session, or as someone else posted, concentrating on her beloved
Red Rose only.
>
--- End Quote ---
WHAT? 🤬
#Post#: 155055--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: Quinto
Date: June 4, 2026, 3:38 am
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--- Quote from: euroquin link ---
>
> Well, if accurate, that Telegraph story reflects well on
no-one concerned. Obviously on Ellie, but also on Chis and club
more widely. To be a good boss, you have to be able to manage
superstars, and that might need to be done differently to the
way you manage other players. Gregor Townsend's struggle with
Finn Russell comes to mind. If you can't get one of the best
players in the world performing for you, that reflects badly on
you more than them.
>
--- End Quote ---
That's nonsense
#Post#: 155056--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: June 4, 2026, 3:57 am
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Archived version of the article here:
HTML https://archive.is/TgBE8
Hmm, this rang a bell. Googling earlier interviews, she has
ADHD, and time blindness & issues with timekeeping in general
are a huge problem for people with ADHD.
Personally I think that if you have a player who is
game-warpingly good and isn't a toxic presence (more on this in
a bit) then you ought to be not just making allowances but
working directly with them to improve the situation and not
taking it as a personal failing / lack of caring. The flip side
of that is that Ellie also has to take it seriously, acknowledge
that it's a problem, and commit to doing what she can to improve
it.
Which probably also ties in with the "prioritised a commercial
opportunity over a team social" bit. In isolation it's not a
huge deal really, but if the club is extending her a lot of
grace for her neurodivergence then she has to have the
understanding that she should sacrifice a few opportunities in
order to pay back some of that.
Think maybe a bit too much has been read into that one line,
though, and I don't know if the timekeeping is the only reason
why Chisholm was upset with her attitude to training.
Sounds like ultimately this was probably an avoidable situation,
and in normal circumstances would be a relatively harsh but
understandable outcome that both parties should learn from. But
I think Ellie Kildunne is not normal circumstances and she's
that good - and that much of a draw for the club - that if Quins
didn't try everything to work with her on this, then they've
made a huge mistake.
(I don't know where all the stuff about image rights, upsetting
lots of coaches and players, asking for a big payrise, and
wanting loads of time off comes from as it's not in this article
at least)
#Post#: 155057--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: Yareet
Date: June 4, 2026, 3:58 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: euroquin link ---
>
> Well, if accurate, that Telegraph story reflects well on
no-one concerned. Obviously on Ellie, but also on Chis and club
more widely. To be a good boss, you have to be able to manage
superstars, and that might need to be done differently to the
way you manage other players. Gregor Townsend's struggle with
Finn Russell comes to mind. If you can't get one of the best
players in the world performing for you, that reflects badly on
you more than them.
>
--- End Quote ---
The NZ Men's team have a "No numpties" rule
Alex Ferguson and Dave Brailsford agreed that the first rule of
a successful team is "Get rid of the numpties"
I'm not suggesting that Ellie fell into either of those camps
but some of the most successful coaches seem to disagree with
your opinion
#Post#: 155059--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: June 4, 2026, 4:02 am
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That NZ rule is famously one that is extremely flexible when
they feel like it, mind. And by all accounts, Brailsford ended
up being one of the c's and has a lot of questions hanging over
him and the spectre of doping.
Realistically what all that means is they want players who do
what they're told and stick to the structures they've been given
without causing any friction, which is of course totally
understandable and desirable from a coaching perspective. It
doesn't lead to getting the best out of everyone, but it does
work for the types of players they want.
#Post#: 155060--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ellie?
DIR By: DOK
Date: June 4, 2026, 4:04 am
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I have to say that without knowing the club's
discussions/moves/compromises/offers in all this, it seems a bit
unfair to say they should have done more when we don't know what
they have done. For all we know there was nothing more they
could do.
If the Telegraph article is to be believed Ellie hit a bit of a
flat spot in response to the finishing the World Cup. I've seen
people criticising the club elsewhere because of her ADHD making
timekeeping difficult. But presumably her timekeeping didn't
used to be the problem it has become, so she used to be able to
work round it. (this was written before the previous 3
responses)
Again, without knowing the facts, I feel it's grossly unfair to
point a finger at Ross Chisolm and say his people skills are at
fault. And widening that to the club, we don't know what efforts
were made to accomodate Ellie's problems and so to keep her.
But I think we can be pretty sure that if a decision was made
that a parting of the ways had to happen, then that would only
happen after every other avenue of keeping Ellie was explored.
But if this situation was viewed as harming the team, if no
compromise could be found, if there was no light at the end of
the tunnel, then maybe this is for the best all round. If Ellie
is in a flat place, then maybe Ellie needs to go find her mojo
again, and maybe that wasn't going to happen by hanging on at
the club causing issues in the meantime. It sounds like she
wasn't looking for the clean break, that the club instigated it.
But if the club truly believed keeping her on would cause the
situation to become toxic, then it was the right thing to do.
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