The Ospreys

[MajorR]

Y11 have tried to buy Cardiff before. Now it suits the WRU to offer them sweeteners to get the number of teams to 3and to avoid any protracted tenders or legal challenges. Y11 also tried to move Ospreys to Ealing (yes, you read that right) and merge with Llanelli, so they have form.

The irony is, Cardiff don’t want them. So it’s not cut and dried just yet. It’s the obvious move though.

This.
I had a feeling it would happen for the reasons you’ve outlined, give Y11 a sweetheart deal and it closes down potential threats of litigation/challenges etc etc which could haemorrhage WRU cash and be embarrassing for the Union.

If I owned the Ospreys and was a fan I’d tell the WRU to do one, but if the owners are only interested in making money it wouldn’t make much difference which team or “franchise” they owned because it would all about the bottom line.

The grey area is when owners are fans AND business people, they will want to keep the O’s going but will also have an eye on the bottom line. If they’ve been told the O’s are goners, they’ll be torn in 2 but the default position will probably financial.

The O’s have been the most successful Region and have produced the lions share of Wales’s players over the last 20 years. At the next level down, I can see Bridgend falling in to the Blues Region, Swansea falling in to Scarlets region leaving Aberavon out on the periphery of both regions, - probably the Scarlets.

Sad times.

 

[Niigata Jack]

Can anybody tell me why the Ospreys can't apply to join the English rugby pyramid. If the Ospreys become the region to miss out why should the WRU try to block a move to England.

If the Os backers are looking to move on I can't see them having ambition to look into doing like that and if they did the WRU would but blocks in the way.
The most successful Rugby Region in Wales is being killed off by those absolute clueless clowns in Westgate St, unfucking believable.
Rugby fans from Bridgend to Loughor will have no first class rugby to watch, I cannot see any possibility of them going to the "Scarlets" perish the thought

I don't even watch them on the Tele.

 

[Whaleoilbeefhooked]

Do we think the stadium redevelopment will actually take place now? Obviously some modernisation is needed but surely there’s no reason Swansea RFC & CC couldn’t work together to keep it multi purpose?

The idea that short/medium term that crowds in the semi-pro league in Wales (or the Championship in England) would attract more than a few thousand is fanciful at

Do we think the stadium redevelopment will actually take place now? Obviously some modernisation is needed but surely there’s no reason Swansea RFC & CC couldn’t work together to keep it multi purpose?

The idea that short/medium term that crowds in the semi-pro league in Wales (or the Championship in England) would attract more than a few thousand is fanciful at best IMO.

It seems redevelopment efforts are unlikely to proceed. Swansea Cricket Club have transitioned to using the Bishop Gore playing field on Sketty Lane, which is funded by the council, while The Whites are currently playing at Dunvant RFC. It appears the taxpayers in Swansea may have avoided complications regarding the Ospreys' planned relocation to St Helens. Reports suggest that the Ospreys' management has been quite strategic in their negotiations with the council, including the use of a non-disclosure agreement that prevents the release of specific financial information. Consequently, the minutes from the council cabinet meetings have been redacted, limiting access to these financial details to a select few.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

This will further reduce the pool of future players as youngsters in this region will have nothing to aspire to.....an area which produced,the likes of Gareth Edwards,Mervyn Davies,Shane Williams,Alun Wyn Davies,Elgan Rees,Paul Thorburn,JJ Williams,to name a few.....I know skme of rhese are from Bridgend not Swansea but it is now in the Ospreys region ,players who came from the Bridgend, Aberavon Neath and Swansea area were an essential oart of our glory years despite playing for Cardiff Sir Gareth Edwards came from the upper Swansea Valley.

On the plus side, elite young athletes who might have traditionally got sidetracked into a parochial dead-end sport, will now more likely gravitate towards the round ball game - important for a small football nation like ours which needs all the talent it can get. Many of those you listed were multi talented sportsmen who opted for the oval ball.

The quicker rugby dies out the better - tide has been turning for years now anyway, you can't delay the inevitable

 

[J_B]

On the plus side, elite young athletes who might have traditionally got sidetracked into a parochial dead-end sport, will now more likely gravitate towards the round ball game - important for a small football nation like ours which needs all the talent it can get. Many of those you listed were multi talented sportsmen who opted for the oval ball.

The quicker rugby dies out the better - tide has been turning for years now anyway, you can't delay the inevitable

I'm quietly convinced that promotion and seven years in the Premier league damaged rugby in West Wales.
A generation of boys regarded Michu, Leon, Ash, Gylfi and others as their heroes and not rugby players.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

I'm quietly convinced that promotion and seven years in the Premier league damaged rugby in West Wales.
A generation of boys regarded Michu, Leon, Ash, Gylfi and others as their heroes and not rugby players.

Yep, definitely a bit of that, plus Cardiff having two separate spells in the PL had a similar effect in the East, then when you chuck in how comparatively successful the national football team has been in the last 10 years, it's all had a cumulative effect.

Plus, of course, the WRU's unerring ability to shoot itself in the foot at every possible juncture.

 

[Frankie Burrows Cap]

It seems redevelopment efforts are unlikely to proceed. Swansea Cricket Club have transitioned to using the Bishop Gore playing field on Sketty Lane, which is funded by the council, while The Whites are currently playing at Dunvant RFC. It appears the taxpayers in Swansea may have avoided complications regarding the Ospreys' planned relocation to St Helens. Reports suggest that the Ospreys' management has been quite strategic in their negotiations with the council, including the use of a non-disclosure agreement that prevents the release of specific financial information. Consequently, the minutes from the council cabinet meetings have been redacted, limiting access to these financial details to a select few.

I knew the cricket club were due to play there from May but didn’t realise that the rugby club were playing in Dunvant.

Does that mean that St Helens isn’t being used at all at present and that some work has already started at the ground? If not (and nothing goes ahead) surely they can just both move back in.

 

[jack_lord]

All in all, once again it is quite upsetting that another city (because that is the crux) is deciding to end first class rugby in Swansea. Imagine if it was the other way around and a bunch of people in Swansea with some rugby knowledge deiced to axe the blues in favour of keeping all the other sides including the dreadful dragons. They would be up in arms but the irony is that at least the Ospreys are a decent team

 

[Ronald Parp]

It’s beyond me why they can’t go to three by keeping two and merging two. Dragons signed the last contract (iirc) so they become east, scarlets become west, and the homeless Ospreys combine with the bankrupt Blues to become central playing at a redeveloped brewery field.

Cardiff don’t deserve to be rescued purely on the basis that they are a capital, it’s not a real capital anyway, and they are bankrupt because they are corrupt.

 

[Squarebear]

Full disclosure. I know next to nothing about regional rugby, having attended just one match since regionalisation (Ospreys v Munster about 15 years ago).

Are all four sides financial basket cases? I've always presumed Dragons' dire onfield showing could be attributed to not spunking money on decent players. Are they in fact both crap at financial planning AND rugby?

 

[lucky_jack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1998350445010465178

https://twitter.com/x/status/1998348452372091079

who would apply for these jobs at this time

 

[MajorR]

I knew the cricket club were due to play there from May but didn’t realise that the rugby club were playing in Dunvant.

Does that mean that St Helens isn’t being used at all at present and that some work has already started at the ground? If not (and nothing goes ahead) surely they can just both move back in.

No idea what’s happening at St Helens tbh, if the redevelopment is in hold Swansea RFC could potentially move back in.
It’s been a while since I was there, but in my opinion St Helens is a poor ground to watch rugby.
A dreadful decision from the WRU. The member clubs should be scrutinising the expenditure in Westgate Street.

 

[Niigata Jack]

Do we think the stadium redevelopment will actually take place now? Obviously some modernisation is needed but surely there’s no reason Swansea RFC & CC couldn’t work together to keep it multi purpose?

The idea that short/medium term that crowds in the semi-pro league in Wales (or the Championship in England) would attract more than a few thousand is fanciful at best IMO.

Its prime land in an excellent location, so it could very well be developed outside of any sport, unless there's a stipulation that it must remain as a sporting arena.

 

[Londonlisa2001]

Its prime land in an excellent location, so it could very well be developed outside of any sport, unless there's a stipulation that it must remain as a sporting arena.

It will be a huge shame if they allow that.

Albeit it’s a huge shame that’s it’s just standing as a shadow of its former self.

Some wonderful times over the years in St Helens. What a fabulous ground it was.

 

[Niigata Jack]

It will be a huge shame if they allow that.

Albeit it’s a huge shame that’s it’s just standing as a shadow of its former self.

Some wonderful times over the years in St Helens. What a fabulous ground it was.

I agree, but it's a possibility in these days that are dominated by money and profit.
I hope it doesn't happen as well maybe the University will take it on.