Ospreys trying to shed 'Galactico's of rugby' tag, anger cyRil.

[Seaton]

The Ospreys management are taking to banning the Orange One (s). No funcy boots as well, unless you have played 50 games for the club or 15 internationals.

With the departure of high-profiled names or the so-called 'pretty boys' such as Gavin Henson and James Hook, the Liberty Stadium side want to create headlines based on their performances on the pitch rather than for any beauty rituals or fashion statements.

Players are now not allowed to have a spray tan and must not wear coloured boots - unless they have earned the right to do so.
The substance over style approach has been introduced so that Ospreys can "represent the region in the right way".

“The fake tan and the coloured boots and the Galacticos label doesn’t interest us really,†coach Sean Holley said.
“We’ve banned the tan. It’s real tan only. And you are only allowed to wear coloured boots if you’ve played over 50 times for the Ospreys or over 15 times for your country.


“We feel that you have to earn the respect, you have to earn the right to do something.

“We want to work hard, we want to represent our region properly. We don’t want to be false or misrepresented.â€

The new rules have clearly been paying off. Ospreys, who boost a number of youngsters in their ranks this season, have won six of their first seven Pro 12 matches and currently top the table.
“We are trying to get good people, good young lads through who represent us well and I think we are achieving that at the start of the season." Holley added.
“You can see by the likes of the people who have re-signed, Shane, Alun Wyn, Adam, Ryan Jones. These sort of people are the mainstay, Duncan, Paul, Huw Bennett, Jonathan Thomas, the list goes on.

“They are still good international players, but they are the cornerstone of what we want to be represented as.
“I think a lot of our good has been understated in the past.
“A lot of the expectations we’ve had placed upon us have been a little bit misplaced in some of the terminology used.
“We’ve still got good players. We’ve just tried to shift the cultural emphasis on representing our region as best we can."

So, who qualifies? Or rather who doesn't qualify, apart from the youths?

Laughed especially hard when James Hook was described as a 'pretty boy'.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ru...-boots-in-attempt-to-shed-Galacticos-tag.html

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Spray tan thing is hilarious, gutted on pretty much all of them but especially JT

Not so sure about the boots - the majority of boots these days are bright colours, and if they have sponsor deals etc. then they'd be hard pressed to find (for example) some plain black nikes, if they're used to wearing Mercurial Vapors which only come in lary colours

 

[psychic duck]

most of the players with fake tans have left though (Henson, Byrne, Phillips, Hook)

by the way their is tanning shop right outside the Liberty Stadium

that Galacticos thing was always false in my opinion, players like Jonathan Thomas, Andrew Bishop, Huw Bennett hardly ever qualified as galacticos

 

[ipraytooshane]

Holley is such a tool.
The sooner he is out the better, treating them like school children. he always talks about respect but who is going to have respect for a man who gives them special belt buckles and bans them from wearing the boots they have payed for, this has really really anoyed me

 

[Draggs]

Anyone else think this could make the boots seem more like a status symbol for the veterans? Still creating separation, despite their plan.
I really think it will take more than this to sort the club out. Unfortunately they didn't ban fleece headbands.

 

[scarlets-fan]

I think it's a good thing to ban fake tan, because the last thing we want is rugby players to turn into pampered football players. The main 'Spice Boys' have left the O's so I think their image will change anyway, but banning coloured boots!? WHY???

This might be Sean Holley's theory but believe it or not wearing bright coloured boots doesn't make you run faster, or play better. It's an illusion!! haha They should be able to wear whatever boots they want, and in turn getting as much sponsorship money as possible. The more money players make here, the less likely they are to go to France.

I'm surprised he hasn't had a go at hair gel, because loads of players use that even though they're about to play 80mins of rugby.

 

[Gavin]

As if losing the tan and boots will make them play any differently. It was not those things that affected them, it was the players non-ability put a sequence of good performances together.