Tamati Ellison signed to rebels for 2014

[jessta]

The rebels surely make advantage of the kiwis... tamati ellsion opted to play in japan with the hope of rejoining a kiwi franchise next super rugby season however, the nzru declined. rebels have picked him up! must be the second best center in nz after conrad smith, especially now that rangers gone

signing of the year so far!!

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Jesus... Makes this competition an embarrassment - makes the Australians even more of an embarrassment!

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Why is the finger pointed at Aussies. Nz weren't interested in signing him, so what is he supposed to do? Play ITM cup? Stuff it, your loss is our gain... Still can't believe no one in NZ signed Woodward.

it works both ways, players like Robinson, fuglistaller and Woodward, get a leg up by gaining experience at super rugby level before returning to NZ in hope of getting a contract with an nz team and a shot at the ABs. Then you have players like Ellison who could help to raise the bar for the Rebels, as well as keeping his super rugby career alive.

I don't hear any kiwis complaining when our cricketers come over and play in your HRV cup.

 

[William18]

The NZRU probably declined because Tamati Ellison was making a mockery of the system and his precedent could have further diminished the ITM Cup. Woodward isn't that good but the Hurricanes probably should have picked him up.

Also we pretty much only get sub par Englishmen in the HRV Cup these days. We can't compete with the Big Bash League.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

fair enough mate, but you have to agree it's a trend in professional sport, you can't blame it all on us because we don't have a 3rd tier rugby comp. Even AFL has drafted in a few irishmen over the years.

 

[jessta]

i actually agree with insane asylum. if blokes cant make the abs or pick up a super rugby contract in nz i dont see the big deal of them plying there trade somewhere else. when someones not wanted they pick themselves up and find the next best option.

what i dont get though is faifili levave did the exact same thing as ellison. he didnt play itm cup last year for a contract in japan then walked into the hurricanes this year (and hes not as valuable as a player as ellison if i may add.) maybe its because this is ellisons second time round walking out on NZ... but i think its a case of double standerds!

 

[ABs2011]

Jesus... Makes this competition an embarrassment - makes the Australians even more of an embarrassment!

Mate, this is the nature of professional sport, nothing wrong with it...What did you expect?

 

[ABs2011]

In terms of why the NZRU declined him, well the way I understand it, for various reasons, if they had granted dispensation, Elison would hae been classed as an oerseas player and would not have been eligble for AB selection. The reality is, the NZRU want their players to be based in NZ, play ITM cup, play Super Rugby, and ultimately if good enough, play for the ABs. Elison was effectively basing himself in Japan and therefore is unwanted. Fair enough I think! He's a good player but has made his choice to go for the money so he has to live with his decisions. Good on the Rebels for picking him up though.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Mate, this is the nature of professional sport, nothing wrong with it...What did you expect?

Super Rugby has been professional since 1996. This has only started happening in the last three or four years.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Super Rugby has been professional since 1996. This has only started happening in the last three or four years.

it does have to do with the recent expansion of super rugby, no doubt. but I don't see it as a bad thing, how many NPC players would you have looked at in the past and said "many that guy's awesome, why doesn't he have a super rugby contract?"

same goes for the Aussie players in the ITM cup, remember there is a max of 2 overseas players per team. the rebels guys like paul alo-emile and nik stirzaker already have 1 or more years under their belt at super rugby level so by taking that experience to their respective ITM team, their influence is helping the raise the level of the ITM cup players.

 

[ABs2011]

Super Rugby has been professional since 1996. This has only started happening in the last three or four years.

It's a dynamic world bro, things change.... I'm just not sure why you seem suprised, nor why you think the Ozzies (or the competition) should be embarrased by it? What about all the ITM cup sides that have foriegn players, even some NZ super Rugby sides... Should NZ be embarrsaed by that? Common man, you've over reacted. If I were running the Rebels I would be snapping Elison up in a heartbeat too!!

My point though is that in the age of professional sport, this stuff will happen and there's nothing wrong with it.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

It's a dynamic world bro, things change.... I'm just not sure why you seem suprised, nor why you think the Ozzies (or the competition) should be embarrased by it? What about all the ITM cup sides that have foriegn players, even some NZ super Rugby sides... Should NZ be embarrsaed by that? Common man, you've over reacted. If I were running the Rebels I would be snapping Elison up in a heartbeat too!!

My point though is that in the age of professional sport, this stuff will happen and there's nothing wrong with it.

I have no issues with one or two players being in each team, it's when you have whole squads with huge chunks of foreign players in their ranks. The Rebels and the Force are serial offenders. I'm not against change, I'm against bad change. How is adding (mainly) average players to already sub-par squads going to make the competition any better? Short term the gains are small regardless, long term it just hinders Australia's growth even more. This isn't beneficial. I wouldn't be opposed to Ellison going to the Waratahs or the Brumbies, it's the fact he's going to a team notorious for being terrible and trying to grab that 13th or 14th position on the ladder by investing in a short term stop gap.

 

[ABs2011]

I have no issues with one or two players being in each team, it's when you have whole squads with huge chunks of foreign players in their ranks. The Rebels and the Force are serial offenders. I'm not against change, I'm against bad change. How is adding (mainly) average players to already sub-par squads going to make the competition any better? Short term the gains are small regardless, long term it just hinders Australia's growth even more. This isn't beneficial. I wouldn't be opposed to Ellison going to the Waratahs or the Brumbies, it's the fact he's going to a team notorious for being terrible and trying to grab that 13th or 14th position on the ladder by investing in a short term stop gap.

Ellison is a top quality player though. He was an AB last year and would have arguably made several NZ Super Rugby franchises next season had he received dispensation. It's a very good signing IMHO!

 

[nickdnz]

For me - I have no problem with any team signing Ellison. He wasn't allowed to sign for a NZ franchise - so instead was picked up by an Australian one. I get more wound up when and Australian franchise picks up our up and coming young talent like Woodward (who I really rated for a while - since his hattrick debut for Wellington) and eventually try and convert them into Wallabies after several years. To me that just smacks of dishonesty. But Ellison has already been capped by the ABs and was refused a spot in NZ rugby - how can we complain? I don't disagree with the NZRU's decision (despite it being a tad of a double standard looking at players missing ITM Cup - playing in Japan and then back for SR such as Nonu) as it seems like it was just to protect the integrity of a set up which needs to be protected, but at the same time I can hardly complain.

 

[ABs2011]

For me - I have no problem with any team signing Ellison. He wasn't allowed to sign for a NZ franchise - so instead was picked up by an Australian one. I get more wound up when and Australian franchise picks up our up and coming young talent like Woodward (who I really rated for a while - since his hattrick debut for Wellington)</SPAN> and eventually try and convert them into Wallabies after several years. To me that just smacks of dishonesty. But Ellison has already been capped by the ABs and was refused a spot in NZ rugby - how can we complain? I don't disagree with the NZRU's decision (despite it being a tad of a double standard looking at players missing ITM Cup - playing in Japan and then back for SR such as Nonu) </SPAN>as it seems like it was just to protect the integrity of a set up which needs to be protected, but at the same time I can hardly complain.

On the first point, I am not too familiar with Woodward, but if he is as good as you guys say he is, then that is yet another failing of the Hurricanes franchise.

On the second point, hopefully someone can clarify the rules, but I believe there is a technicality which means Elison requires dispensation to be signed as an overseas player in any NZ franchise. Nonu does not require that dispensation because he has played 80+ Super Rugby games for NZ franchises.

what i dont get though is faifili levave did the exact same thing as ellison. he didnt play itm cup last year for a contract in japan then walked into the hurricanes this year (and hes not as valuable as a player as ellison if i may add.) maybe its because this is ellisons second time round walking out on NZ... but i think its a case of double standerds!

</SPAN>
On Levave - I understand that he had an exit clause in his NZRU contract and that is why he was able to play in Japan and then return.

So I don't think there are double standards going on as you have both suggested (there may be other better examples though???) What the NZRU appear to be doing here though, is sending sending a pretty clear message; take the money overseas if you want, but there are no garauntees you will slot back into NZ rugby if you do.

 

[jessta]

Telusa Veainu the next to rebel!!! there forming quite a kiwi looking franchise up there i may say so, would love someone to speculate on their starting team for next year, no looking to bad at all. where do they get the funds?... expecting more angry kiwis to have a word about this. i think it is a case of poaching, but at the same time Veainu has struggled for game time with the crusaders when he probably has deserved a slighter bigger share.

 

[nickdnz]

He deserved more at the Crusaders and Highlanders to be honest. Very disappointing losing him, is one of those wingers who has great footwork and pace. Really very annoying. I'm at the point where I just think NZRU needs to change their systems. I'm sick of losing great players to Australia because they are too pathetic to install a decent domestic system. Its getting to the point where I feel we are losing more from Australia then we are gaining and for this reason I'd much prefer we revert back to the ITM Cup being our premier competition with a h-cup style competition with South Africa and Australia. That way these guys get top level exposure without going overseas.