Cardiff Blues 2016/2017

First topic message reminder :

Surprised one of these isn’t up yet. If I’ve missed players just let me know and I’ll pop them in.

Squad

Hookers: Matthew Rees, Kirby Myhill, Kristian Dacey, Liam Belcher, Ethan Lewis
Props: Gethin Jenkins, Taufa'ao Filise, Rhys Gill, Scott Andrews, Dillon Lewis, Bradley Thyer, Anton Peikrishvili
Locks: Jarrad Hoeata, George Earle, James Down, Seb Davies
Back Row: Macauley Cook, Ellis Jenkins, Josh Navidi, James Sheekey, Josh Turnbull, Sam Warburton, Cam Dolan, Nick Williams
Scrum Half: Lloyd Williams, Lewis Jones, Tomos Williams
Fly Half: Gareth Anscombe, Jarrod Evans, Steven Shingler
Centre: Cory Allen, Garyn Smith, Rey Lee-Lo Willis Halaholo* (Joins after NPC)
Wing: Alex Cuthbert, Tom James, Blaine Scully
Fullback: Dan Fish, Matthew Morgan, Aled Summerhill, Rhun Williams

Pre-Season Results:
Dragons (L) 28-38
Bristol (W) 25-24

Hoping for a good season from the Blues. We’ve signed well in some areas, such as adding Nick Williams to our already well stocked back row. The addition of Shingler and Morgan should help our squad rotation in the backs but I can’t help but feel we’re lacking in the centre a bit. More so with Corey Allen’s potential for injury.

Pre-season has gone alright. Hammered by the Dragons for 50 mins, but we came back to score a few tries in the last 30. The Bristol game gave me worries about our scrum. Ma'afu looked more unfit against the Dragons then when he joined, it seems that he has a poor attitude and needs to buck his ideas up. Gill didn’t look great against Bristol and Thyer had a tidy game when he came on. Cam Dolan seems to have improved in the off season along with Down who had a good game against Bristol. Shingler and Morgan went well in the Bristol game as did Allen. Ray Lee-Lo will be our most important player this season I feel, he has a great attitude and really puts in a shift. Excited to see him and Halaholo link up later in the year.

Looking forward to the Edinburgh game on 3rd of September. C’mon the Bloooooooooos!

Cardiff Dave wrote:Lawks a lordy!

"WRU in talks over temporary Cardiff Blues takeover...
It is unclear whether this temporary agreement would become permanent in future."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39861919

Was this not talked about months ago ? And is the 'permanent' bit just speculation ?

munkian wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Lawks a lordy!

"WRU in talks over temporary Cardiff Blues takeover...
It is unclear whether this temporary agreement would become permanent in future."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39861919

Was this not talked about months ago ? And is the 'permanent' bit just speculation ?

Aye and dunno. More news today maybe.

Twitter lot have the tin foil hats on

munkian wrote:Twitter lot have the tin foil hats on

Allsorts on twitter mun.

Just found out that the airport in Rhoose was rebranded, "Cardiff Airport" in 2009. Made me chuckle. Nurse!?

Ewe turners.
Somebody thaw me out when all's well.

Any transfer news? The last I heard is Halfpenny is still without a contract...

Jamie Roberts is available for anybody who wants him.

mikey_dragon wrote:Any transfer news? The last I heard is Halfpenny is still without a contract...

Transfer matters in abeyance methinks pending the nu-Arms Park deal doo-dah plus possible investment from the middle east.
Arms? Deal? Middle East?
Ding, ding!

Hilarious that S4C referred to Auckland Blues as "Blues" and not Gleision.

What was Filo Paulo like while he was with you guys?

SirBurger wrote:What was Filo Paulo like while he was with you guys?

Not good enough.

PhilBB wrote:

SirBurger wrote:What was Filo Paulo like while he was with you guys?

Not good enough.

Great!

He's not a strong ball carrier, he is not particularly mobile, he's not a noticeable scrummager, he's not a strong tackler or mauler.

He wasn't missed and he didn't shine in a woeful Italian team. He's done very well to get a gig in Reading.

PhilBB wrote:He's not a strong ball carrier, he is not particularly mobile, he's not a noticeable scrummager, he's not a strong tackler or mauler.

He wasn't missed and he didn't shine in a woeful Italian team. He's done very well to get a gig in Reading.

That's a bit worrying. We are looking very light in the second row in terms of quality.

That's not to say he won't improve at LI.

mikey_dragon wrote:That's not to say he won't improve at LI.

At 29 years of age and having only been wanted by Treviso beforehand? Possible. Hugely unlikely, though.

Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

^ Disclaimer: that was the case last week, but things move quickly ^

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

Spoke very briefly with a CAC committee member last week. Didn't say much, but got the distinct impression of him being cheesed off with the bloos.

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

"Thrown out", I was told. One reason being the word "Cardiff". Incredible.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

"Thrown out", I was told. One reason being the word "Cardiff". Incredible.

What's incredible about that?

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

"Thrown out", I was told. One reason being the word "Cardiff". Incredible.

What's incredible about that?

Surprised that ditching the name was even suggested.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

"Thrown out", I was told. One reason being the word "Cardiff". Incredible.

What's incredible about that?

Surprised that ditching the name was even suggested.

There's a stupid theory that the WRU might try to insist on it as part of the new RSA. Thankfully that theory is diminishing in relevance.

It will disappear completely as any new lease, as it stands, will be negotiated on the basis that only teams called Cardiff can play at CAP.

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

"Thrown out", I was told. One reason being the word "Cardiff". Incredible.

What's incredible about that?

Surprised that ditching the name was even suggested.

There's a stupid theory that the WRU might try to insist on it as part of the new RSA. Thankfully that theory is diminishing in relevance.

It will disappear completely as any new lease, as it stands, will be negotiated on the basis that only teams called Cardiff can play at CAP.

Nott's comments on twitter recently?

Nott's comments were bonkers, but quite separate from this. More bonkers when you consider his firm is advising CAC on the lease deal.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Any bloos news re CAC and CAP?

Deal is off the table at the moment. New deal being formatted.

"Thrown out", I was told. One reason being the word "Cardiff". Incredible.

What's incredible about that?

Surprised that ditching the name was even suggested.

Serious question for some of you Cardiff fans, is losing the Cardiff name sacrilege?

Would reverting to the just the Blues not be a move towards widening the market for sponsorship, marketing etc and attracting new fans similar to how the Kiwi Super Rugby teams did a few years back when they dropped the place names?

^ Oh bless him ^

PhilBB wrote:Nott's comments were bonkers, but quite separate from this. More bonkers when you consider his firm is advising CAC on the lease deal.

On the CAC committee too?
http://www.cardiffathleticclub.co.uk/committee-details.php

Cardiff Dave wrote:

PhilBB wrote:Nott's comments were bonkers, but quite separate from this. More bonkers when you consider his firm is advising CAC on the lease deal.

On the CAC committee too?
http://www.cardiffathleticclub.co.uk/committee-details.php

For now.

And he's one of CAC's representatives on the Cardiff Blues board.

Fits right in with the bonkers bloos then I guess.
Saying that, reckon the board could do with a shake an' vac. Bout time it had a re-fresh.

Meh!

Connacht 15-17 Cardiff.

"...Cardiff 7-3 up"
"...Cardiff's lead"
"...Cardiff's huge defensive effort"
"...Cardiff's advantage"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41324939

PS; no mention of the "R" word either. Just being truthful at last, I guess.

The team is seriously handicapped with Lloyd and Shingler getting so much game time.

mikey_dragon wrote:The team is seriously handicapped with Lloyd and Shingler getting so much game time.

Mischief-maker .
The future of CAP needs sorting, that's for shewer.

Pete forever, Ringo never!

Used to be keep off the yellow....

https://shop.cardiffblues.com/NEW-17-18-European-Jersey/

"Cardiff Athletic Club – Management Committee Statement.

17th October 2017.

Cardiff Arms Park

The Cardiff Athletic Club (CAC) Management Committee is disappointed that commercially sensitive discussions with Cardiff Blues have been leaked to media sources. This is not helpful to ongoing discussions with Cardiff Blues regarding the future of Cardiff Arms Park and CAC’s relationship with Cardiff Blues going forward.

For the last three years CAC have held constructive negotiations with Cardiff Blues regarding a new lease to allow the redevelopment of the Arms Park to secure the future of first class and importantly for CAC, semi-professional rugby for Cardiff RFC. It emerged during this summer that Cardiff Blues were holding discussions with the WRU and indeed according to some sources had come to agreement with the WRU over the transfer of Cardiff Blues rugby and business activity, either on a temporary or permanent basis. Clearly this had an impact on lease negotiations that were substantially complete. The rugby section of CAC did not feel it appropriate to conclude the lease citing a lack of trust with the Cardiff Blues management, amongst other concerns. This position was supported unanimously by the CAC Management Committee.

CAC has recently received an outline suggestion for a joint venture from a member of the Cardiff Blues board and through CAC rugby section, which was been discussed at last evenings CAC Management Committee meeting. A joint venture confers a substantial amount of responsibility and financial risk to CAC for professional regional rugby and a significant stadium and commercial development. The Management Committee considers that the CAC is not in a position to take such a risk. Nevertheless we have requested further detail and clarity on the proposal.

Further the CAC Management Committee stand ready to pick up discussions over a new lease for Cardiff Blues as a more appropriate mechanism for securing the future of rugby at Cardiff Arms Park.

For any agreement to be reached, CAC as a large shareholder in Cardiff Blues Ltd will require evidence of financial stability, assurances on the direction of regional rugby in the context of Cardiff Arms Park and a review of corporate governance within Cardiff Blues Ltd.

There will be no further comment from CAC on this matter until the conclusion of any agreement."

This so called "lack of trust" and CAC requesting further financial info, sort of brings back memories. Have every confidence however that a deal will be done very soon. Or have I?

CAC? CACK more like!



<Grow up Griff, etc.>

WRU Blues

Works on many a level

WRU Dragons II.

Orc invasion warning!!!
And what happened to the Cardiff/Toulouse post?

Just for you, Dave:

'Cardiff Blues have made six changes for their European Challenge Cup clash against Toulouse on Friday night.

'All six of the changes are up front where Kristian Dacey and Taufa'ao Filise come into the front-row, James Down and Damian Welch form a new-look second-row.

'Nick Williams and Josh Navidi return to the back-row.

'Toulouse include France internationals Maxime Medard, Jean-Marc Doussain, Gael Fickou and Yoann Maestri.

'The four-time European champions are seeking to get back to winning ways following last week's 20-20 draw at Sale Sharks.

'These two clubs once dominated Europe and contested the first European Cup Final back in 1996.'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41662618

Good man.

Well done BLUES.

Marvelous win.
And I missed it.
Ar@e.

Cardiff Dave wrote:Marvelous win.
And I missed it.
Ar@e.

Too busy marching down Westgate St with big Phil and protesting over the Blues name?

RiscaGame wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Marvelous win.
And I missed it.
Ar@e.

Too busy marching down Westgate St with big Phil and protesting over the Blues name?

Unfortunately not mate. Housebound mostly these days for various reasons.

Sorry to hear that.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

RiscaGame wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Marvelous win.
And I missed it.
Ar@e.

Too busy marching down Westgate St with big Phil and protesting over the Blues name?

Unfortunately not mate. Housebound mostly these days for various reasons.

Sorry man, silver lining and all that though