Northampton Saints
Recruitment so far
By Broonie
July 24 2009
Having a look at Saints' recruitment so far for Season 2009/2010, my first impression is that the Big Bald Guy is looking to raise the standard of the Squad as opposed to trying to hoist the standard of the "Cup Final" team. This in itself is praiseworthy, as it implies that competition for places will be a major consideration, but that there are definite areas giving opportunities for rotation.
it also indicates that the coaches still believe in organic improvement; players love coaches who coach. Beware the philosophy of disposable players.
However, it's all very well having competition for places, but as an example, look at the 13 shirt last year. Some of us thought Ansbro and Clarke were much of a muchness, JC the mazy runner, good at chasing the high ball, good on the ground, but less direct in attack and with a problematic inside shoulder in defence, Joe having different virtues, in particular a tremendous defence. Quite a few of the spectating classes were describing this as a 50/50 call for selection. Wrong. For whatever reason, as far as selection was concerned it was pretty much a 100/nil call in JC's favour. If he was fit, he played, Joe filling in while JC was injured. We may not really have noticed this, but you can bet Joe did.
To my mind this illustrates well a problem which the coaches will face with increasing frequency as the Squad and team become better and it's a problem which will arise as regards most of the recruited players. This year there will be a variety of opponents; there will be national squad call-ups affecting our front and maybe back rows, inside backs and lil Ben. There will therefore be the chance to build up some job-shares in the Props and maybe back rows. If players are playing, even as the junior part of a job- share they will keep on striving and careers may be extended and injuries avoided by fatigue management. However, if we want to keep a Squad together, it may need a rethink on the coaches' part in the sort of scenario described above. Otherwise there are always going to be some who feel excluded and recruitment becomes too much of a bucket with a hole as the likes of Leeds or Brizzle tempt them with promises of game time
So on to this years recruits to the G,B&G ( whom welcome all) who are currently, poor lambs, undergoing the full attentions of The Hood for the first time.
To start with those most likely to win a Nobel Prize for Nuclear science... the Props
1. Santiago
Bonorino (aka Friend Of Nacho)- a tighthead who can
2. Brian Mujati...a
capped Springbok tighthead. Like most South African props, he probably is
competent on the other side of the 
scrum. Perhaps capped a little before his
time as a tighthead prop with a suggestion of affirmative action. He is
recognised as a superb player in the loose, but will perhaps regard FG as a
university course in Uncle Dorians Faculty of Dark Arts, where he may perhaps
have some room to improve. Another genuinely big prop, well up towards the 18.5
stone mark. He'll be comparing old school ties with Scotty Gray. Not advertised
as available before November, though, which is a worry with Euan being injured
and then likely to be lured away by the skirl of the pipes in the autumn
3. Loosehead - nobody yet. Is Reg Dreyer ready yet? How many layers of cotton wool should we wrap around Soane? And could we afford the cost?
Overall, front row looks an area of strength, the depth at hooker being particularly good (expect Joe Gray to have moved on to the next shirt size, by the way). Last season Soane and Euan probably played too much, which may even have contributed to Euan's injury. Tigers and Bath are now leading the way in utilising a job share in the prop department. From recruitment so far, it looks as if Saints are going to follow. If what we saw of big Reggie in the A league final was as good as it looked, then Saints have done a great bit of recruiting followed by a great bit of development work. This is a unit which is going to have to do without Tom Smith, who signed off his saints career by absolutely launching Cencus Johnson before coming on late against Bourgoin and comfortably controlling a prop who had troubled Soane all evening. Those are big boots.However there may be one prop missing still, but it looks handy
Did we miss a trick in recruitment? Perhaps. This was a year when Dan Coles, Nathan Catt, Jon Golding (ex Saints academy) and Davy Wilson were out of contract and Tom Mercy may also well have been at least technically available. Matt Mullen at Wuss could also have been a target. These are all exceptional young English props with early GP experience and exactly the sort of players Jim hinted he would look to attract to the club. However it is obvious that their existing clubs have prioritised hanging on to them and there has been no indication that we have ever been in with a sniff. It is interesting that Jon Golding (Newcastle) and Pete Bucknall (Leeeeeeeeds) were both in the large group of props in our academy when Martin Hynes ran it .As is the way with young props, they were of little immediate use and Wayne Smith was prioritising resources away from development, so they were cut loose to find their ways around the National Divisions. Jon Golding had a magnificent season last year and could have done a job for us sharing time with Soane at loosehead. C'est la vie.
Now, breathing thinner air... Lock Forwards
1...Dan Vickerman...quit
his job as the world's second best lock 
forward to go to read basket weaving
-oops, land economy - at Cambridge. At 6'8" and 19 stone this chap is
almost the perfect lock. He combines huge lineout ability with hard hitting,
and if we had secured his services last year we would probably have missed out
on the Nacho experience, which would have been a shame.
As it is, what sort of arrangement is envisaged as between Cambridge (he is this year's skipper) and Saints, we simply have no idea. It looks as though we expect to see more of him post Christmas which would be great if we advance in the Heineken Cup, less thrilling if not. Whatever, I would assume that coaching/mentoring our young locks and other jumpers and our lineout generally must form part of his job description. Since he arrived Nobby has been upgrading our defective lineout bit by bit. The hope must be to establish a lineout culture throughout the club which can be a strength for a decade or more, and there are quite a few people lending input, Vickerman being one
2. James
Cannon...physically, he's like another of the above but 
bigger. I presume he
will be awarded a senior contract. Courtney has all the eye-catching attributes
and as a lighter weight athlete is further along in his development. According
to Bedford followers I have talked to, James is a totally secure front jumper,
a load at scrum time and hits very hard round the park. We have seen
with the Lions the benefit of having one naturally big lock to play a bit
tighter.
What have we lost? Phil Hoy and Alex Rae. Two good players, but Alex was effectively in competition with Courtney as a utility lock/flanker. A case of a good player losing out to a potential great player. Likewise, Phil has left without having had much opportunity last year, but he would doubtless be seen as a slightly less gifted alternative to James Cannon
Our lineout last year consisted of one lock lifting; one jumping, plus 3 back row options (of whom Roger Wilson was happier to lift than jump).
All the back row options were 6'3" on tiptoe and, as they took turns to lift each other or jump, the separation we were looking for might be our 6 jumping against opponents' 5 jumper who might be three inches taller. The hooker then has to hit our 6 right at his full extension or he will be picked off - which in turn creates huge pressure and may result very easily in an overthrow. Failing this, throwing preponderantly to our main jumper creates its own problems of predictability.
At the start of the season the coaches were very reluctant to take Nacho off because they feared a lot of our physical competitiveness and close quarters savvy would leave the pitch with him. As Nacho's influence spread, and when Besty was once more available, this became a lesser risk. Juandre Kreyer then became the lock the coaches couldn't do without, indeed quite obviously keeping him on the pitch longer than ideal against LI when his shoulder was damaged, for fear of what might happen to our lineout if he went off.
There is definitely an opportunity here for a man who is both tall and big. Which should suit both of the above.
Back Row
1 Phil Dowson... On the
face of it Phil seems to have come to FG 
for all the right reasons. There is a
lot of good preparation and coaching going on at Saints and a very good chance
he'll improve as a player, including improvements to both fitness and injury prevention.
He will also get a crack at the Heineken Cup. On the other hand...Wilson, Best,
Easter, Gray, Hopley, Lawes...the competition is, you would have to say,
intense bordering on manic.If the coaches get them all playing well, then Scott
Gray is the only automatic choice as the only specialist
"fetcher" other than Liam Neal in the academy.
Have we missed something? Well, yes. I would have expected us to look for another fetcher. Even if Scotty stays free from injury, he is likely to be away during both international windows and to return fairly battered. Best, Easter, Hopley and Dowson can all play at 7, but they would play a different type of game and arrive at different stages of the breakdown from Scotty
This whole area is a clear case for some rotation. Too many good players to allow some to rot.
Inside Backs
Maybe our biggest "name" signing, The Incomparably Blond, The Massively Talented...
1. Shane Geraghty
Another brave mover, his
most obvious competition may come from
Smyler for the 10 shirt or Jimmy Downey,
the defensive captain, in the 12 shirt. At this stage I have to concede defeat.
Shane would represent a change of gear in either shirt, but both Smyler and
Jimmy are improving players. Indeed, most coaches, having seen Jamie Roberts
play for the lions, will be going into their pre-seasons with a long list
of things to discuss with any 6'4", 17 stone centres they may have in
their squads. Geraghty has been a long-term target of Big Jim, and he's got his
man, so he's clearly part of the plan. If he can be got fit and back to his best
form he is obviously massively talented, but how he fits in the picture I
wouldn't care to guess.
Overall- 7/10. As I said above, the recruitment seems to me to raise the level of the Squad more than the Cup Final team . There is going to be raised competition for places and we should be less exposed to absences and injuries.
We do seem to be getting thwarted in our search for young English players. I think in part we will find this easier if we can raise the club's status within the GP. This had slipped badly for a few years, whereas Saints was still perceived abroad as a big club perennially in the top 4 and the Heineken Cup. There is also a false market in English players, with clubs trying, quite rightly to hang on to their own.
Any more to come? Well, looking at the list of props and when they will become available to us, it does seem inevitable that we address that situation sooner than later; maybe they will buy out Brian Mujati's contract. There is also the persistent rumour of a winger, which would make sense
A final thought; since Jim took over we've hardly had a duff signing. Fingers crossed then.
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As we said on the in and outs of the GP teams I think we've recruited just about the best. These are quality in every position. In most other clubs I look at some signings and think adequate(ish) cover at best as they try to replace the quality they've lost. I know you've been critical of our recruitment ability in the past given our position but I think this year we stole a march.
I can still see a few holes - ok, maybe more thin patches - in our squad which I would like to see sorted.
You can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, You get what you need.
Richards/Jagger
As for Shane he seems to be an out of mould signing so maybe we will see different tactics at times this year. How to unlock tight defences perhaps. We ain't got Carlos any more.
That's why youth development is so important and the Saints are still disappointingly light in numbers when it comes to international age-group squads. This summer the Lions 'best' team (in the 2nd test) had just 2 GP players in the XV. To me, this has been the long term result of the over reliance on NEQ and the wipe-out of age group rugby at the GP clubs. I guess things are changing but the Saints still seem to be playing catch up.
dej
That team had 7 GP players starting and a total of 9 in the squad.
I do agree that Youth development still has much work required on it and Saints’ representation in the age-groups is disappointing.
You can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, You get what you need.
Richards/Jagger
Overall I do think we've done fairly well in recruiting and there will be real competition for places in several positions. Still a bit light in front row and wing but the crucial need next season is for rotation of the squad.
Great analysis, broonie.
Imagine before we signed him had Sale of said ok, we will give you a shot at scrum half...do you really think he would have moved to play for the saints? Thats not a steal its an acquisition!
Sale's mishap and ignorance was saints gain. Sale only wanted something when it was already gone. The biggest vocal spite is when you know you lost something but deep down you wish you hadn't so you condemn anything they do or say.
It's a rather changed picture from a few years ago. Jim and Dorian seem able to attract some excellent talent to the club and the academy is producing some good young 'uns.
And if we keep winning silverware every year and having such great balance in the squad I will be a very happy bunny.
i.e. we haven't panic signed any back three players or 7's
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
Saint til I die
I believe we are now approaching a crucial period as most players will have a two to three year contract we should now be approaching the time where the coaches have the squad they want. I would assume that J+D had some input before they arrived and basically had an arm chair ride whilst we were ND1.
Last season showed some improvement and probably European qualification was the goal for the season, although probably not by the route we got it.
We do now seem to have a stable squad capable of playing a certain way and with the ability to change that style depending who comes off the bench and where they are played, it has been a while since we have been in that position.
If you compare the progress under J+D with that of Smudger (the last time we had a settled coaching set up) over the same period of time we are almost certainly behind, but with possibly a stronger foundation, only time will tell if we can continue to move forward and better this or fall further behind. I just hope the club don’t completely blow it again.
Interesting times ahead.
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
My two penn'orth is that we have a broader and more diverse squad, so they should be able to adapt their play and be much less predictable than last season - which ought to lead to more away victories. The likes of Leicester, Liquorish and Wasps can adjust their personnel - notwithstanding international selections (well, most of the time) - and Saints have to do the same.
That means winning our home games with our "cup final" team, and targeting more away games with our "shake of the kaleidoscope" alternative team(s)...
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