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We’ve got two separate developments going on in Durban, both of which now require strong and decisive leadership from the Sharks administration. The first involves the ongoing pettiness surrounding the transfers of Willem Alberts and Louis Ludik.
A hell of a lot has been written about the matter to date (and I’m as guilty as anyone else), but the fact is that there is no simple answer and the Lions are not just going to roll over and release the players. Further, the Sharks’ assumption that the law (or in fact, even SARU) would be on their side is not enough in this case and they need to now pro actively look for a solution to the impasse.
Manie Reynecke and his pals have absolutely no interest in getting the matter resolved, since they’ve already resigned themselves to losing the two players. All that they want is to ensure that the Sharks can’t use them and until something is done to force their hand, they’re holding all the cards. Brian van Zyl’s head has been firmly in the sand up to now, but the Sharks supremo will have to take matters into his own hands and force a resolution here. I don’t believe that either party REALLY wants this matter to go to arbitration as that route could lead to a lengthy spell on the sidelines for both Ludik and Alberts.
Here’s a thought, Brian. Why not pick up the phone and call Reynecke? Find out what his beef is and come up with a way to resolve this thing, in the interest of the players’ careers. If the Lions want a transfer fee, then make them an offer. Or if you really want to go to court, then go to court, but whatever you do, sitting back and waiting is no longer an option.
The second issue is the ongoing flyhalf conundrum. I must say, I applaud the decision to lure Steve Meyer back. He’s Durban born and bred, yet has gone on to make a name for himself on a bigger stage. Most importantly, though, he is a long-term investment and in a crucial position like flyhalf, continuity is key. With Meyer and Monty Dumond in the mix, we have enough steady hands to guide the ship and bring through talented youngsters like Guy Cronjé and the exciting Pat Lambie. Chasing yet another foreigner (Glen Jackson is rumoured to be a target) will only extend the problem that has been brewing ever since the Sharks opted to look abroad for a replacement every time Butch James was unavailable.
Of the slew of big names that have come and gone, only Tony Brown and Fred Michalak delivered anything of value on the field, albeit for short periods. Gregor Townsend and the latest disaster, Juan Martin Hernandez, simply wasted opportunities to further develop our own stock. Great flyhalves, I feel, can be either born or made and in the absence of a clear superstar (although Lambie may well be that) the best that we can do show faith in the guys that we have, knowing that they will improve with more regular gametime. It worked for Monty in the Currie Cup, now didn’t it?
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I agree with you completely, time for the upper management to prove us wrong!
yawn, i seperate sharks admin from the team. i rate them alongside bulls fans.
Rob, how much experience does Lambie have at flyhalf??
@try time (Comment 2) : Who?? The Sharks team or the Sharks admin??
This might sound like insanity where you’re staying now, but this is SA…we do things a bit differently
@Pokkel (Rugby’s over, back to fishing) (Comment 3) : played there his whole school career, unless I’m mistaken… anyone else know?
@Pokkel (Rugby’s over, back to fishing) (Comment 3) : Played at 10 until he moved to the first team when he was 16 or 17. Because guy cronje was flyhalf at the time the only place they could find for him was fullback. They were not gonna let him play second team.
@JJR (Comment 7) : so Pat played behind Guy? Interesting
@robdylan (Comment 8) : Yup, because guy and ross were so brilliant together. Also guy was better suited to the michaelhouse brand at flyhalf. Running the ball was the name of the game. Pat was really calm and solid and fullback;lets not forget how he kicked almost everything over.
and=at
@JJR (Comment 9) : it must have been a frightening backline at school level. But Super 14 is a little different
Who were the centres? And wings? I gather Mark Richards was one…
@JJR (Comment 9) : hmm – makes me thing Rory for fullback?
@rekinek (Comment 12) : shit a brick, Reki… you don’t think you may have just stumbled onto something…
let’s see…
Safe under high ball? Check
Good defender? Check
Able to counterattack? Check
Good tactical kicker? Check
Good goal kicker? Check
Hmmm….
@robdylan (Comment 13) : tooo small!
@Me2 aka Mama Shark (Comment 14) : no smaller than Lambie… and he manages to get to the high ball, doesn’t he?
@Me2 aka Mama Shark (Comment 14) : but vicious (I mean in a positive way
@robdylan (Comment 15) : Not sure..haven’t seen much of Lambie….But Rory would try to run EVERYTHING from the 22…..
@robdylan (Comment 15) : doesn’t gio aplon play fullback as well.
@rekinek (Comment 16) : @rekinek (Comment 16) :
@rekinek (Comment 18) : only see him on the wing…..he runs soooo fast ’cause he doesn’t want to be tack
led!!
@Me2 aka Mama Shark (Comment 20) : i guess Rory wouldn’t be afraid of that one
He would tackle back !
@JJR (Comment 7) : Didn’t the Cronje bros matriculate a year or 2 earlier? Pat only turned 19 late last year, while the Conje’s turned 20 mid 2009 so a full year older.
@Baldrick (Comment 22) : one year ahead, I think
@Baldrick (Comment 22) : but good point… so I guess that means that Pat played fullback in Matric, even though he could theoretically have played 10. Probably a case of him being bloody superb at fullback and not wanting to fix summat that wasn’t broke
The flyhalf debacle is just an example of the bad personnel management and lack of forward planning which seems to be the order of the day at Sharks headquarters. Butch James was the last flyhalf that was groomed through the system properly and entrusted with enough gametime to make an impact. Since then it’s been an absolute dog’s breakfast. I wonder how Dumond feels to be cast off then begrudgingly brought back or young Steve Meyer who once was not good enough but now is considered in demand during a crisis. Do the management consider how they are shaping the players’ attitudes towards them?
hope ur doing good ?
yes Pat Lambie is a year behind the cronje brothers , but i find him more mature in his style of play
he somehow reminds me a lot of HR Edwards , he seems to have so much time on hand when gathering the ball and the way he runs
added to that a booming boot
but i have a feeling in time to come this calm fella might just be our answer at 10
he runs great lines and his distribution is very good
I like guy cronje but he seems to try the no look pass like butch a lot and i dont think he has as good a boot as pat
@CapeShark (Comment 25) : well, it was another point that I could have included in this article… what message does the (botched) Alberts acquisition send to all the young loosies in the squad? We saw how good Rhodes looked when given a run… Downey never had an opportunity to establish himself. Others, like Zulu, Potgieter, Mamojele, Whiteley, etc have just had zero chances.
Nobody knew Willem Alberts’ name either two years ago, but the Lions picked him and backed him and he turned into a superstar. We could learn from that.
It MIGHT just serve us right if we were forced to send big Vic back to Joburg and rather use our own youngsters.
bye guys – chatta tomorrow
@sharks_lover (Comment 26) : howzit dude.
Must say, I LIKED Guy’s no-look pass! Set Swannie up beautifully for the opening try against Boland in the CC
@rekinek (Comment 28) : byeeeeeee
Why they are looking at Steve Meyer , I don`t know, he left because he was never going to make the step up, now we want to bring back another Andries Strauss?!!! – To slow , not big enough and certainly does not have a good boot on him, that is why he left! And plus he has certainly not been in good form lately
And please, did nobody watch the games that Guy Cronje played last year, he got bullied in all of the games and not a great kicking boot!!
We have got major problems till Ruan gets back and Monty D only had one good game last year and I can remember the blog`s on this site explaining how average he has performed!! who are we kidding??
If we want tot do well in the S14 , we must have a playmaker at 10!!!
Perhaps they can get a guy on loan from the Bulls or Stormers that has got 10`s to spare, A guy like Francois Brummer perhaps??
Just till RUAN gets back, and why has Johan Wessels not joined? We can swop 3 players for him, we need a fetcher!!!
@morneL (Comment 31) : Meyer played literally two games for the seniors before he was shipped out. The first was pretty good and the second pants (although the entire team that played in that second game was awful). I’m not sure that he was given enough chance.
@morneL (Comment 31) : What’s wrong with Bismarck and Jean? Both steal plenty ball.
Although Brussouw would have been a good fit…
@robdylan (Comment 32) : “Pants”… = underpants????
@Baldrick (Comment 34) : I mean, how does a kak player translate into pants?
@Baldrick (Comment 35) : sorry, I’m using local lingo.
In the UK, “pants” is commonly used to mean “substandard” or “awful”… I guess it’s the local equivalent of “kak”
@robdylan (Comment 36) : I know what it means, I was just wondering where the connection fits in.
Hi, everyone. Firstly I want to say SARU is totally slapgat not to intervene in the Ludik and Alberts saga, as the matter could have been resolved long ago, had they done it.
Secondly: Pat Lambie is a very talented youngster, with a great rugby future ahead of him. I hope the sharks can manage this boy well enough for him to reach his full potential, as I see him as one of the future superstars in the bok setup.
Speculation is that if we do go ahead and play Alberts, I`m guessing Ludick won`t really feature much, we might be docked log points as a disciplinary measure!
@Original Pierre (Comment 39) : that’s not really worth it, is it?
How will they dock log points if we play him in a friendly, though?
@robdylan (Comment 40) : if we play him in the tournament I meant sry.
@Original Pierre (Comment 41) : but I think the logic behind playing him in the friendly would be to force SARU’s hand