Championship Recruitment - the times they are a-changin'?

Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen

And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again

And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin

And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'

For the loser now will be later to win

'Cause the times, they are a-changin'

The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan

In last weekend's The Rugby Paper, Jon Newcombe spoke to Donny's Director of Rugby, Steve Boden, about some of the problems he'd faced this season, most notably a run of injuries that has resulted in over half the first team squad being unavailable for periods of 3 months or more.

Small wonder then, that Doncaster have struggled to recapture the form that saw them push Ealing all the way last season. At no point does Boden come across as anything other than pragmatic and you never get the feeling he's making excuses for his teams performances. As he says, 'It is as it is' and his only option has been to try and look to other clubs in the Premiership and beyond to supplement his depleted squad.

From the little I know of Boden, he comes across as a really decent bloke and he's been generous in his comments regarding Coventry both on and off the pitch this season.

It's not often that TRP focuses on the Championship in detail, so it was an interesting read, made even more so by a couple of throwaway lines from Jon Newcombe that could and should open up a really interesting discussion, one of real importance to the Championship over the next couple of seasons.

Having referenced Boden's struggles at Doncaster to replace some of those players with long term injuries, Newcombe makes the point, obvious though it is, that the current financial climate makes recruitment for most teams in the Championship difficult in the extreme. Nothing revelatory there.

But he goes on to suggest that many players at this level now consider full-time rugby on the current salary levels on offer as no longer being 'a viable proposition'. He believes there are a couple of clubs, without naming them, that do have the finances in place to presumably offer more attractive salaries, but for the rest recruitment is becoming far harder.

He also suggests that this might help to explain why the likes of Ampthill and Caldy, both semi-professional (or 'part-time' as they are described in the article), are able to 'punch above their weight' in this league. Sadly, Newcombe doesn't expand on this, returning instead to the situation at Castle Park and it's very much left to the reader to fill in the gaps.

Presumably, then, there are an increasing number of players who would ideally opt to play full-time rugby but who can earn more by playing part-time and working outside of the game to supplement their income over and above what they would currently earn if fully professional? No dream job for them, just a realistic response to what is an unrealistic wage.

To some though, not all, presumably.

Three seasons ago, Championship clubs were in receipt of something approaching £550000 in funding, but budget cuts and the economic downturn since Covid have meant that that has been slashed to around £160000, with £90000 coming form the RFU and a further £70000 from the PRL. Cloths have to be cut and as a result salary levels aren't enough now to allow many players the luxury of being full-time.

It would be really interesting to hear just how Coventry have been approaching recruitment for next season. My guess (and it really is no more than that) is that given the overwhelming success the club has had with bringing in very talented, but relatively inexperienced, young players from lower leagues, they will stick with this policy.

Players like Rigg, Titherington, Pellegrini. Smith, Wand, Andrews and even Talbot Davies would probably fall into that bracket this season. The scouts have clearly been earning their keep and by doing so, Cov has been able to add to its first team squad at a relatively low cost. It's also testament to the homework the coaches have done prior to bringing in these players - I'm not sure there's been a single player brought in by Alex Rae who has underachieved which is no mean feat - even under Rowland Winter we had one or two who didn't quite fulfil their potential.

Ali Bone and Sam Grasso in his first season to name but two?

In addition, Cov's Academy has become something of a conveyor belt of talent over the last couple of seasons - Mitchell, Betteridge, Martin, Bridges, Brock, James, Thomas, Ball, Ogden and Stone have all come through the ranks to play Championship rugby this season. If the problem is a lack of funds to buy players good enough to play at this level, then one of the solutions must be to develop them in-house.

Are Cov the most successful Championship club in this respect? They must be up there, for sure.

Other than Ogden and Stone, I don't think any of the current Academy players (they're referred to as Development players on the official website - I'm not sure which is the correct nomenclature these days) have featured in any first team squads as yet, so I imagine it will be another season before we see the next crop of youngsters come through.

That's 19 players in total I've mentioned, none of whom would have come at a great cost in terms of even Championship prices. It would be really interesting to compare the relative expenditures incurred in putting together the two squads involved in Cov's win against Ealing not so long ago. I bet we would come out of that pretty well.

It just shows what can be done on a tight budget with the right coaching staff and a group of players who believe in each other.

And Coventry are already promoting the next generation of Cov players through 'Coventry Combine', presumably with the intention (deliberately or otherwise) of harvesting local talent in readiness for bolstering the Academy in September.

Both the Chairman and Rowland Winter made it clear when the Academy was set up that it was the club's long term hope to produce a Coventry side made up of home grown talent, so it looks like this is still very much a guiding principle. Even the Head Coach is Cov born, so there's very much a Cov feel about this side already these days.

The other benefit of a strong Academy and a policy of bringing in relatively inexperienced youngsters with the potential to play at this level and above is that it doesn't reduce the playing budget quite as quickly as in previous years. Even with funding slashed as much as it has been since 2020, when players from the Premiership do become available in positions where there is a real need, Cov can still make a move.

Because of the shrewd recruitment drive last summer, Cov hadn't overly committed themselves so they were able to bring in Will Chudley part-way through the season. And, well, it worked out quite well for both parties. Dodd, too.

Another couple of experienced players in the same mould as Burrows, Nilsen, Tuitupou, Boulton, Ram, Makaafi or Peters in those positions identified by the coaches as being areas that need experience as well as proven ability and we could have the makings of something special. That's provided the others players coming in are at least as good as those leaving, of course.

If Jon Newcombe is correct in his reading of the current situation, attracting experienced players from the Championship and above in numbers is no longer an option (other than for perhaps Ealing), so this seems the more sensible route to develop the squad still further. The Kessells and Narraways would probably be beyond our budget these days - and arguably neither had the impact on the pitch that we'd hoped for...?

Given its track record over the last decade or so, we know that the Board under the current Chairman isn't going to overstretch itself. But in that same period we have seen the club make some very shrewd moves on the player front. And whilst I'm not expecting to see any real marquee signings over the summer (and a marquee signing for me would be someone who plays in the Premiership whom I've heard of, such is my lack of knowledge on that front), I do think there'll be some 'experience' added to the squad.

More so than we saw 12 months ago anyway.

To improve on this season's performances is going to be really hard for Coventry. Finishing third doesn't give you much room for improvement. The loss of Bainbridge, Dodd and Brown, if confirmed, will mean there are gaps to be filled. The front row hasn't been as consistent as I'm sure the coaches would have liked either, so that's another area that will probably need strengthening.

If the changes to the league structures that are currently being mooted do happen, then a top 8 finish would be enough to keep us in the top two tiers, so maybe they'll hold back for another 12 months just ensuring that any gaps are plugged and the squad is strong enough to ensure a top half finish next April.

Surely, though, Cov will be more ambitious than that?

I'd certainly like to see Cov getting the BPA certificated in readiness for a potential promotion into the Premiership sooner rather than later, just in case things are put on hold and this time next season we're still looking at the same structure for 2024/25. It also sends about a clear message to players, supporters, the RFU/PRL (and Uncle Tom Cobley, too).

We've shown this season that we can compete with any team in this league so why not hedge our bets - if we progress at the same rate over the next 12 months we could well be there or thereabouts?

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And just to finish on a rumour doing the rounds at the moment...

...Cov's looking to recruit the Invisible Man next season.

Apparently, he's a player like you've never seen.

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