We let so many dreams just slip through our hands
Why must we wait so long before we see
How sad the answers to those questions can be
Do you know where you're goin' to?
Do you like the things that life is showin' you
Where are you goin' to? Do you know?
Do you get what you're hopin' for
When you look behind you, there's no open doors
What are you hopin' for? Do you know?
Do You Know Where You're Going To - Diana Ross
Whilst the timing might have caught most of us unawares, the news of Will Rigg's departure to a Premiership side won't have come as any great surprise.
Since signing in the Summer of 2022, he showed that he was very much a Premiership player in the making, regularly causing havoc to opposition defences, a human wrecking-ball if ever there was one, and rightly earning himself a place at the end of last season in the Championship's 'Dream Team' chosen, I believe (?), by the Head Coaches of all the competing Championship clubs.
As accolades go, that's a pretty decent one for any player to receive.
When he joined us from Cardiff Met, I don't think many Cov fans would have been aware of just how good a player he was or of his potential to progress quite as quickly as we've been privileged to witness. That he has speaks volumes not just about his own natural ability and determination to better himself, but also about the competence of the coaches to bring players on. He's not he finished article by any means but he's made big strides since he's been at Cov and Exeter clearly feel he has still more to offer in a different and, arguably, more challenging environment.
Whilst Coventry has brought in some big-name players in recent seasons, Will Chudley last year and Matt Kvesic for the start of this campaign to name but two, one of its strengths has been to sign young, relatively untried players at this level and provide the expertise on and off the pitch to create a squad that has grown together, helped by the experience and nous of one or two of the older members of the group.
It's very much a winning formula. Bainbridge and Brown left for the Premiership in May last year and we're only in February and Rigg has already made the transition to the top tier. And there will surely be others, too, on the radar of clubs like Exeter - Wilson, Martin, Wand, Ball, Ryan, Pellegrini, Mitchell et al have all made stellar progress under the current coaching staff and it wouldn't come as a great shock to see one or more of these players say their goodbyes to Coventry in the recently arranged England Under 20 fixture at the end of the current season.
Saracens, Gloucester and Harlequins will all have had the opportunity to take a close look at a number of our players in the Premiership Cup pre-season, players who will have come to their notice following some impressive displays in the Championship last season - indeed, if rumours are to be believed, at least one player turned down an offer following the club's visit to Kingsholm back in September.
I know it's all part and parcel of being a successful Championship side, but as a coach it must be really hard when such an important member of your squad leaves mid-way through the season. Alex Rae will have had rather more notice of Exeter's intent than supporters have, and he'll have had some time to plan for his departure but however much he's pleased for Rigg, it must be tough for him, too.
Ok, Cov come out of this well - it's a ringing endorsement of Coventry's continuing journey and of its desire to be amongst the elite of English clubs. It speaks volumes with regard to the opportunities youngsters are being given at the club and the professionalism of the coaches and support staff in enabling players to progress at the rates they currently are.
But there is a human side to this as well. Rae clearly feels very attached to the club, he's a Coventrian after all. Rigg's departure must be like seeing one of your children fly the nest - proud that you've given him the opportunity but saddened on a personal level that he's leaving.
'Gutted but happy for Will' was his response on 'X' and we can all empathise with that.
With Coventry having to release Rigg part-way through his contract, perhaps Exeter will have had to provide some financial renumeration to the club and if so, maybe that will go some way towards adding further depth to the squad over the summer on top of whatever the campaign funds have currently been set at.
At least we have a very capable player in Lucas Titherington to come in and fill the void left by Rigg - he looked really promising last season and would surely have featured in more games since September had he not been out injured. Betteridge has also done himself no harm when he's worn the shirt, but should either of these two, or Wand, succumb to injury, then are we going to be short in midfield options?
Looking beyond Rigg's departure, the success or otherwise of the next couple of seasons could very much be determined by what happens over the the remaining weeks of the season. Does Cov accept that a number of other young members of the squad who are doubtless already attracting the interest of some of the top sides in the Premiership or elsewhere will be enticed away, desperate for the chance to prove themselves at the very highest levels, or does it fight hard to keep hold of its current squad by showing it has genuine aspirations of being amongst the elite itself.
We seem to be approaching something of a crossroads.
Coventry's penchant for spotting talented youngsters and bringing them on, either through its own Academy or plucking them out of the lower leagues, means there's always the danger of Cov becoming a feeder for the Premiership clubs.
We're not an Ealing Trailfinders - our financial resources aren't seemingly limitless and we can't make wholesale changes year in year out, as they do. Ealing can afford to sign players who are already at the pinnacle of their game and the club appears happy to have a mass exodus at the end of every season, knowing it can amass an 'oven-ready' squad fit to win a Championship by the time the next season starts.
No, Cov's approach is very much one of building for the future, with as much emphasis being placed on the quality of the coaching and the experience the players are offered as on the players themselves. It's one that as a supporter I much prefer - the pleasure I get from watching a squad of youngsters grow into a competitive unit that is capable of beating the best this league has to offer far outweighs the alternatives.
I've also love watching the likes of Chudley, Nayalo, Tyas and Kvesic, players who have really bought into what Cov are trying to achieve but what we don't have is a group of journeymen coming to the club for the money and with every expectation that they'll have left within a season or two at most. That scenario just wouldn't carry the same excitement for me as a spectator, however big the names.
It might work for Ealing, but that just isn't the Cov way.
I really hope the Board can provide the necessary incentives to ensure this group of players, or the majority of them at least, stay together for the next couple of seasons. They promise so much, both individually and collectively, and whilst no one could criticise a player for wanting to prove himself at the next level, for the club to prove itself, we need them to stay.
If we do lose a few, then we go back and start the rebuilding process again; we always have that option. But Alex Rae has shown that we're capable of pushing the elite clubs even now - with this group of players together for another 12 months or so and another couple of experienced players to come in too perhaps, well anything's possible.
The direction we take in the short to medium term will arguably be decided by the club's ability to retain as many of the talented players we have in our current squad as possible.
In the last few days, Cov really has been the flagship for the Championship - two crowds of 4000 plus, chosen as a warm up game for the next generation of England stars in their preparation for the World Cup and, despite everything that Sweeney has said to the contrary, a pathway to the Premiership for the most talented of players outside of the top tier.
Not that they'll get any public recognition for any of this from the RFU of course. But we know.
But then again, we are Coventry Rugby.
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