Edinburgh, PJ and Super 14s
Well what a nice weekend that was ….. Edinburgh is a beautiful city but huge!! ….. at the time I did not think the game was that great but after watching it on television it was not at all that bad …. maybe it was the cold and the rubbish organisation at Murrayfield that allowed us 1 pint during the 3 hours we were in the ground! However, that said, we did find a good place to have a pint or two and a few were consumed over a very enjoyable weekend ….
As you all know PJ Gidlow will not be with us next season. PJ has accepted an offer to join Championship side Birmingham and Solihull Bees. He will be a huge loss to the club and a massive gain for the Bees. During the past 4 seasons I cannot speak highly enough of his contribution both on and off the field. The impression that he has left will stay with the club forever. PJ has always wanted to play rugby at the highest level he possibly could, obviously he would of loved to have done that with Redruth, but as the seasons go by so do the opportunities hence his decision. I’m not going to avoid the fact that the club’s decision, and what it had to do on contracts for next season, had a baring on his decision, but we all have to accept the decisions from both sides …. PJ will be welcome back at the club at any time. He has also been a great captain and the way that he has handled himself and team has not gone unnoticed by officials both on and off the field. From us all mate, we sincerely wish you all the very best and we will all follow your progress with great interest ….
Also leaving is Mike Georgiou who is returning to Wales with his partner, we all wish Mike the very best, Rob Thirlby has joined Moseley and, again, we wish Rob all the very best. Rob had a great season and certainly showed what a class player he is. He is now only a few miles from his base and he must be very glad to see the back of the horrendous journey he had to endure. Finally, as we all know, Luke Collins is joining the Pirates … we wish them all the very best of luck.
Those of you who were at the AGM will of heard that we have signed both Adryan Winnan and Sam Heard for next season. Added to this Chris Morris (Cornish All Blacks), Jamie Semmens (Cornish All Blacks/Mounts Bay), Sam Parsons (Mounts Bay) will also arrive at the club. I am very close to signing 2 other players and these will be announced accordingly . The AGM was well attended and I hope people took on board what I was trying to say and what we needed to do as a club to move forward. The decisions we have had to make have been very tough …
I received this email from a "great" reds supporter over the weekend and I feel it should be published. Receiving this sort of thing makes me very proud of what we have at Redruth ….. this was sent by Paul Smith (Smithy to his mates) and refers to his daughter Abigail who, if you recall, is our current "Supporter of the Year) ….. and to Richard Carroll … this is what he wrote ….
"If people ever wonder why Redruth is known as a great community club then I think that I may have a reason.
"We made the trip to Cinderford on Saturday to watch Redruth, (disguised as Cornwall) play in the Bill Beaumont Cup and it was there that Abs learned of PJ leaving, seeing the Redruth players lifted her spirits as did the all too familiar cuddle from Newqs. What happened after the game has left me lost for words".
"Abigail waited in her usual position, (always the place where the players enter and leave the pitch) when she was spotted by the one and only Newqs who proceeded towards her, another cuddle was administered along with the words "Thanks for coming" but the icing on the cake was the fact that he gave her his match shirt, (I believe that there are photos on the CRFU & Trelawneys Army web sites). This now hangs on the back of her bedroom door, (Washed of course). Despite all of the bad press that he gets there is a side to him which few people ever see."
Its no wonder that the young ones like the old b****er and no doubt a key reason for hooking Abs into the reds, probably for life…..
Beat that!!
The Super 14 will be a Super 15 from 2011, with a new-look three conference calendar stretching the Super Rugby season to 24 weeks.
There will be three five-team conferences, one based in each of the SANZAR countries with Australia by far the most likely country to benefit. The new 24-week Super Rugby competition guarantees each team a minimum of eight home matches and a 16-match regular season. A new six team finals series includes an extra round with two "sudden-death" qualifiers before the semi-finals. All teams will have a three-week bye while the tournament is suspended during the June International Test window, while the Tri-Nations series has also been given a new time slot in the calendar to run at the conclusion of Super Rugby
Key features of the proposed new season structure are: