The 'regrettable' departure lounge is full
Plus, we investigate what Bazball really smells like ($).
It’s not surprising that Dane Coles is leaving New Zealand rugby at the end of the year - but it is a little surprising that he’s not going to try to wring a couple more short seasons worth of yen into his account1.
Coles’ retirement after 17 years of graft adds to the list of players who are leaving New Zealand rugby at the end of the World Cup. They include Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga (pictured), Brodie Retallick, Shannon Frizell, Brad Weber and Pita Gus Sowakula. It is almost a given that Sam Whitelock will either hang them up or depart offshore to end his career.
While it makes a mockery of New Zealand Rugby wooing the country’s provincial unions with the line that the Silver Lake cash would keep the best players in the country, the truth is the central contracting system isn’t designed for player retention.
NZR doesn’t want players to leave at the end of World Cup cycles, it needs them to.
The players who leave are divided into two tiers: “departures” and “regrettable departures”.
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