CRAIG RAY, Welkom | Tuesday 12.30pm.
THE Welkom Griffins face the prospect of losing up to five of their talented backline players following offers from other rugby unions.
Wings Giscard Pieters and Gavin Passens as well as centre Stuart Abbott, fullback Donovan van Vuuren, scrumhalf Neil de Kock and centre Kat de Jager have all been the subject of speculation about lucrative offers from various unions.
The Mpumalanga Pumas, with financial backing from Louis Luyt, have been mentioned in offers to these talented players.
Coach Stef Nel believes that Northern Free State cannot compete financially and is in danger of losing this group who are all under 23 years old.
“Our budget from last year is being cut again, but I have a duty to keep as many of the players that I can at the union,” said Nel.
“I can’t stand in the way of players who get offers from the so-called bigger unions like Western Province and the Blue Bulls, but it is a problem when other smaller unions are offering them money.
“I’ve got to see to it that the small unions don’t get my players. Already the Pumas have made lucrative offers to five of my backline players.”
While it is a crisis for the union, in the professional era money buys loyalty and if the youngsters are offered as much as three times their current salaries it is hard to see how they can stay at the cash-strapped Griffins.
Northern Free State do not even have a sponsor on board for next season which means that income will have to be generated through South African Rugby Football Union grants and gate takings.
But Nel has brought a style of play that is exciting and a radical move away from the traditional kicking game of the former ‘purple people eaters’ and he is determined to keep at least three of the players on which to launch his new campaign.
“I need to keep the players for at least two seasons to build on last year,” said Nel.
“It is no use if I lose all these players after one year and have to start over again because then I’m back to square one and the team will never grow as a unit.
“We lacked experience last season and it showed, but next year with the benefit of one season of Currie Cup rugby behind most of these players it should help us.
“We did manage to score 41 tries in the Currie Cup which more than doubled out 1998 effort which shows that we were on the right track with our brand of attacking rugby.”
“If I can keep three of the guys I will be able to build on last season instead of starting over.” — MWP