Suitors gathering home and abroad as Madigan looks to the future
IAN MADIGAN has a soft spot for a certain sportsground in Limerick. The pity for Munster fans hoping the out-of-contract Leinster utility might sign for them next season is that it’s the Gaelic Grounds, not Thomond Park.
It was in Argentina last year, a few days after visiting Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera, when the 26-year-old told Sportsmail he loved terrace-type sporting amphitheatres, listing Limerick’s GAA headquarters as one he’d taken a shine to.
How the future of a player who still has to play consistently at a high level at out-half has dominated the early part of this week, when his province’s Champions Cup fate is on the line in Toulon on Sunday, tells you something about the state of flux the provincial game finds itself in, with the European fortunes of Munster and Ulster also on the line.
You would have thought a player who returned from the World Cup with his self-worth inflated — 55 minutes off the bench in the pool clincher against France and then a start in the following weekend’s quarter-final against Argentina — would have made a stronger impression at Leinster since his return.
However, he was selected on the bench for both last month’s Champions Cup matches, only belatedly starting the opener at full-back after Isa Nacewa pulled up lame, and it’s left his name in the frame for a move away from the province where he was expected to make the No 10 shirt his own from September 2013 only to lose out to Kiwi import Jimmy Gopperth.
Now, with Johnny Sexton back, his services are in demand overseas, if not at Munster where Ian Keatley is contracted until 2017 and another Kiwi acquisition, Tyler Bleyendaal, could be another selection blockage for Madigan if he ever gets fits.
As it stands, it seems Madigan’s future might be best served by a stint at an English club where he could become a first-choice 10 and enjoy less of a flogging than in French Top 14 where he reputedly also has offers. His alleged potential earning power is accurate.
‘I know that what he is looking for in the UK is near €500,000, when converted into euro, and he would probably get it in that his kicking is still good, far superior to Sexton,’ said a market source.
‘Clubs will pay for that because tight games are won by good kickers. As a playmaking 10, the only doubt is he has never started as a 10 consistently ever and he’s nearly 27, so there is an element of risk.
‘But someone like Bristol would pay it no problem. Harlequins wouldn’t pay that much money, but if he is to go anywhere, he would go to the UK as it keeps you a little more in mind for Ireland with not as many club games.’
These are interesting times in the European player recruitment market. The long-term investment in the Premiership by BT Sport, the increased salary cap and the rise in sterling’s value to euro has changed the landscape since a year ago when contract negotiations were last driving the rugby media agenda in Ireland.
So too the IRFU’s decision to allow Paul O’Connell out of his central contract, due to run to summer 2016, and instead sign a money-spinning two-year deal at Toulon. Word on the ground is that the presence of David Nucifora as the sole go-to IRFU guy, rather than the old committee system, doesn’t necessarily mean deals will be done at a quicker pace this winter.
The combination of the World Cup and many out-of-contract players wanting to find a bit of Champions Cup form first to strengthen their hand at the negotiation table has delayed progress, meaning we’re a while away yet from the major hard decisions being made.
What is clearer is that, with only a reputed 13 to 15 high-earning central contracts now seemingly on the IRFU’s books, a raft of players rated outside the top 20 in this country are having heads turned by the evolving market abroad.
Guys earning between €200-300k are being tempted by offers, and the potential exit of some will further weaken provinces already struggling with squads where high injury rates highlight the need for size to be increased from around 40 to 48 full-time pros to stop the dependency on academy players plugging gaps they struggle to fill.
Then there is the trickledown effect of O’Connell’s early release. It’s said the precedent has opened up players’ minds to quitting Test level earlier and snapping up the ridiculous sums of money available elsewhere.
‘Players are more in tune with the need to maximise their money now and salaries will only keep going up, not down,’ added the source, who feels Robbie Henshaw is set to remain a Connacht player. ‘Offers elsewhere might sound telephone numbers but they are accurate. That is what it’s getting to now and the IRFU needs to realise that. ‘You can’t be leaving it [money] behind because they are seeing so many guys retiring with injury and you don’t have to be away from Ireland to get injured. Felix Jones and Kevin McLaughlin are already retired this season.’ Delicate times, then, with Madigan just one name setting the agenda.