The eventual number of casualties is uncertain, but it is certain to be painful. According to Christian Day, general secretary of the Rugby Players’ Association, at least one hundred current Premiership squad members will soon be without a contract as a result of the harsh financial realities consuming English club rugby. “The market is extremely competitive,” explains Day. We anticipate 10 senior athletes per team to be absent the following season.
Perhaps one or two will have the good fortune to locate a summer trial. However, the implications of the Premier League’s reduced salary limit of £5 million threaten to destroy many dreams.
Some clubs have released hordes of academy professionals, while others have made insulting offers that no full-time athlete could rationally accept. “The last two years have been the most testing and challenging for rugby union as a professional sport since the early days when everyone was flying blind,” says Day. “We’re trying to help with that.”
Even as Day expresses his determination to negotiate for an appropriate minimum wage and a benevolent fund for former players, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore a much larger reality. There is recklessness, and then there is the bone-headed idiocy of those who believe professional rugby will provide for them for life. There has never been a worse time to place all of your bets on rugby’s increasingly unstable container.
To the RPA’s credit, a few improvements have been made since Day’s 2003 debut as a young professional. There was little support or pastoral care for those who were abruptly deemed surplus to requirements back then.
This year, 91% of league players expressed an interest in expanding their skills beyond rugby, and 62% of those players enrolled in academic or vocational programs. In addition, more than one hundred educational grants have been approved to assist players to prepare for life outside of the dressing room.
In many respects, however, that is the simple part. Check the box and proceed. Replicating the weekly adrenaline high to which they have become addicted is more difficult for those reintegrating into the real world. Or, even more difficult, to peel back the layers of their institutionalized past and discover something that could provide them with lasting pleasure and long-term satisfaction.
Fortunately, there are individuals like Geoff Griffiths available to lend a hand. Griffiths previously played in the back three for Blackheath, Esher, Plymouth Albion, Rotherham, and Bedford, among others. Currently, he is the owner and chief executive officer of the digital marketing agency Builtvisible which specializes in assisting individuals who have reached a crossroads in their lives.
Together with his sister Nicola, a clinical psychologist, he founded Tackling Transition to assist professional athletes in taking charge of their transition out of the sport. He believes there is still a significant demand for it. “I have a few departed Premier League players who say they wish something like this existed before.
One of them was stumbling through a dead-end job he didn’t particularly care about. Another told me he felt like he was back in the academy.
“One minute he was playing for Harlequins in front of 80,000 fans, and the next he was stuck in an office somewhere.”
Everyone is aware that playing rugby cannot last forever, but it is also possible to be pigeonholed after retiring. “What happens in rugby, in particular, is that people are pushed into finance or brokerage… things at which you are typically going to excel due to your transferable skills.”
But what if they had stopped to contemplate what their true passion was and given it a little more thought? Acting? Writing? Ben Mercer, the author of the outstanding rugby book Fringes, is another. Even while absorbed in rugby, they were smart enough to see beyond it.
Something else that Griffiths mentions resonates. He played eight years in the Championship and National One and thinks his best years were at Blackheath.
“I was able to maintain a healthy equilibrium because I was pursuing a career and using rugby as an escape, as opposed to it being all-consuming. Consequently, I played superior rugby. Being well-rounded is obviously valuable and will boost your performance because you can disconnect from job. A more composed individual is a superior athlete.”
It also became apparent to him that loaned players from Premier League clubs frequently fell into one of two categories: those who made the effort to interact and socialize, and those who were simply passing the time. “You knew who would achieve success and who was pursuing a rugby career.
The former is outperforming the latter, who had a few Premier League outings but were never world-beaters.
The intriguing aspect of rugby is that the economics are not sufficient to justify going all-in. Who is making a fortune in rugby?”
This is one of the lessons he now attempts to teach so that players do not become completely lost. “Christophe Dominici’s passing in 2020 hammered the point home. I do not believe this to be the norm, but there are countless examples of individuals who struggle after their careers have ended.
I think psychology is becoming more essential, but when a player leaves, there’s a gap. Inhumanely, clubs are not assigned with carrying out such an action.”
For this reason, Griffiths wishes to alert them to their latent potential. “I was conversing with another gentleman who recently retired from the Premier League. He stated that a great deal of information regarding transition comes across as extremely negative. We wish for a positive outcome.
The empowerment phenomenon is enormous. The more you comprehend yourself while playing rugby, the better outfitted and armed you will be. And the sooner action is taken, the better. Anything is preferable to being too late.” Even for those still adhering to a Premiership contract, there is much to consider.
