Franco Gone

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Russ
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Russ »

BaggyTrousers wrote:
Russ wrote:K

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Mostly your depths of stupidity/unsuccessful attempts to be "cool" (not sure if d'kids still use that)/attempts both successful & unsuccessful to be witty(delete as appropriate) rob you of credibility, just thought I'd share, in the spirit of being helpful of course.

Meanwhile, Franco, eh?

Franco following Johann Muller was the equivalent of Manchester Utd managers coming after Messrs Busby & Ferguson, a thankless task.

Franco has been an excellent signing, he was over 30 when he arrived and if he features in the last 11 games he could clock up 79 appearances in 3 years here. The big lad has been indestructible more or less and we have been in at least 2 lengthy periods when but for his availability we'd have been stuffed.

He has been a pretty reliable operator too with a great lineout return and he makes more than his fair share of tackles and hard graft.

It's pretty obvious that had he not come immediately after Muller he would have been much more appreciated by some clowns here.

Best of luck Franco. :thumleft:
Aye. What Baggy said

Wish him the best

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Snipe Watson
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Snipe Watson »

Like big Nick, Franco goes to Cardiff with his best years behind him. Nobody should be under any illusions Franco has been an old school warrior of a second row. A grafter who never willingly engaged reverse gear. As Baggy correctly observed, he was following a legend and that's always a thankless task. Isn't that right Mr Cooney?
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by rumncoke »

As a second row he was sound but lacked the charisma and ability to inspire others which was Mullers greatest input to the Ulster forwards.

But it was written on the wall with the signing of Botha best of luck him


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Snipe Watson
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Snipe Watson »

rumncoke wrote:As a second row he was sound but lacked the charisma and ability to inspire others which was Mullers greatest input to the Ulster forwards.

But it was written on the wall with the signing of Botha best of luck him
Just a tad harsh Rumn. Franco doesn't lack charisma, he's a very personable chap, but you are falling into the trap of comparing him to one of the greatest leaders of men I have ever seen.
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by rumncoke »

Snipe nice is nice and likeable but the truth is it was the ability to inspire others made Muller the player he was and Franco unfortunately lacked that quality .It is a quality which few possess and you either have it or you don't you can't develop it . It is something beyond leadership and captaincy.
As second rows there wasn't that great a difference it was the effect he had on the players which made Muller special .

As Baggy says Franco was asked to follow a legend and therefore his contribution fails to be appreciated as much as it should be .


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Snipe Watson
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Snipe Watson »

rumncoke wrote:Snipe nice is nice and likeable but the truth is it was the ability to inspire others made Muller the player he was and Franco unfortunately lacked that quality .It is a quality which few possess and you either have it or you don't you can't develop it . It is something beyond leadership and captaincy.
As second rows there wasn't that great a difference it was the effect he had on the players which made Muller special .

As Baggy says Franco was asked to follow a legend and therefore his contribution fails to be appreciated as much as it should be .
Yes, but that wasn't what you said the first time.
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by rumncoke »

It was but you read more into because I wrote less .


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BaggyTrousers
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by BaggyTrousers »

rumncoke wrote:Snipe nice is nice and likeable but the truth is it was the ability to inspire others made Muller the player he was and Franco unfortunately lacked that quality .It is a quality which few possess and you either have it or you don't you can't develop it . It is something beyond leadership and captaincy.
As second rows there wasn't that great a difference it was the effect he had on the players which made Muller special .

As Baggy says Franco was asked to follow a legend and therefore his contribution fails to be appreciated as much as it should be
Ron'n, I must congratulate you on a well written and punctuated post, I always find that, when decipherable, you often have something reasonable to say. Many arsefoons fail to recognise that, but hey ..........waddya gonna do, eh?

As it happens, I've a fair bit of time for what both you & Snipe are saying, particularly the most obvious fact that there are very few leaders like Johann and that following someone of that ilk is the road to faint praise.
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Deraless »

It was always on the cards. He was given a one year extension last year.

Franco was never gonna set the world alight but he was a dacent big spud. A few times he looked like he turned out held together with tape and bandages and played till he could run no more. If the guys coming through are as reliable as him they'll do OK.
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Snipe Watson
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Snipe Watson »

I don't think anyone would be in favour of giving Franco a contract extension and that is not a criticism of him, it's a fact of life. We have watched him age before our eyes over the last 12 months. He's not as far gone as Roger Wilson, but his ability to stamp his authority on a game is diminished. If he was Irish, he'd have a couple of decent seasons left in the legs and be worthy of an extension, but not occupying a valuable NIQ spot.
earl the beaver
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by earl the beaver »

Looks like I'm on my own here but the guy was and is a waste of a shirt, bar a spell of games last season where he earned himself an extension he's been a constant disappointment and I'm glad he's on his way.
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Tender »

No, if he was Irish born he'd have perhaps been worth another year. He's a well seasoned pro and at 6ft 6 he's quite a lump at line outs, but being born in Paarl and too many winters ago, make this the right move for both sides.
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austintranslation
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by austintranslation »

68 appearances in 3 seasons is impressive. Wasn''t a Johann Muller, but not many people are likely to replicate what Muller did for Ulster. Wish him the best.
Amiga500
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Amiga500 »

Thanks for your efforts Franco.

While not the most athletic or most skillful, you were never found lacking for effort.

Have a happy retirement in Cardiff :thumleft: >EW >drink1
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Neil F
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Re: Franco Gone

Post by Neil F »

On the one hand, I am happy to thank Franco for what he has offered Ulster and I am very happy to wish him well in the future. His move is the best, I think, for both Ulster and the player. He offered a lot at Ulster and was criminally underrated by most in his first season but I think we need to be realistic that his decline last season and, especially, this has been noticeable. And that he did not come close to achieving the level of performance at Ulster that most fans had hoped he would. That the best things we can think to say is that he's robust and didn't often break down is kind of reflective of what I mean - it's hardly a top-quality recommendation of what he offered.

For what it's worth, I am happy to say that Franco had a very good first season at Ulster but that was the only time he even came close to offering what Ulster needed an NIQ second row to offer. I think there were two problems with Franco. The first is not entirely not of his own making but it was that he was marketed by UR as a direct, like-for-like replacement of Johann Muller. That he was not is very, very obvious. No one should have, or even could have, directly filled those boots. That said, I think the extent to which Franco did fill them fell well short of conceivable expectation. The second thing is that I just don't think Franco was the style of player Ulster needed. No more was this reflected than in what seemed his aversion to taking contact, especially when he was the player best placed to do so. The number of times he shipped the ball off just before the tackle, putting the players around him under pressure, was nothing ordinary. If Diack had done it so often, he'd have been crucified on here. Sometimes, Franco doing this had disastrous results - it was directly responsible for Gilroy's eye-socked fracture against Toulouse last season, for example.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the desire and benefits of keeping the ball moving; but not when it puts those around you under even more pressure than the ballcarrier was. To me, there was an expectation that Franco didn't live up to in terms of how he played the game at Ulster, or at least, that he wasn't the type of player Ulster needed to bring into a pack that had lost nearly all of its main ball carrying threat in one summer. It's not Franco's fault that he maybe wasn't the player Ulster were looking for - the recruitment and marketing guys should be blamed for that - but as fans, I don't think we should overestimate his contribution at Ulster based on finding reasons why he didn't achieve what most of us had hoped he would.

In short - Franco did a job here; and did a better job than anyone else in the squad did. But that's about it - he was never outstanding for Ulster and no one should pretend he was. In that context, it makes absolute sense that he's moving on. So, good luck to him, and thanks Franco, for all you did for Ulster.
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