Why did Gray jump ship for a much smaller fish?

Senior Sports Writer

Wednesday 9 November 2011

analysis If it's not about money then decision to swap Heineken Cup perennials for mid-table Sale is a curious one, writes Kevin Ferrie

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Kevin Ferrie

A Glasgow boy whose striking appearance at 6’10” with a shock of blonde hair, as well as his exceptional rugby ability has meant much of the Warriors’ recent marketing has been based around him, is currently with a club that is guaranteed a place in the Heineken Cup and plays in the league that has produced the winners of that competition in three of the last four years.

He is joining Sale Sharks, who are below Glasgow in the European rankings having failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup in the past two years from a league that has not won the prestigious trophy for five seasons.To claim, as he has, that this is not about money but instead is down to his desire to test himself could, in that context, be seen as rather odd.Admittedly, the experience of Richie Vernon and Ally Dickinson, his Scotland World Cup colleagues who made appearances from the bench for Sale as they fought off jet-lag just days after returning from New Zealand while the home-based players were given time off, suggests he can expect there to be very different demands.Whether those will be good for his overall development as one of the few Scots considered to have genuine world-class potential is quite another matter.Taking Gray’s claims at face value however, means we must conclude that, for whatever reason, players are being advised that playing for a mediocre English club is a more attractive proposition than staying in Scotland.In its way it is somehow all the more worrying that the SRU seems, at last, to have made real efforts to keep one of its top performers in the country.Where previously it was clear that financial savings were central to all thinking with accountants running the show at Murrayfield, Mark Dodson, the chief executive who took over the running of the organisation two months ago, has been determined to prove that he is a rugby man. That resulted in a budget-busting offer being made to Gray and yet it was still not enough.“There’s naturally disappointment on our side because we’re committed to keeping our top players in Scotland and Richie comes into that category,” Dodson said yesterday. “We did everything in our power to hold on to him, but we respect his decision and look forward to supporting him as a key component of the national team.“I’d like to reassure supporters of the professional teams that we will be doing everything in our power to support our coaches in securing the leading players at both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh on long-term contracts, because we want to consolidate the clubs’ position as competitive, regularly winning entities in the RaboDirect PRO12 and Heineken Cup.”Even that determination was not enough in this instance, however, and having failed in this, the first major challenge he has been confronted with, Dodson must now be measured against his own words. It was little more than a month ago, immediately after Scotland’s World Cup exit, that he met the media and offered his initial thoughts on what was required to take the sport forward.Dodson was asked specifically about the prospects of keeping Gray and John Barclay in Scotland and was bullish, asking the individual raising the subject why he was so sure the former would be leaving.It seems, in this instance, that Dodson’s interrogator knew rather more about what was going on that he did at the time, than the chief executive which is, perhaps, understandable given his newness to his post.If the chief executive was slightly naive that, too, will be forgivable as long as he now delivers on a promise.“Another thing is if we do lose a key player, if we do lose a John Barclay, we’re not going to see that as a cost saving,” he said yesterday. “I’m going to try to go out and buy a top-class South African, a top-class Englishman, a top-class Kiwi to come in there and be a role model for the rest.”Glasgow supporters should draw comfort from the fact that, when players such as Sean Lamont and Kelly Brown suggested on their departures that they seemed to have been bundled out by the SRU, Gray clearly felt wanted.“I was impressed by the efforts that the club and Scottish Rugby made to keep me in Glasgow, and it’s without doubt the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make,” he said.Only time will tell whether it was as good a decision as it was a difficult one.

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Why did Gray jump ship for a much smaller fish?

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