Out of interest are there many young (under 20's) fringe players who head overseas to Europe and chase the cash instead of staying in NZ and grinding it out hoping to make the Blacks eventually ? Have you lost any potential stars to the lure of the cash on offer elsewhere ?
If not surely it can't be too far off, I get that you are away from friends and family and the standard of rugby isn't as good but gee how long before a club ( Say a french one) attempts to sign a 19 yo with a massive offer. Money talks and when you convert pounds to the Kiwi Dollar it would have to be enough to make you think twice.
generally the retention is very good, which is suprising, as money does talk, i think the NZRU has identified this problem and set about to stop it, theres always talks of poaching going on, a few years back the Western Force wanted to sign Tawera Kerr Barlow, while he was still in school (inm his last yr), however Waikato step in, and put him on a full time contract and now hes represented NZ at secondary schools, U20 and playing for waikato and Cheifs next yr,
most if not all the U20 players have already been signed to a ITM cup team, before they make their debut for U20, they get signed up (part time i think) if they make the NZ schools team, so its not as tho they can just leave, then they play club rugby (first grade, which is below ITM), untill U20, or if they r good enough straight to ITM, then if they make NZ U20, after that they will start playing ITM cup, those who dont make u20's wont get contract extensions so they could go overseas i guess, but by then they are 20 yr olds playing club rugby, and if they were worth keeping NZRU would have kept them, hence why OS clubs aren't waiting at the door of Ponsonby rugby club in Auckland for the next SonnyBill,
IF you think about it logically, if you make NZ secondary schools then NZ under 20's then an ITM cup team, chances are one day you are a real possibility at the All Blacks, which is a huge lure. If they are playing super rugby within 2 years of u20's then they are on 100+ and for a 22 yr old that is massive.
another thing NZ does well, is they play their 'future stars' such as Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, Joe Rokocoko, Ma'a Nonu and in recent times, Victor Vito and Julian Savea, ect in rugby 7's, so they lock them into NZ rugby.
However they are some that have 'slipped thru the cracks', players such as Seekope Keepu, played for NZ u19, 21 played for Counties Manakau and cheifs wider training group, before he was signed by the waratahs and now is a wallaby, i'm not sure if it was the money, but he would have got a pay rise, as he was only part time s14, while he went full time in sydney,
another player is Lifeimi Mafi, played NZ u19, 21 and sevens, played for manawatu and taranaki and was in hurricanes wider training group, but went to munster, that was definately a pay rise,
Tim Bateman, played nz secondary schools 2 yrs in a row, played for nz u19, 21 and maori, and was a crusaders starter last yr went to japan for financial security - had a young family
having spoken to some itm cup players who arr just out of the u20's programs, they are well aware of the massive cash offers on overseas, and there are a lot of nz rugby players who don't make u20's or dont make a impact to warrent attention in itm let alone s14, playing oversease, but u dont really hear about them, however i get a sense that they want to achiever higher success in NZ, then if they cant crack it, they go OS,
sure players leave early for financial security, but they can only take what they get offered, and if they are locked into NZ rugby (by playing sevens) but cant make regular starts in Super rugby, then the demand isn't going to be as big as they'd hoped, sure it will be a pay rise.
