The Ten Stages of Tyre Kicking

I have been recruiting rugby players since 2009 and working fulltime for Inside Running for the last two years.  In that period of time I have heard nearly every excuse known to man.  Not much surprises me these days. 

If I had was given a dollar every time a player mysteriously lost his phone, drops it in a puddle or goes AWOL for a week due to a family bereavement, I could afford to holiday permanently in the Caribbean.   

There’s always a percentage of tyre kickers who might dream about playing overseas but when push comes to shove make some timid excuse and wimp out.  I’d like to take this opportunity to save those types some embarrassment.  

If you’re not genuine and prepared to actually get on that plane… please don’t register with Inside Running Recruitment.  That might sound harsh, but we don’t want to waste your time, ours, or the numerous clubs we deal with.

Our role is to place rugby players, that’s what we do. It isn’t our job to massage egos or play make believe. We need players who are genuine, reliable and ready.    

There are tell-tale red flags I look for in time wasters. I call them the “Ten Stages of Tyre Kicking” 

1. Player unable to provide two references and accurate contact details for references in his registration.
2. Player can’t provide recent video footage. Phones have good cameras nowadays, get someone to record part of your next game. 
3. Then there are the players who mysteriously lose their phones, break their phone or later tell us they dropped their phone in a puddle and couldn’t be contacted for up to a week.
4. Player doesn’t have a mobile phone… seriously what adult male doesn’t have a phone? 
5. Player receives an offer but then has to get permission from his parents if it’s okay for them to go overseas.  If you are tough enough to play senior club rugby in New Zealand, you’re big and ugly enough to decide yourself.
6. Player goes AWOL for two weeks upon receiving offer due to sudden family bereavement.   
7. Player magically receives a huge pay rise from his employer, hours after receiving our offer.
8. Player suddenly remembers he has a partner (and sometimes children) preventing him from accepting offer, 
9. Player suddenly remembers he hasn’t completed his apprenticeship or university degree upon receiving an offer.
10. Player tells us he has no money to pay the fee. Inside Running Recruitment is a business not a hobby.

Our process is to give a player a maximum of 72 hours to make a decision upon receiving an offer. 72 hours in our experience is the optimum time frame to decide whether an offer is right for you.  

If a player declines his offer but provides us with a legitimate reason, we will happily to promote him again.  If after 72 hours a player fails to reply to one of our agents, we delete him from our Player List and won’t act on his behalf again.  We sever our ties and move on.  Harsh but true!     

We like real people not plastic ones.  If your goal is to play rugby overseas and you are genuine, we can’t wait to hear from you.  You’re our type of guy!