NIYI ADEOLOKUN HAS signed a new contract with Connacht to keep him at the province until the summer of 2019 at least.
The 25-year-old wing was a key part of Connacht’s Pro12 success last season and has started the new campaign in good form, scoring a try against Glasgow Warriors two weekends ago.
A native of Ibadan in Nigeria, Adeolokun first joined Connacht ahead of the 2014/15 season, having impressed for Trinity in the Ulster Bank League.
He scored six tries in the Pro12 last season, as well as notching three in five Challenge Cup fixtures.
I’m very pleased for both Connacht Rugby and our supporters that Niyi will be playing with us for the next three seasons,” said Connacht head coach Pat Lam of the new deal.
“As the fastest member of our squad, he is a very exciting rugby player with a huge amount of talent. But what impresses us the most with Niyi is his willingness to put in the hard work and consistently look for areas he can improve.
“I have no doubt that he will be a vital contributor again this season as we look to compete in both the Guinness Pro12 and European Champions Cup.”
Connacht CEO Willie Ruane also welcomed confirmation of Adeolokun’s contract extension:
We are delighted to announce that Niyi will continue to play his rugby with Connacht Rugby,” said Ruane.
“I know he is a very popular player among the squad and our supporters and his story is a tremendous example of the success that hard work and determination can bring about.”
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Stupid idea to move minors to u17. Far too much of a gap between 17and 21 year olds. Would end up losing more players to other sports at the critical 18-20 age bracket. Minor championship is fantastic the way it is please don’t touch it.
RE plan for minor to be u17 whats happens to u16. Does this also mean that u21 is only open to those above 19.
I agree with nearly all their ideas.
Why not have the League Finals on St. Patrick’s Day?
Their reasoning for moving the Minor grade is sound. I would imagine they’ll move to an under 20 grade too, this would probably mean less clashes with senior games.
Why not play the Inter-Provincials around the time of the All-Ireland quarter finals or semi finals? With only a few counties still in the All-Ireland and club championships notoriously slow to get going there will be many inter county standard footballers willing to play top class competition.
Players just missing the cut in their home county should definitely be placed in a draft from which the weaker counties can pick. 4 players for Division 4 counties, 3 for Division 3 counties. After two seasons the players should be allowed reapply for their native county or else extend their draft period by another year.
A draft system similar to that in American sports is the obvious way to bolster the weaker counties. Keep the draft players within their native province to cut down travel times, I can’t see an issue with a couple of Dubs playing with Carlow for two years, Mayomen with Leitrim or Corkmen with Waterford. The players involved get to play in high quality competition and bring that experience back to their native counties, everybody’s a winner.
I’ll outline how the FRC could fix the Football Championships below. Eugene McGee could drop me a line and we’ll hammer out the finer details together!
The optimum system for the All-Ireland Football Championship should be:
A) Get rid of the January/February tournaments, move the League forward with the top 2 playing a League final in March.
B) The All-Ireland C’ship should be played like the World Cup. 33 teams in 7 groups of 4 and 1 group of 5. Seed the teams according to their finishing positions in the League, thereby linking the League and C’ship. Play the 3(4) round robin stage matches of the All-Ireland at neutral venues (except for New York and London who should play their matches at home) in April and May.
C) The 4 Provincial C’ships should be straight knock-out. They should be played in May/June, it may be necessary for the preliminary rounds of the Ulster and Leinster C’ships to overlap with the round robin stage of the All-Ireland. These titles remain a valid chance for meaningful silverware for all counties.
D) With the Provincial titles decided the All-Ireland C’ship Round of 16 takes place in late June, group winners getting the choice of home venue. Two weeks later the 1/4 Finals are held at neutral venues. Two weeks later the Semi Finals are held at Croke Park.
E) In mid August play the All-Ireland Football Final in glorious sunshine in Croke Park. All counties would have had at least 4 c’ship matches spread throughout the country. All counties would have had two shots at meaningful silverware. London and New York have a few home matches each year to spread the gospel of GAA. There are no dead rubbers.