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Pat Lam reveals when Premiership squad cuts are expected to be imposed
By Chris Jones
Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam does not expect maximum squad sizes to be imposed on Gallagher Premiership clubs as part of the new Professional Game Partnership with the Rugby Football Union until 2025.
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Lam met up with other Premiership DORs yesterday along with Nigel Melville, Executive Chairman at PRL Investor Board, Conor O’Shea representing the RFU and Phil Winstanley, Rugby Director at Premiership Rugby, to debate the proposals that would see clubs operating with a maximum senior squad of 35 players with a further 12 players in a ‘transition’ group from their academy.
The move is key to the negotiations taking place on central funding for the Premiership from the RFU, understood to be worth £128 million over the next four years.
A dramatic cut in squad sizes would have a significant impact on some Premiership clubs with Bath and Harlequins highlighted as operating with two of the largest squads in the league.
It is designed to try and steer the Premiership clubs towards a more stable financial future after decades of losses. A salary cap has not ended the annual losses and that is why smaller squad sizes are seen as the next step for the professional sport in England.
Lam, who takes his Bristol team to Newcastle on Friday night with the aim of avoiding a third successive loss at Kingston Park, said: “It is unlikely (to come in) next year but probably the year after. There will be time given because every club is at different ends of their cycles and we are coming out of a three year (contract) cycle. Everything has to go back to the owners and the board because they have the ultimate say but the good thing is that we are all in the room together and we want what is best for the game.
“There is a salary cap, but it is around making sure you are prudent and there are a lot of players on the market and some of the top ones are going to command some big dollars. As a club you have to ask yourself how you balance that out with the squad size. The way they have worked out the (maximum) number is that they have looked at injuries for the last six seven years. It is not just a number they have put out there and it is aimed at having the strongest possible squad that is also affordable so we stabilise the clubs going forward. It’s about making it better for everyone.
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“Is it perfect? Nothing is, but there is a real desire to improve the game in England at international and domestic level. The Premiership was the focus but everyone realises that the Championship is also part of the agreement and there needs to be strong competition.
“The success of the Premiership clubs in the Champions Cup shows how tough this competition is and we sit third from bottom in the league but are just 10 points off the top.”
