'The skill of this job is making people into big names, not buying them'

Worcester Warriors lead rugby consultant Steve Diamond has outlined the type of player he is recruiting, revealing that he is trimming down the squad to 42 players.

Worcester underwent a major cull of players last May, when then head coach Jonathan Thomas released 20 players from the underperforming club, before signing some high profile international players, including Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Sutherland among others.

Yet the club has continued to struggle to make an impact in the Gallagher Premiership this season.

Mike Brown | Rugby Roots

Mike Brown | Rugby Roots

Just shy of a year on and now Diamond has revealed that he is undertaking his own stocktake of players.

“Since January I’ve had a good look at the squad. Those who haven’t been injured. I can’t really make a call on them if I’m honest,” he told the club website. “The players that I feel can take Worcester to a Heineken Cup qualification place, which is the target for me really, have already been told that they are staying at Worcester.

“The ones who haven’t. I’ve informed the week up until we played Newcastle.”

Diamond has said he wants to whittle the squad down to about 42 players.

“That’s easier said than done sometimes. The reason for the smaller squad, if we can get behind the scenes run right, the medical side, get those things up to scratch, which we are well on the way with, then we will operate with 15 per cent injuries at any one time. If that’s the case we’ll be picking from a 42 man squad, we’ll be picking from 33 to 34 players a week, you’ve got to pick 23 in your matchday, so you’re only massaging the egos of 10 players that aren’t being picked.

“It’s really important to keep them motivated. Currently there’s another 15 players and you end up massaging the egos of 20 players. That’s when the backbiting starts in the changing rooms and people aren’t happy and generally [you have] an environment of discontent.

“I’ve had the benefit of speaking with successful coaches in football and rugby, and people have told me double the size of your squad, so in rugby it’s fifteen, so double it’s 30, add two for a spare hooker and a spare nine, and then after that it’s 10 kids. There’s your 42.

“That’s how I do it.

“The players that are coming in are not massive names. But the skill of this job is making people into big names, not buying them.

“Worcester have been tempted to do that plenty of times, just big household rugby names who haven’t really delivered. That’s not my bag. My bag is to bring players with experience with domestic rugby and international rugby, who are solid dependable players who you can hopefully get 20 to 25 games out of a year.”

Diamond was asked what the profile of players he was looking to recruit to Sixways was.

“It’s got to be an age profile as well. You want people who are between 24 and 28, if you can, in their prime, who played 75 per cent of the games where they’re been before.

“And that allays your injury fears a lot. You’re not getting to get anyone at 26 or 27 who’s not had an injury.

“So we don’t want to spend time on certain medical areas when we know we’ve had 20 games out of them the previous season, whichever environment they’ve come from.

“They’ve got to be good defensively. They’ve got to understand attack. If they’re a forward, they need to be robust and abrasive within the laws of the game.

“And the players I’ve selected to join us, I know some of them personally. Others have been highly recommended to me. I’ve spent time on zoom talking to them about the project here: making Worcester a highly competitive team in the Premiership and in Europe.”

“I could speak about it for hours with Tom Tench from the analysis department, who’s fantastic at his job, but the top and bottom of it comes down to the simple stats; defensively and in attack, and then in their primary positions, if they’re a lock or a hooker, what are their throwing, what are their receiving, their stats against the people who are going out.

“And the people are coming in are statistically better players than the people going out.”