Cash: players come first
LIONS: COACH TRIES TO KEEP TEAM IN POSITIVE SPACE
Every player and official realises the magnitude of the situation the country is presently in.
The Lions’ players are their most prized asset, and it is crucial to keep everyone afloat while still remaining realistic about the economic impact of Covid-19, according to the union’s Super Rugby coach Cash van Rooyen.
After receiving more clarity about final pay cut percentages proposed by the union, Van Rooyen believed it was fairly safe to say there was a “financial lockdown”.
While the national lockdown was dropped to level four last week, it remained unclear when sports competitions would be able to resume.
“In these times, the players’ mental and physical well-being is of utmost importance,” Van Rooyen said.
“Last week’s meeting between Saru, My Players and the other role players arrived at a decision which obviously affected everyone.”
The Lions were under no illusions, added Van Rooyen, about the magnitude of the situation in which the country presently found itself.
“We all accepted that there would have been financial implications for us, as with everyone else,” he said.
Van Rooyen and his wife Rienie had two young children at home, aged two and five, and his wife was able to work from home.
“My day is also fairly full at home,” he said.
“We have an hour-and-a-half coaches’ meeting and then we have a two to three-hour-long players’ meeting every day except on Wednesdays.
“And obviously we also talk to Rudolf (Straeuli, Lions CEO) and the other administrators almost on a daily basis.”
Van Rooyen said they also did a bit of analysis each day, in an attempt to evaluate their current and potential future status.
“So it’s a normal working day. I start at 7am and work until 4pm, and then we spend quality time with the youngsters until they go to bed in the evenings,” he said.
“The only thing I still can’t do is to go to the union and work with the players, but it’s still great to see each other in the coaches’ meetings, to share various things and to also determine how things are going with everyone,” added Van Rooyen.