Continuity key for Nottingham when they use dual-reg stars
NOTTINGHAM head coach Ian Costello says the Green & Whites will take a more measured approach to dual-registration this season despite an increase in the quota of players allowed to move freely between the Premiership and Championship.
From 2017/18, Championship clubs will be able to field 10 dual-registration players in their matchday squads, and the temptation would be for clubs on a low budget like Nottingham to utilise this resource as a way of keeping costs down.
Traditionally, the Green & Whites have been one of the biggest advocates of the dual-registration system, with the likes of England front rowers Tom Youngs and Dan Cole cutting their teeth at the club, but Costello says the balance swung too far that way last season.
“Having too many dualregistration players can affect the dynamics of your squad and the identity you have as a team,” he said.
“We were over-reliant at times on players coming in and we had no choice but to play them to be competitive. At fly-half, for example, we used eight different players in 20 Championship games.
“This season we have more depth to our squad and we can be a little more selective in adding in dualregistration players.
“We are lucky we have very good relationships with a number of clubs – Wasps, Leicester and Northampton – and we have already identified a number of players we want to play for us, but they have to come in and be a part of the squad for some time before they play, and only on an emergency basis.
“It might mean we give up something quality-wise if we don’t take a player in for a week but we feel we’d compromise what we’re building here if we brought players in on an ad hoc basis, which we were forced to do last season.”
Costello added: “Tom West and Will Stuart are both coming back for a full year from Wasps, and that’s what we want. They both bought into what we did last year and live locally and are here every day.
“Charlie Thacker and George Worth also came in for a period of time from Leicester and added a huge amount to the squad, and I think they learned a huge amount, too.
“That’s when it becomes a very productive relationship between two clubs. Parachuting a player in on the Thursday to play Saturday just doesn’t work and is not something we’re interested in unless absolutely necessary.”